I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4698 
To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer to assist victims 
of national disasters. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2006 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer 
to assist victims of national disasters. 
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 ‘‘Disaster Relief Volun-
teer Protection Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) It is in the national interest to encourage 
individuals to volunteer to assist victims of national 
disasters.
(2) The exposure of potential volunteers, their 
employers, and those who would use volunteers’ serv-
ices under existing law to compensatory and punitive 
damages for negligent acts discourages the provision 
of these services. 
(3) The availability of damages in these cir-
cumstances for actions that constitute gross neg-
ligence creates uncertainty concerning the actual 
conduct that might cause liability to be imposed on 
volunteers. 
(4) Potential liability for acts of volunteers dis-
courages the employers or business partners of po-
tential volunteers from permitting those potential 
volunteers to provide disaster relief services. 
(5) Potential liability for acts of volunteers dis-
courages entities that might use the services pro-
vided by volunteers in national disasters from doing 
so. 
(6) Well-founded fear of liability under existing 
law for providing goods discourages governmental 
and intergovernmental entities from providing need-
ed disaster relief goods. 
(7) Well-founded fear of liability for punitive 
damages under existing law discourages govern-
mental and intergovernmental entities from pro-
viding needed disaster relief goods and discourages 
potential volunteers from providing volunteer serv-
ices to disaster victims. 
(8) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages 
for providing volunteer services deters potential vol-
unteers from states located outside the national dis-
aster area from providing volunteer services. 
(9) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages 
for providing volunteer services deters potential for-
eign volunteers from providing disaster relief serv-
ices. 
(10) Any lessening of liability for volunteers 
providing disaster relief services, their employers and 
business partners, and entities utilizing their serv-
ices should maintain adequate incentives for each of 
these classes of persons or entities to avoid causing 
harm. 
(11) Unwillingness to provide volunteer services 
to disaster victims in the face of uncertain liability 
substantially affects, burdens, and deters interstate 
commerce and travel. 
(12) Unwillingness of employers and business 
partners to allow their employees and business part-
ners to provide disaster relief services in the face of
uncertain liability substantially affects, burdens, and 
deters interstate commerce and travel. 
(13) Unwillingness of persons, entities, or orga-
nizations to accept disaster relief services from vol-
unteers in the face of uncertain liability substantially 
affects, burdens, and deters interstate commerce and 
travel. 
(14) Unwillingness by foreigners to provide vol-
untary disaster relief services in the face of uncer-
tain liability substantially affects, burdens, and de-
ters foreign commerce and travel. 
(15) Unless Congress provides uniform stand-
ards to address disasters that could occur in any 
State or combination of states, potential volunteers 
and others will not be certain which laws would gov-
ern their providing disaster relief services, which 
would substantially affect, burden, and deter inter-
state and foreign commerce and travel in the event 
of a national disaster. 
SEC. 3. DISASTER RELIEF VOLUNTEERS. 
(a) LIABILITY
OF
DISASTER
RELIEF
VOLUN-
TEERS.—A disaster relief volunteer shall not be liable for 
any injury (including personal injury, property damage or 
loss, and death) caused by an act or omission of such vol-
unteer in connection with such volunteer’s providing or fa-
cilitating the provision of disaster relief services if— 
(1) the injury was not caused by willful, wan-
ton, or reckless misconduct by the volunteer; and 
(2) the injury was not caused by the volunteer’s 
operating a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other 
vehicle for which the state requires the operator or 
the owner of the vehicle, craft, or vessel to— 
(A) possess an operator’s license; or 
(B) maintain insurance. 
(b) LIABILITY OF EMPLOYER OR PARTNER OF DIS-
ASTER RELIEF VOLUNTEER.—An employer or business 
partner of a disaster relief volunteer shall not be liable 
for any act or omission of such volunteer in connection 
with such volunteer’s providing or facilitating the provi-
sion of disaster relief services. 
(c) LIABILITY OF HOST OR ENABLING PERSON, EN-
TITY, OR ORGANIZATION.—A person or entity, including 
a governmental entity, that works with, accepts services 
from, or makes its facilities available to a disaster relief 
volunteer to enable such volunteer to provide disaster re-
lief services shall not be liable for any act or omission of 
such volunteer in connection with such volunteer’s pro-
viding such services.
(d) LIABILITY OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—A 
nonprofit organization shall not be liable for any injury 
(including personal injury, property damage or loss, and 
death) caused by an act or omission in connection with 
such nonprofit organization’s providing or facilitating the 
provision of disaster relief services if the injury was not 
caused by willful, wanton, or reckless misconduct by the 
nonprofit organization. 
(e) LIABILITY OF GOVERNMENTAL AND INTERGOV-
ERNMENTAL ENTITIES
FOR DONATIONS
OF DISASTER 
RELIEF GOODS.—A governmental or intergovernmental 
entity that donates to an agency or instrumentality of the 
United States disaster relief goods shall not be liable for 
any injury (including personal injury, property damage or 
loss, and death) caused by such donated goods if the in-
jury was not caused by willful, wanton, or reckless mis-
conduct by such governmental or intergovernmental enti-
ty. 
