‘‘(D) DEADLINE
FOR
ACTION
BY
SEC-
RETARY.—The Secretary shall approve or dis-
approve each request for payment under this
paragraph by not later than 15 days after the
date the request is received by the Department.
‘‘(i) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall
submit an annual report to the Congress by January 31
of each year covering the preceding fiscal year—
‘‘(1) describing in detail the amount of Federal
funds provided as covered grants that were directed
to each State, region, and directly eligible tribe in
the preceding fiscal year;
‘‘(2) containing information on the use of such
grant funds by grantees; and
‘‘(3) describing—
‘‘(A) the Nation’s progress in achieving,
maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa-
bilities established by the Secretary as a result
of the expenditure of covered grant funds dur-
ing the preceding fiscal year; and
‘‘(B) an estimate of the amount of expend-
itures required to attain across the United
States the essential capabilities established by
the Secretary.
‘‘SEC. 1807. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FIRST RESPONDER
EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING.
‘‘(a) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre-
paredness and Response and Science and Tech-
nology and the Director of the Office for Domestic
Preparedness, shall, not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this section, support the
development of, promulgate, and update as nec-
essary national voluntary consensus standards for
the performance, use, and validation of first re-
sponder 
equipment 
for 
purposes 
of 
section
1805(e)(7). Such standards—
‘‘(A) shall be, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, consistent with any existing voluntary
consensus standards;
‘‘(B) shall take into account, as appro-
priate, new types of terrorism threats that may
not have been contemplated when such existing
standards were developed;
‘‘(C) shall be focused on maximizing inter-
operability, interchangeability, durability, flexi-
bility, efficiency, efficacy, portability, sustain-
ability, and safety; and
‘‘(D) shall cover all appropriate uses of the
equipment.
‘‘(2) REQUIRED CATEGORIES.—In carrying out
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall specifically con-
sider the following categories of first responder
equipment:
‘‘(A) Thermal imaging equipment.
‘‘(B) Radiation detection and analysis
equipment.
‘‘(C) Biological detection and analysis
equipment.
‘‘(D) Chemical detection and analysis
equipment.
‘‘(E) Decontamination and sterilization
equipment.
‘‘(F) Personal protective equipment, in-
cluding garments, boots, gloves, and hoods and
other protective clothing.
‘‘(G) Respiratory protection equipment.
‘‘(H) Interoperable communications, in-
cluding wireless and wireline voice, video, and
data networks.
‘‘(I) Explosive mitigation devices and ex-
plosive detection and analysis equipment.
‘‘(J) Containment vessels.
‘‘(K) Contaminant-resistant vehicles.
‘‘(L) Such other equipment for which the
Secretary determines that national voluntary
consensus standards would be appropriate.
‘‘(b) TRAINING STANDARDS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre-
paredness and Response and Science and Tech-
nology and the Director of the Office for Domestic
Preparedness, shall support the development of, pro-
mulgate, and regularly update as necessary national
voluntary consensus standards for first responder
training carried out with amounts provided under
covered grant programs, that will enable State and
local government first responders to achieve optimal
levels of terrorism preparedness as quickly as prac-
ticable. Such standards shall give priority to pro-
viding training to—
‘‘(A) enable first responders to prevent,
prepare for, respond to, mitigate against, and
recover from terrorist threats, including threats
from chemical, biological, nuclear, and radio-
logical weapons and explosive devices capable of
inflicting significant human casualties; and
‘‘(B) familiarize first responders with the
proper use of equipment, including software,
developed pursuant to the standards established
under subsection (a).
‘‘(2) REQUIRED CATEGORIES.—In carrying out
paragraph (1), the Secretary specifically shall in-
clude the following categories of first responder ac-
tivities:
‘‘(A) Regional planning.
‘‘(B) Joint exercises.
‘‘(C) Intelligence collection, analysis, and
sharing.
‘‘(D) Emergency notification of affected
populations.
‘‘(E) Detection of biological, nuclear, radi-
ological, and chemical weapons of mass destruc-
tion.
‘‘(F) Such other activities for which the
Secretary determines that national voluntary
consensus training standards would be appro-
priate.
‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY.—In carrying out this sub-
section, the Secretary shall ensure that such training
standards are consistent with the principles of emer-
gency preparedness for all hazards.