RESPONSE Act of 2016
PL 114-321 (S.546), enacted 12/16/2016

130 STAT. 1623 
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 
Public Law 114–321 
114th Congress 
An Act 
An Act to establish the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational 
Needs, and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) Subcommittee under the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council to provide rec-
ommendations on emergency responder training and resources relating to haz-
ardous materials incidents involving railroads, 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 ‘‘RESPONSE Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. RAILROAD EMERGENCY SERVICES PREPAREDNESS, OPER-
ATIONAL NEEDS, AND SAFETY EVALUATION SUBCOMMITTEE. 
Section 508 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
318) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: 
‘‘(d) RESPONSE SUBCOMMITTEE.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016, the 
Administrator shall establish, as a subcommittee of the 
National Advisory Council, the Railroad Emergency Services 
Preparedness, Operational Needs, and Safety Evaluation Sub-
committee (referred to in this subsection as the ‘RESPONSE 
Subcommittee’). 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Notwithstanding subsection (c), the 
RESPONSE Subcommittee shall be composed of the following: 
‘‘(A) 
The 
Deputy 
Administrator, 
Protection 
and 
National Preparedness of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency, or designee. 
‘‘(B) The Chief Safety Officer of the Pipeline and Haz-
ardous Materials Safety Administration, or designee. 
‘‘(C) The Associate Administrator for Hazardous Mate-
rials Safety of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration, or designee. 
‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Emergency Commu-
nications of the Department of Homeland Security, or des-
ignee. 
‘‘(E) The Director for the Office of Railroad, Pipeline 
and Hazardous Materials Investigations of the National 
Transportation Safety Board, or designee. 
‘‘(F) The Chief Safety Officer and Associate Adminis-
trator for Railroad Safety of the Federal Railroad Adminis-
tration, or designee. 
Deadline. 
RESPONSE Act 
of 2016. 
6 USC 101 note. 
Dec. 16, 2016 
[S. 546] 
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130 STAT. 1624 
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 
‘‘(G) The Assistant Administrator for Security Policy 
and Industry Engagement of the Transportation Security 
Administration, or designee. 
‘‘(H) The Assistant Commandant for Response Policy 
of the Coast Guard, or designee. 
‘‘(I) The Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid 
Waste and Emergency Response of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, or designee. 
‘‘(J) Such other qualified individuals as the co-chair-
persons shall jointly appoint as soon as practicable after 
the date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016 
from among the following: 
‘‘(i) Members of the National Advisory Council that 
have the requisite technical knowledge and expertise 
to address rail emergency response issues, including 
members from the following disciplines: 
‘‘(I) Emergency management and emergency 
response providers, including fire service, law 
enforcement, hazardous materials response, and 
emergency medical services. 
‘‘(II) State, local, and tribal government offi-
cials. 
‘‘(ii) Individuals who have the requisite technical 
knowledge and expertise to serve on the RESPONSE 
Subcommittee, including at least 1 representative from 
each of the following: 
‘‘(I) The rail industry. 
‘‘(II) Rail labor. 
‘‘(III) Persons who offer oil for transportation 
by rail. 
‘‘(IV) The communications industry. 
‘‘(V) Emergency response providers, including 
individuals nominated by national organizations 
representing State and local governments and 
emergency responders. 
‘‘(VI) Emergency response training providers. 
‘‘(VII) Representatives from tribal organiza-
tions. 
‘‘(VIII) Technical experts. 
‘‘(IX) Vendors, developers, and manufacturers 
of systems, facilities, equipment, and capabilities 
for emergency responder services. 
‘‘(iii) Representatives of such other stakeholders 
and interested and affected parties as the co-chair-
persons consider appropriate. 
‘‘(3) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The members described in sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall serve as the 
co-chairpersons of the RESPONSE Subcommittee. 
‘‘(4) 
INITIAL
MEETING.—The 
initial 
meeting 
of 
the 
RESPONSE Subcommittee shall take place not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 
2016. 
‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH NONMEMBERS.—The RESPONSE 
Subcommittee and the program offices for emergency responder 
training and resources shall consult with other relevant agen-
cies and groups, including entities engaged in federally funded 
research and academic institutions engaged in relevant work 
Deadline. 
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130 STAT. 1625 
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 
and research, which are not represented on the RESPONSE 
Subcommittee to consider new and developing technologies and 
methods that may be beneficial to preparedness and response 
to rail hazardous materials incidents. 