(f) LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE AND NONECONOMIC 
DAMAGES BASED
ON ACTIONS
OF DISASTER RELIEF 
VOLUNTEERS AND GOVERNMENTAL DONORS.— 
(1) PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—Unless the claimant 
establishes by clear and convincing evidence that its 
damages were proximately caused by willful, wanton, 
or reckless misconduct by either—
(A) a disaster relief volunteer in any civil 
action brought for injury caused by the volun-
teer’s providing or facilitating the provision of 
disaster relief services; or 
(B) a governmental or intergovernmental 
entity in any civil action brought for injury 
caused by disaster relief goods donated by such 
governmental or intergovernmental entity; 
punitive damages may not be awarded in any civil 
action against such a volunteer or governmental en-
tity. 
(2) NONECONOMIC DAMAGES.— 
(A) GENERAL RULE.—In any civil action 
brought against— 
(i) a disaster relief volunteer for in-
jury caused by such volunteer’s providing 
or facilitating the provision of disaster re-
lief services; or 
(ii) a governmental or intergovern-
mental entity for injury caused by disaster 
relief goods donated by such governmental 
entity; 
liability for noneconomic loss, if permitted 
under subsection (a) or (e) of this section, shall
be determined in accordance with this subpara-
graph. 
(B) AMOUNT
OF
LIABILITY.—(i) The 
amount of noneconomic loss allocated to the 
disaster relief volunteer or governmental or 
intergovernmental entity defendant shall be in 
direct proportion to the percentage of responsi-
bility of that defendant (determined in accord-
ance with clause (ii)) for the harm to the claim-
ant with respect to which that defendant is lia-
ble. The court shall render a separate judgment 
against each defendant in an amount deter-
mined pursuant to this section. 
(ii) For purposes of determining the 
amount of noneconomic loss allocated to a de-
fendant, the trier of fact shall determine the 
percentage of responsibility of each person or 
entity responsible for the claimant’s harm, 
whether or not such person or entity is a party 
to the action. 
(g) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to abrogate or limit any protection that a volun-
teer, as defined in the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 
(42 U.S.C. 14501 et seq.), may be entitled to under that 
Act. Neither shall anything in this section be construed
to confer any private right of action or to abrogate or limit 
any protection with respect to either liability or damages 
that any disaster relief volunteer or governmental or inter-
governmental entity may be entitled to under any other 
provision of law. 
(h) SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION.—If a Disaster 
Declaration is issued, the President, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, or the Secretary of Home-
land Security may issue a Supplemental Declaration under 
this section. 
(1) TEMPORAL
EFFECT.—Such Supplemental 
Declaration may provide that, for purposes of this 
section, such Disaster Declaration shall have such 
temporal effect as the President or the Secretary 
may deem necessary or appropriate to further the 
public interest, including providing that such Dis-
aster Declaration shall have an effective date earlier 
than the date of the declaration or determination of 
such Disaster Declaration. 
(2) GEOGRAPHIC
AND
OTHER
CONDITIONS.— 
Such Supplemental Declaration may provide that, 
for purposes of this section, such Disaster Declara-
tion shall have such geographic or other conditions 
as the President or the Secretary may deem nec-
essary or appropriate to further the public interest.
(i) LICENSING, CERTIFICATION, AND AUTHORIZA-
TION.—This section shall not apply to a disaster relief vol-
unteer where the disaster relief service such volunteer pro-
vides is of a type that generally requires a license, certifi-
cate, or authorization, and the disaster relief volunteer 
lacks such license, certificate, or authorization, unless— 
(1) such volunteer is licensed, certified, or au-
thorized to provide such services in any State to the 
extent required, if any, by the appropriate authori-
ties of that State, even if such State is not the State 
in which the disaster relief volunteer provides dis-
aster relief services; or 
(2) otherwise specified in a Disaster Declara-
tion or Supplemental Declaration under this section. 
(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘Disaster Declaration’’ means— 
(A) a public health emergency declaration 
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
under section 319 of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); 
(B) a declaration of a public health emer-
gency or a risk of such emergency as deter-
mined by the Secretary of Homeland Security 
in accordance with clause (i) or clause (ii) of 
section 2811(b)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
300hh–11(b)(3)(A)) and section 503(5) of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
313(5)); or 
(C) an emergency or major disaster dec-
laration by the President under section 401 or 
501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 
or 5191). 
(2) The term ‘‘disaster relief volunteer’’ means 
an individual who provides disaster relief services in 
connection with a Disaster Declaration without ex-
pectation or receipt of compensation in exchange for 
providing such services. 
(3) The term ‘‘disaster relief services’’ means 
services or assistance provided in preparation for, re-
sponse to, or recovery from any event that is the 
subject of a Disaster Declaration, including but not 
limited to health, medical, fire fighting, rescue, re-
construction, and any other services or assistance 
specified by a Supplemental Declaration under this 
section as necessary or desirable to prepare for, re-
spond to, or recover from an event that is the sub-
ject of a Disaster Declaration. 
(4) The term ‘‘disaster relief good’’ means ei-
ther—
(A) those goods provided in preparation 
for, response to, or recovery from any event 
that is the subject of a Disaster Declaration 
and reasonably necessary to such preparation, 
response, or recovery; or 
(B) those goods defined by a Disaster Dec-
laration or Supplemental Declaration under this 
section. 
(5) The term ‘‘noneconomic loss’’ means losses 
for physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconven-
ience, physical impairment, mental anguish, dis-
figurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society 
and companionship, loss of consortium (other than 
loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury to 
reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any 
kind or nature. 
(6) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, any other 
territory or possession of the United States, or any 
political subdivision of any such State, territory, or 
possession, and (for purposes of subsection (h)) any 
foreign country.