I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 373 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to 
expedite access to certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdic-
tion of each Secretary for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 14, 2015 
Mr. HECK of Nevada (for himself, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. ZINKE, 
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. VALADAO, and Mr. 
HARDY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of 
Agriculture to expedite access to certain Federal land 
under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 
for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan 
Search and Recovery Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ACCESS TO CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re-
spect to an organization or individual, means that 
the organization or individual, respectively, is— 
(A) acting in a not-for-profit capacity; and 
(B) certificated in training that meets or 
exceeds standards established by the American 
Society for Testing and Materials. 
(2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY 
MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and- 
recovery mission’’ means a search for 1 or more 
missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 
time that the search is initiated. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag-
riculture, as applicable. 
(b) PROCESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Secretary shall develop 
and implement a process to expedite access to Fed-
eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 
Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 
to request access to Federal land to conduct good 
Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 
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(2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 
implemented under this subsection shall include pro-
visions to clarify that— 
(A) an eligible organization or individual 
granted access under this section— 
(i) shall be acting for private pur-
poses; and 
(ii) shall not be considered to be a 
Federal volunteer; 
(B) an eligible organization or individual 
conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov-
ery mission under this section shall not be con-
sidered to be a volunteer under section 
102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 
(C) chapter 171 of title 28, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 
Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or-
ganization or individual carrying out a privately 
requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 
mission under this section; and 
(D) chapter 81 of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em-
ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 
an eligible organization or individual conducting 
a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 
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under this section, and the conduct of the good 
Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 
not constitute civilian employment. 
(c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI-
ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or-
ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 
condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 
the eligible organization or individual— 
(1) acknowledges and consents, in writing, to 
the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 
through (D) of subsection (b)(2); and 
(2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov-
ernment from all liability relating to the access 
granted under this section. 
(d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall notify 
an eligible organization or individual of the approval 
or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 
individual to carry out a good Samaritan search- 
and-recovery mission under this section by not later 
than 48 hours after the request is made. 
(2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re-
quest from an eligible organization or individual to 
carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mis-
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sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 
eligible organization or individual of— 
(A) the reason for the denial of the re-
quest; and 
(B) any actions that the eligible organiza-
tion or individual can take to meet the require-
ments for the request to be approved. 
(e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 
search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and- 
recovery organizations— 
(1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and- 
recovery missions on Federal land under the admin-
istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 
(2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 
search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi-
viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju-
risdiction of the Secretary. 
(f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to 
Congress a joint report describing— 
(1) plans to develop partnerships described in 
subsection (e)(1); and 
(2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel-
erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 
efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 
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the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 
pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 
Æ 
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