To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate an agency within the Department of Homeland Security to modernize the integrated public alert and warning system of the United States to disseminate homeland security and other information, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alerting Lives through Effective and 
Reliable Technological Systems Act of 2008'' or the ``ALERTS Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) numerous proven and tested technologies exist to enable 
        the Federal Government to enhance its public alert and warning 
        system;
            (2) the expected benefits of these enhancements include--
                    (A) greater security, reliability, and redundancy 
                of the system;
                    (B) rapid alert dissemination;
                    (C) an improved ability to notify remote locations;
                    (D) the ability to geographically target and 
                deliver alerts and warnings to multiple devices; and
                    (E) the ability to permit State homeland security 
                grants to be utilized for the purposes of modernizing 
                public alert and warning systems;
            (3) there is a need to test the viability of delivering 
        messages through diverse communications modes to effectively 
        alert and warn the public;
            (4) there is a need to modernize and improve the ability of 
        the Federal Government to provide residents of the United 
        States with timely and effective warnings;
            (5) although significant Federal integration efforts are 
        underway, the aggregation, dissemination, and reporting system 
        necessary for effective public alert and warning will require 
        an integrated national network for reliable, secure, and 
        authentic dissemination of emergency alerts and warnings to and 
        from all Federal, State, local, and tribal entities that alert 
        the public when appropriate.

SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end of the following 
new section:

``SEC. 525. NATIONAL INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM 
              MODERNIZATION.

    ``(a) In General.--In order to provide timely and effective 
warnings and disseminate homeland security and other information, the 
Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish a national integrated public alert and 
        warning system (in this section referred to as `the system') 
        not later than two years after the date of the enactment of 
        this section; and
            ``(2) designate an agency within the Department to receive, 
        aggregate, validate, and authenticate homeland security and 
        other information originated by authorized Federal, State, 
        local, and tribal governments to facilitate the transmission of 
        the Commercial Mobile Alert System.
    ``(b) Implementation Requirements.--In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish, as appropriate, common alerting and 
        warning protocols, standards of performance, and terminology 
        for the system established under subsection (a)(1) by adopting, 
        where appropriate, mechanisms that integrate various approaches 
        developed by key stakeholders;
            ``(2) include in the system the capability to adapt the 
        dissemination of homeland security and other information and 
        the content of communications on the basis of geographic 
        location, risks, or user preferences, as appropriate;
            ``(3) include in the system the capability to alert and 
        warn populations with special needs;
            ``(4) ensure that the system is incorporated into the 
        training and exercise programs of the Department; and
            ``(5) coordinate, to the extent practicable, with other 
        Federal agencies and departments and with State, local, and 
        tribal governments, and other key stakeholders to leverage 
        existing alert and warning capabilities.
    ``(c) System Requirements.--The Secretary shall ensure that the 
system--
            ``(1) incorporates redundant and diverse modes to 
        disseminate homeland security and other information in warning 
        messages to the public so as to reach the greatest number of 
        individuals;
            ``(2) can be adapted to incorporate future technologies;
            ``(3) is resilient, secure, and can withstand acts of 
        terrorism and other external attacks;
            ``(4) delivers alerts to populations in remote areas; and
            ``(5) promotes State, local, tribal, and regional 
        partnerships to enhance coordination.
    ``(d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date on which the 
system established under subsection (a) is fully functional and every 
six months thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a report on 
the functionality and performance of the integrated public alert and 
warning system, including--
            ``(1) an assessment of the accomplishments and deficiencies 
        of the system;
            ``(2) recommendations for improvements to the system;
            ``(3) information on the feasibility and effectiveness of 
        disseminating homeland security and other information, notices, 
        and alerts prior to and following an incident requiring use of 
        the system.
    ``(e) Commercial Mobile Alert System Pilot Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than three months after the 
        date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
        develop within the integrated public alert and warning system 
        the commercial mobile alert system to provide rapid 
        dissemination of homeland security and other information over 
        commercial mobile devices and conduct a pilot program for the 
        purpose of increasing the reach of the integrated public alert 
        and warning system.
            ``(2) Scope.--The Secretary shall select at least five 
        States to participate in the pilot program. The Secretary shall 
        ensure the participation of States that represent a geographic 
        (including urban and rural) cross-section of the United States 
        and that vary in risk to acts of terrorism.
            ``(3) Termination.--The authority to carry out a pilot 
        program under this section shall terminate on the date that is 
        six months after the date of the commencement of the pilot 
        program.
            ``(4) Report.--Not later than three months after the 
        termination of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to 
        the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report containing--
                    ``(A) a description and assessment of the 
                effectiveness of the pilot program;
                    ``(B) any findings and conclusions of the Secretary 
                with respect to the pilot program; and
                    ``(C) any recommendations for improvements to the 
                commercial mobile alert system.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $37,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year 
thereafter.''.
    (b) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this Act 
(including the amendment made by this Act) shall be construed to affect 
the authority of the Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications 
Commission, or the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act.
    (c) Homeland Security Grants.--Section 2008(a) of the Implementing 
Recommendations of the
9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-53) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (13) as paragraph (14); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(13) permitting State, local, and tribal governments to 
        improve public alert and warning capabilities; and''.
    (d) Criminal Acts.--It shall be unlawful to tamper or interfere 
with components of the system that are used or designed to deliver 
alerts and warnings that were purchased with public funds, including 
homeland security grants. A violation of section 525 of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (as added by section 3 of this Act) shall be 
punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000, imprisonment for not 
more than ten years, or both.

Summary: Alerting Lives through Effective and Reliable Technological Systems Act of 2008 or ALERTS Act of 2008 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) establish a national integrated public alert and warning system; (2) develop within such system a commercial mobile alert system to provide rapid dissemination of information over commercial mobile devices; and (3) designate an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to receive, aggregate, validate, and authenticate homeland security and other information originated by authorized federal, state, local, and tribal governments to facilitate the transmission of such mobile alert system.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish common alerting and warning protocols, standards of performance, and terminology; (2) include the capability to adapt the dissemination of information and the content of communications on the basis of geographic location, risks, or user preferences and to alert special needs populations; (3) ensure that the national warning system is incorporated into DHS training and exercise programs; and (4) coordinate with other federal agencies, state, local, and tribal governments, and key stakeholders.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to increase the national warning system's reach.

Amends the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to authorize the use of grant funds to permit state, local, and tribal governments to improve public alert and warning capabilities.

Prohibits tampering or interfering with components of the national warning system that are used or designed to deliver alerts and warnings and that were purchased with public funds.