Title: Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement a process to provide eligible organizations and individuals expedited access to federal land to conduct good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, which are searches for one or more missing individuals believed to be deceased at the time that the search is initiated.
The bill sets forth procedures for the approval or denial of requests made by eligible organizations or individuals to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission.
Interior and USDA shall develop search-and-recovery focused partnerships with search-and-recovery organizations to coordinate good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, and expedite and accelerate mission efforts for missing individuals.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1181 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1181

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 2017

Mr. Heller (for himself and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives 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''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ACCESS TO CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible.--The term ``eligible'', with respect 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 one 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 Agriculture, as applicable.
    (b) Process.--
            (1) In general.--Each Secretary shall develop and implement 
        a process to expedite access to Federal 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.
            (2) Inclusions.--The process developed and implemented 
        under this subsection shall include provisions to clarify 
        that--
                    (A) an eligible organization or individual granted 
                access under this section--
                            (i) shall be acting for private purposes; 
                        and
                            (ii) shall not be considered to be a 
                        Federal volunteer;
                    (B) an eligible organization or individual 
                conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 
                under this section shall not be considered 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 organization 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 Employees Compensation 
                Act''), shall not apply to an eligible organization or 
                individual conducting a good Samaritan search-and-
                recovery mission 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 Liability.--The Secretary 
shall not require an eligible organization 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 Government 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 request from an 
        eligible organization or individual to carry out a good 
        Samaritan search-and-recovery mission under this section, the 
        Secretary shall notify the eligible organization or individual 
        of--
                    (A) the reason for the denial of the request; and
                    (B) any actions that the eligible organization or 
                individual can take to meet the requirements 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 administrative jurisdiction 
        of the Secretary; and
            (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan search-and-
        recovery mission efforts for missing individuals on Federal 
        land under the administrative jurisdiction 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 accelerate good 
        Samaritan search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing 
        individuals on Federal land under the administrative 
        jurisdiction of each Secretary pursuant to subsection (e)(2).
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