Topic: Government Operations — General
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2009-06-16 00:00:00

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 - Title I: Departmental Management and Operations - Makes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for FY2010 for the Offices of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Under Secretary for Management, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Information Officer, the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, and the Inspector General and for intelligence analysis and operations coordination activities. Title II: Security, Enforcement, and Investigations - Makes appropriations for FY2010 for: (1) United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including for automation modernization, border security fencing, infrastructure, and technology, air and marine interdiction, operations, maintenance, and procurement, and construction and facilities management; (2) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including for automation modernization, for construction, and for identifying and removing aliens convicted of a crime who are judged deportable, with a priority on identifying and removing such aliens based on the severity of the crime committed; (3) the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including for aviation security (including for explosives detection systems), surface transportation security, the Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing, transportation security support, and Federal Air Marshals; (4) the Coast Guard, including for environmental compliance and restoration, reserve training, acquisition, construction, and improvements (including for the Integrated Deepwater Systems program), alteration of bridges, research, development, test, and evaluation, and retired pay; and (5) United States Secret Service, including for acquisition, construction, improvements, and related expenses. Sets forth requirements with respect to the expenditure plan for the program to establish and maintain a security barrier along U.S. borders, including requiring: (1) a detailed accounting of the program's implementation to date for all investments related to the Secure Border Initiative or any successor program; (2) an explicit plan of action defining how all funds are to be obligated to meet future program commitments; and (3) an analysis by the Secretary of the selected approach for each segment of fencing or tactical infrastructure compared to other, alternative means of achieving operational control, including cost, level of control, and possible unintended effects on communities. Title III: Protection, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery - Makes appropriations for FY2010 for: (1) the Office of the Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs Directorate, including for infrastructure protection and information security programs and activities, the Federal Protective Service, and the United States Visitors and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Project (US-VISIT); (2) the Office of Health Affairs; and (3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including for grants for state and local programs, firefighter assistance, and emergency management performance, the Radiological Emergency Preparedness program, the United States Fire Administration, disaster relief and the disaster assistance direct loan program account, the Flood Map Modernization Fund, the National Flood Insurance Fund, the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund, and emergency food and shelter. Title IV: Research and Development, Training, and Services - Makes appropriations for FY2010 for: (1) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), including for the processing of asylum or refugee status applications and military naturalization applications and for the E-Verify program to assist U.S. employers with maintaining a legal workforce; (2) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, including for acquisition, construction, improvements, and related expenses; (3) the Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, including for research, development, acquisition, and operations (including for the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility); and (4) the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, including for research, development, testing, evaluation, and operations, and for systems acquisition. Prohibits: (1) obligating funds for full-scale procurement of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitors until the Secretary submits to the Appropriations Committees a report certifying that a significant increase in operational effectiveness will be achieved; or (2) the use of immigrant integration grant funds to provide services to aliens who have not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Title V: General Provisions - (Sec. 501) Sets forth limitations and prohibitions on the availability, use, reprogramming, or transfer of funds for specified programs and activities under this Act. (Sec. 512) Prohibits the use of funds available in this Act to amend the oath of allegiance required under the Immigration and Nationality Act. (Sec. 513) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to process or approve a competition under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 for services provided as of June 1, 2004, by employees of CIS who are known as Immigration Information Officers, Contact Representatives, or Investigative Assistants. (Sec. 514) Requires TSA to report to the Appropriations Committees on air cargo inspection statistics by airport and air carrier and on how it plans to meet the deadline for screening all air cargo on passenger aircraft. (Sec. 523) Prohibits the use of funds to enforce provisions of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 regarding the prohibition on air passengers carrying butane lighters unless the Assistant Secretary reverses the determination of July 19, 2007, that butane lighters are not a significant threat to civil aviation security. (Sec. 526) Prohibits the use of funds by CIS to grant an immigration benefit unless the results of required background checks have been received and do not preclude granting the benefit. (Sec. 534) Prohibits the use of funds for CBP to prevent an individual from importing a prescription drug from Canada if: (1) such individual is not in the business of importing a prescription drug; and (2) such drug complies with specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is