An act to require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers' Benefits program, and for other purposes
PL 115-36 (S.419), enacted 06/02/2017

131 STAT. 849 
PUBLIC LAW 115–36—JUNE 2, 2017 
Public Law 115–36 
115th Congress 
An Act 
To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program, 
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 ‘‘Public Safety Officers’ Benefits 
Improvement Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORTS. 
Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘Rules, regulations, and 
procedures issued under this part may include regulations 
based on standards developed by another Federal agency for 
programs related to public safety officer death or disability 
claims.’’ before the last sentence; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘In making’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) In making a determination under section 1201, the Bureau 
shall give substantial weight to the evidence and all findings of 
fact presented by a State, local, or Federal administrative or inves-
tigative agency regarding eligibility for death or disability benefits. 
‘‘(3) If the head of a State, local, or Federal administrative 
or investigative agency, in consultation with the principal legal 
officer of the agency, provides a certification of facts regarding 
eligibility for death or disability benefits, the Bureau shall adopt 
the factual findings, if the factual findings are supported by substan-
tial evidence.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this subsection, the Bureau shall make available on the public 
website of the Bureau information on all death, disability, and 
educational assistance claims submitted under this part that are 
pending as of the date on which the information is made available. 
‘‘(B) Not less frequently than once per week, the Bureau shall 
make available on the public website of the Bureau updated 
information with respect to all death, disability, and educational 
assistance claims submitted under this part that are pending as 
of the date on which the information is made available. 
‘‘(C) The information made available under this paragraph shall 
include— 
‘‘(i) for each pending claim— 
Deadlines. 
Web posting. 
Consultation. 
Certification. 
Determination. 
Public Safety 
Officers’ Benefits 
Improvement Act 
of 2017. 
42 USC 3711 
note. 
June 2, 2017 
[S. 419] 
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131 STAT. 850 
PUBLIC LAW 115–36—JUNE 2, 2017 
‘‘(I) the date on which the claim was submitted to 
the Bureau; 
‘‘(II) the State of residence of the claimant; 
‘‘(III) an anonymized, identifying claim number; and 
‘‘(IV) the nature of the claim; and 
‘‘(ii) the total number of pending claims that were sub-
mitted to the Bureau more than 1 year before the date on 
which the information is made available. 
‘‘(2) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Bureau shall publish on the public website 
of the Bureau a report, and shall update such report on such 
website not less than once every 180 days thereafter, containing— 
‘‘(A) the total number of claims for which a final determina-
tion has been made during the 180-day period preceding the 
report; 
‘‘(B) the amount of time required to process each claim 
for which a final determination has been made during the 
180-day period preceding the report; 
‘‘(C) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
on or before that date for which a final determination has 
not been made; 
‘‘(D) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
on or before the date that is 1 year before that date for which 
a final determination has not been made; 
‘‘(E) for each claim described in subparagraph (D), a 
detailed description of the basis for delay; 
‘‘(F) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
on or before that date relating to exposure due to the September 
11th, 2001, terrorism attacks for which a final determination 
has not been made; 
‘‘(G) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
on or before the date that is 1 year before that date relating 
to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001, terrorism attacks 
for which a final determination has not been made; 
‘‘(H) for each claim described in subparagraph (G), a 
detailed description of the basis for delay; 
‘‘(I) the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
relating to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001, terrorism 
attacks for which a final determination was made during the 
180-day period preceding the report, and the average award 
amount for any such claims that were approved; 
‘‘(J) the result of each claim for which a final determination 
was made during the 180-day period preceding the report, 
including the number of claims rejected and the basis for any 
denial of benefits; 
‘‘(K) the number of final determinations which were 
appealed during the 180-day period preceding the report, 
regardless of when the final determination was first made; 
‘‘(L) the average number of claims processed per reviewer 
of the Bureau during the 180-day period preceding the report; 
‘‘(M) for any claim submitted to the Bureau that required 
the submission of additional information from a public agency, 
and for which the public agency completed providing all of 
Deadlines. 
Web posting. 
Time periods. 
Determinations. 
Claims. 
