ADVANCE Act

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national hazard preparation and response exercises, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Analyzing Disaster Vulnerabilites and Applicable National Capabilities for Emergencies Act ADVANCE Act 2. National hazard preparation and response exercises (a) Requirement Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than twice every year thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, shall conduct an exercise to test the modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities and their utility for emergency response of the United States with respect to significant natural disasters or public health emergencies impacting critical infrastructure. (b) Planning and preparation Each exercise under paragraph (1) shall be coordinated through NISAC and the National Laboratories. (c) Participants (1) Federal Government participants The following shall participate in each exercise under subsection (a): (A) Relevant interagency partners, as determined by the Secretary. (B) Senior leader representatives from sector-specific agencies, as determined by the Secretary. (2) State and local governments The Secretary shall invite representatives from State and local governments to participate in the exercises under subsection (a) if the Secretary determines such participation to be appropriate. (d) Elements Each exercise under subsection (a) shall include the following elements: (1) Testing the capability of NISAC to perform modeling, simulation, and analysis to inform the significant natural disaster and public health emergency response of the United States with respect to impact on critical infrastructure, including the outbreak of infectious diseases, extreme weather events, or the overlapping combination of such outbreak or such weather event. (2) Testing of the relevant policy, guidance, and doctrine. (3) Testing of the information-sharing needs and systems. (4) Testing the coordination between Federal, State, and local governments. (e) Report (1) In general Not later than 60 days after the date on which each exercise under subsection (a) is conducted, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on each such exercise. (2) Matters included The report required under paragraph (1) shall include information relating to the following: (A) A list of the entities participating in an exercise required under subsection (a). (B) An assessment of overall performance during such an exercise. (C) A description of lessons learned from such an exercise, including— (i) gaps and limitations that require improvement; and (ii) recommendations with respect to planned changes to training. 3. Annual report to Congress relating to the impact of natural disasters or public health emergencies with respect to critical infrastructure (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing the impact of natural disasters and public health emergencies with respect to critical infrastructure. (b) Matters included The report required under paragraph (1) shall include information relating to the following: (1) An assessment of the most concerning threats to critical infrastructure from natural disasters or public health emergencies, including the severity and probability of a threat to each critical infrastructure from each type of natural disaster. (2) An assessment relating to short-term and long-term damage that may result to each critical infrastructure from each type of natural disaster or public health emergency. (3) A description of the modeling tools and human capacity of NISAC to be utilized to inform emergency preparedness, and any changes to such tools and capacity since the previous report. (4) An assessment of modeling tools that may best inform the Federal Government with respect to cascading effects on infrastructure, transportation, public health, and the economy. (5) Recommendations of modeling, simulation, and training opportunities that may require further investment and maturation with respect to additional consultation and analysis, including— (A) DHS-CISA-NRMC and peer review; (B) interagency consultation, as appropriate; (C) cost-effectiveness; and (D) consideration of the tools that can best inform the United States government understanding of cascading effects on infrastructure, transportation, the economy, and public health. 4. Definitions In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees (A) the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate. (2) CISA The term CISA (3) Critical Infrastructure The term critical infrastructure (4) DHS The term DHS (5) National laboratories The term National Laboratories (6) NISAC The term NISAC (7) NRMC The term NRMC (8) Secretary The term Secretary (9) Sector-specific agency The term sector-specific agency Sector-Specific Agency 6 U.S.C. 651 (10) State The term State

Summary: Analyzing Disaster Vulnerabilities and Applicable National Capabilities for Emergencies Act or the ADVANCE Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct national hazard preparation and response exercises and to report to Congress on such exercises and to report annually on the impact of natural disasters or public health emergencies on critical infrastructure. Specifically, DHS, in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), must at specified intervals conduct an exercise to test the modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities and their utility for emergency response of the United States with respect to significant natural disasters or public health emergencies impacting critical infrastructure. Each exercise shall be coordinated through the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center and the DOE National Laboratories and Technology Centers.