not a controlled substance or a biological product. Makes this section applicable only to individuals transporting on their person a personal-use quantity of the prescription drug, not exceeding a 90-day supply. (Sec. 537) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for planning, testing, piloting, or developing a national identification card. (Sec. 538) Requires the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security to certify to Congress any determination that an airport does not need to participate in the E-Verify Program and that no security risks will result. (Sec. 539) Requires the FEMA Administrator to submit to specified congressional committees, and publish on the FEMA website, a report regarding a decision to declare a major disaster, summarizing damage assessment information used to determine whether a major disaster exists, subject to redaction of information that would compromise national security. (Sec. 540) Sets forth procedures to be followed if the Secretary determines that the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility at Plum Island, New York, should be located elsewhere. (Sec. 544) Directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation and develop a concept of operations for unmanned aircraft systems in the U.S. national airspace system for purposes of border and maritime security operations. (Sec. 549) Authorizes the collection of fees for fingerprinting, biometric, and other necessary services, in addition to collecting registration fees when administering the temporary protected status program under the Immigration and Nationality Act. (Sec. 552) Prohibits the use of funds to: (1) release an individual who is detained, as of June 24, 2009, at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, into the United States (including its territories or possessions); (2) transfer any such individual to the United States for detention, except for prosecution pursuant to a presidential plan assessing the risks, mitigating actions, costs, legal rationale, and court demands associated with such transfer; (3) transfer or release any such individual to any other country unless the President submits to Congress information identifying the individual and country involved, disclosing any agreement with that country, and assessing the risks to U.S. national security or its citizens; or (4) provide any immigration benefit to any such individual. Requires the President, prior to the termination of detention operations at Guantanamo Bay, to submit to Congress a classified report describing the disposition or legal status of each individual detained at the facility. (Sec. 553) Requires individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay facility to be included on the No Fly List unless the President certifies that a detainee poses no threat to the United States, its citizens, or its allies. (Sec. 559) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act: (1) to operate the Loran-C signal after January 4, 2010, only if the Commandant of the Coast Guard certifies that its termination will not adversely impact the safety of maritime navigation and if the Secretary certifies that the Loran-C system infrastructure is not needed as a backup to the Global Positioning System or any other federal navigation requirement; or (2) for construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility on the U.S. mainland until DHS completes certain safety and security risk assessments. (Sec. 561) American Communities' Right to Public Information Act - Provides that provisions regarding the preparation of maritime transportation security plans shall not be construed to authorize the designation of information as "sensitive security information" to: (1) conceal a violation of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; (2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency; (3) restrain competition; or (4) prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of transportation security, including basic scientific research information not clearly related to transportation security. (Sec. 564) OPEN FOIA Act of 2009 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to require statutory exemptions to its disclosure requirements to specifically cite its provision that authorizes such exemptions. (Sec. 565) Protected National Security Documents Act of 2009 - Exempts from disclosure under FOIA any "protected document," defined as any record: (1) for which the Secretary of Defense has issued a certification stating that its disclosure would endanger U.S. citizens, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, or U.S. government employees deployed outside the United States; and (2) that is a photograph that was taken between September 11, 2001, and January 22, 2009, relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the U.S. Armed Forces in operations outside of the United States. Provides that such a certification shall expire three years after issuance or renewal. (Sec. 566) Requires administrative law judge annuitants participating in the Senior Administrative Law Judge Program to be available on a temporary reemployment basis to conduct arbitrations of disputes as part of the arbitration panel established by the President under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 under the FEMA public assistance program to expedite the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita within the Gulf Coast Region. (Sec. 567) Requires any company that collects or retains personal information directly from individuals who participated in the Registered Traveler program to safeguard and dispose of such information in accordance with specified requirements. (Sec. 568) Extends until September 20, 2012: (1) the Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program; and (2) the Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program (under which foreign physicians practice in underserved areas). Allows the foreign-born widow, children, and parents of citizens who die to retain legal status to seek citizenship for two years after the death. Permits asylees and specified other classifications of aliens residing in the United States at the time of the death of a qualifying relative who continue to reside in the United States to have their petitions or applications for adjustment of status to that of a person admitted for lawful permanent residence based upon the family relationship adjudicated unless the Secretary determines that approval would not be in the public interest. Makes specified rescissions.