‘‘(6) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The RESPONSE Subcommittee 
shall develop recommendations, as appropriate, for improving 
emergency responder training and resource allocation for haz-
ardous materials incidents involving railroads after evaluating 
the following topics: 
‘‘(A) The quality and application of training for State 
and local emergency responders related to rail hazardous 
materials incidents, including training for emergency 
responders serving small communities near railroads, 
including the following: 
‘‘(i) Ease of access to relevant training for State 
and local emergency responders, including an analysis 
of— 
‘‘(I) the number of individuals being trained; 
‘‘(II) the number of individuals who are 
applying; 
‘‘(III) whether current demand is being met; 
‘‘(IV) current challenges; and 
‘‘(V) projected needs. 
‘‘(ii) Modernization of training course content 
related to rail hazardous materials incidents, with a 
particular focus on fluctuations in oil shipments by 
rail, including regular and ongoing evaluation of course 
opportunities, adaptation to emerging trends, agency 
and private sector outreach, effectiveness and ease of 
access for State and local emergency responders. 
‘‘(iii) Identification of overlap in training content 
and identification of opportunities to develop com-
plementary courses and materials among governmental 
and nongovernmental entities. 
‘‘(iv) Online training platforms, train-the-trainer, 
and mobile training options. 
‘‘(B) The availability and effectiveness of Federal, State, 
local, and nongovernmental funding levels related to 
training emergency responders for rail hazardous materials 
incidents, including emergency responders serving small 
communities near railroads, including— 
‘‘(i) identifying overlap in resource allocations; 
‘‘(ii) identifying cost savings measures that can 
be implemented to increase training opportunities; 
‘‘(iii) leveraging government funding with non-
governmental funding to enhance training opportuni-
ties and fill existing training gaps; 
‘‘(iv) adaptation of priority settings for agency 
funding allocations in response to emerging trends; 
‘‘(v) historic levels of funding across Federal agen-
cies for rail hazardous materials incident response and 
training, including funding provided by the private 
sector to public entities or in conjunction with Federal 
programs; and 
‘‘(vi) current funding resources across agencies. 
Evaluations. 
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130 STAT. 1626 
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 
‘‘(C) The strategy for integrating commodity flow 
studies, mapping, and rail and hazardous materials data-
bases for State and local emergency responders and 
increasing the rate of access to the individual responder 
in existing or emerging communications technology. 
‘‘(7) REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016, 
the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall submit a report to 
the National Advisory Council that— 
‘‘(i) includes the recommendations developed under 
paragraph (6); 
‘‘(ii) specifies the timeframes for implementing any 
such recommendations that do not require congres-
sional action; and 
‘‘(iii) identifies any such recommendations that do 
require congressional action. 
‘‘(B) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after receiving 
the report under subparagraph (A), the National Advisory 
Council shall begin a review of the report. The National 
Advisory Council may ask for additional clarification, 
changes, or other information from the RESPONSE Sub-
committee to assist in the approval of the recommenda-
tions. 
‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATION.—Once the National Advisory 
Council approves the recommendations of the RESPONSE 
Subcommittee, the National Advisory Council shall submit 
the report to— 
‘‘(i) the co-chairpersons of the RESPONSE Sub-
committee; 
‘‘(ii) the head of each other agency represented 
on the RESPONSE Subcommittee; 
‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
‘‘(iv) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate; 
‘‘(v) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(vi) the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(8) INTERIM ACTIVITY.— 
‘‘(A) UPDATES AND OVERSIGHT.—After the submission 
of the report by the National Advisory Council under para-
graph (7), the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(i) provide annual updates to the congressional 
committees referred to in paragraph (7)(C) regarding 
the status of the implementation of the recommenda-
tions developed under paragraph (6); and 
‘‘(ii) coordinate the implementation of the rec-
ommendations described in paragraph (6)(G)(i), as 
appropriate. 
‘‘(B) SUNSET.—The requirements of subparagraph (A) 
shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date 
of the submission of the report required under paragraph 
(7)(A). 
Coordination. 
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130 STAT. 1627 
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 546: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 114–808 (Comm. on Transportation and Infrastructure). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 114–85 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 162 (2016): 
May 9, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 29, considered and passed House, amended. 
Dec. 9, Senate concurred in House amendment. 
‘‘(9) TERMINATION.—The RESPONSE Subcommittee shall 
terminate not later than 90 days after the submission of the 
report required under paragraph (7)(C).’’. 
Approved December 16, 2016. 
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