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131 STAT. 851 
PUBLIC LAW 115–36—JUNE 2, 2017 
the required information during the 180-day period preceding 
the report, the average length of the period beginning on the 
date the public agency was contacted by the Bureau and ending 
on the date on which the public agency submitted all required 
information to the Bureau; 
‘‘(N) for any claim submitted to the Bureau for which 
the Bureau issued a subpoena to a public agency during the 
180-day period preceding the report in order to obtain informa-
tion or documentation necessary to determine the claim, the 
name of the public agency, the date on which the subpoena 
was issued, and the dates on which the public agency was 
contacted by the Bureau before the issuance of the subpoena; 
and 
‘‘(O) information on the compliance of the Bureau with 
the obligation to offset award amounts under section 1201(f)(3), 
including— 
‘‘(i) the number of claims that are eligible for compensa-
tion under both this part and the September 11th Victim 
Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; Public 
Law 107–42) (commonly referred to as the ‘VCF’); 
‘‘(ii) for each claim described in clause (i) for which 
compensation has been paid under the VCF, the amount 
of compensation paid under the VCF; 
‘‘(iii) the number of claims described in clause (i) for 
which the Bureau has made a final determination; and 
‘‘(iv) the number of claims described in clause (i) for 
which the Bureau has not made a final determination. 
‘‘(3) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, and 2 years thereafter, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall— 
‘‘(A) conduct a study on the compliance of the Bureau 
with the obligation to offset award amounts under section 
1201(f)(3); and 
‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report on the study conducted 
under subparagraph (A) that includes an assessment of whether 
the Bureau has provided the information required under 
subparagraph (B)(ix) of paragraph (2) of this subsection in 
each report required under that paragraph. 
‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘nature of the claim’ means 
whether the claim is a claim for— 
‘‘(A) benefits under this subpart with respect to the death 
of a public safety officer; 
‘‘(B) benefits under this subpart with respect to the dis-
ability of a public safety officer; or 
‘‘(C) education assistance under subpart 2.’’. 
SEC. 3. AGE LIMITATION FOR CHILDREN. 
Section 1212(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1(c)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No child’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), no child’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) DELAYED APPROVALS.— 
‘‘(A) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE APPLICATION.—If a claim 
for assistance under this subpart is approved more than 
1 year after the date on which the application for such 
assistance is filed with the Attorney General, the age 
Claims. 
Time periods. 
Definition. 
Assessment. 
Study. 
Deadlines. 
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131 STAT. 852 
PUBLIC LAW 115–36—JUNE 2, 2017 
limitation under this subsection shall be extended by the 
length of the period— 
‘‘(i) beginning on the day after the date that is 
1 year after the date on which the application is filed; 
and 
‘‘(ii) ending on the date on which the application 
is approved. 
‘‘(B) CLAIM FOR BENEFITS FOR DEATH OR PERMANENT 
AND TOTAL DISABILITY.—In addition to an extension under 
subparagraph (A), if any, for an application for assistance 
under this subpart that relates to a claim for benefits 
under subpart 1 that was approved more than 1 year 
after the date on which the claim was filed with the 
Attorney General, the age limitation under this subsection 
shall be extended by the length of the period— 
‘‘(i) beginning on the day after the date that is 
1 year after the date on which the claim for benefits 
is submitted; and 
‘‘(ii) ending on the date on which the claim for 
benefits is approved.’’. 
SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS. 
Subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1206. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau, with all due diligence, shall 
expeditiously attempt to obtain the information and documentation 
necessary to adjudicate a benefit claim filed under this part, 
including a claim for financial assistance under subpart 2. 
‘‘(b) SUFFICIENT INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE.—If a benefit claim 
filed under this part, including a claim for financial assistance 
under subpart 2, is unable to be adjudicated by the Bureau because 
of a lack of information or documentation from a third party, 
such as a public agency, and such information is not readily avail-
able to the claimant, the Bureau may not abandon the benefit 
claim unless the Bureau has utilized the investigative tools avail-
able to the Bureau to obtain the necessary information or docu-
mentation, including subpoenas.’’. 
SEC. 5. PRESUMPTION THAT OFFICER ACTED PROPERLY. 
Section 1202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796a) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No benefit’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No benefit’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION.—In determining whether a benefit is pay-
able under this part, the Bureau— 
‘‘(1) shall presume that none of the limitations described 
in subsection (a) apply; and 
‘‘(2) shall not determine that a limitation described in sub-
section (a) applies, absent clear and convincing evidence.’’. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 
The amendments made by this Act shall— 
(1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and 
42 USC 3796a 
note. 
Determinations. 
42 USC 3796c–3. 
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131 STAT. 853 
PUBLIC LAW 115–36—JUNE 2, 2017 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 419: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 163 (2017): 
May 16, considered and passed Senate. 
May 17, considered and passed House. 
(2) apply to any benefit claim or application under part 
L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) that is— 
(A) pending before the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
on the date of enactment; or 
(B) received by the Bureau on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
Approved June 2, 2017. 
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