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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 105
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to establish a program to provide Federal grants to
first responders to enhance their ability to respond to incidents of
terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass destruction,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 2003
Mr. Hastings of Florida introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to establish a program to provide Federal grants to
first responders to enhance their ability to respond to incidents of
terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass destruction,
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 ``Homeland Emergency Responders
Organization Act of 2002''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Federal Government must enhance the ability of
first responders to coordinate and respond to incidents of
terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass
destruction; and
(2) as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, it is
necessary to empower the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(in this section referred to as ``FEMA'') to distribute Federal
grant monies to States and local communities and, define and
clarify the terms and conditions under which such funds will be
dispersed, spent, matched, and reported.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish within FEMA the Office of National
Preparedness;
(2) to establish a program, with criteria and guidelines,
for first responders to utilize Federal grants to enhance their
ability to respond to incidents of terrorism, including
incidents involving weapons of mass destruction; and
(3) to establish a program, with criteria and guidelines,
for States to utilize Federal grant dollars in establishing
coordinated interstate and intrastate antiterrorism programs,
establishing mutual aid programs, planning, developing, and
executing terrorism response exercises, and establishing or
upgrading statewide emergency notification capabilities, such
as the ``Amber Alert project'' in California and Texas, and
such other purposes as the Director of FEMA determines.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Major Disaster.--Section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)) is
amended by inserting ``incident of terrorism,'' after ``drought),''.
(b) Weapon of Mass Destruction.--Section 602(a) of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5165a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(11) Weapon of mass destruction.--The term `weapon of
mass destruction' means any weapon or device that is intended,
or has the capability, to cause death or serious bodily injury
to a significant number of people through the release,
dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or
their precursors, disease organisms, or radiation or
radioactivity.''.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS.
Subtitle A of title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5196 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 616. OFFICE OF NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS.
``(a) In General.--There is established in the Federal Emergency
Management Agency an office to be known as the `Office of National
Preparedness' (referred to in this section as the `Office').
``(b) Deputy Director.--The Office shall be headed by a Deputy
Director.
``(c) Duties.--
``(1) Points of contact.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of the establishment of the Office, the Deputy Director
shall designate a national preparedness point of contact in
each of the 10 regional offices of the Agency.
``(2) Eligibility criteria.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of the establishment of the office, the deputy
director shall establish criteria to determine eligibility of
local first responders to receive grants under section 630.
``(3) Distribution of funds.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of the establishment of the Office, the Deputy
Director shall establish an expeditious method of distributing
grant funds under section 630 to first responders through the
regional points of contact designated under paragraph (1).
``(4) Emergency communications equipment standards.--Not
later than 120 days after the date of the establishment of the
Office, the Deputy Director shall establish standards for
emergency communications equipment to ensure interoperability
and deny grants under section 630 to State and first responders
that do not comply with those standards.
``(5) Response equipment standards.--Not later than 120
days after the date of the establishment of the Office, the
Deputy Director shall establish standards for equipment to be
used by personnel that have responsibilities relating to
homeland preparedness or security, or both, and that are under
the jurisdiction of a first responder to respond to incidents
of terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass
destruction.
``(6) Standards for terrorism preparedness.--Not later than
1 year after the date of the establishment of the Office, the
Deputy Director shall establish clearly defined standards and
guidelines for terrorism preparedness and response by State
governments to ensure interstate and intrastate response
capabilities.
``(7) Web site.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the establishment of the Office, the Deputy Director shall
create a Web site for use by States and local first responders
for purposes of sharing information on homeland security
preparedness.
``(8) Progress report.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of the establishment of the Office, the Director shall
transmit to Congress a report on the progress of the Office in
carrying out its duties under paragraphs (1) through (7).
``(9) Response capability.--Not later than 3 years after
the date of the establishment of the Office, the Deputy
Director shall lead a coordinated and integrated effort to
build a nationwide viable terrorism preparedness and response
capability.
``(10) Training standards.--The Deputy Director shall
establish standards for the training of personnel that have
responsibilities relating to homeland preparedness or security,
or both, and that are under the jurisdiction of a first
responder.
``(11) Miscellaneous.--The Office and Deputy Director shall
carry out such other duties as the Director may delegate.
``(d) Use of Existing Resources.--In carrying out this section, the
Deputy Director shall--
``(1) use existing resources, including personnel of the
Agency and, when appropriate, planning documents, equipment
lists, program inventories, and plans of the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, and the
Department of Health and Human Services; and
``(2) consult with and use--
``(A) existing Federal interagency boards and
committees;
``(B) existing Government agencies; and
``(C) nongovernmental organizations.''.
SEC. 5. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
Subtitle B of title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5197 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 630. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section and section 616, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) State.--The term `State' means the 50 States.
``(2) First responder.--The term `first responder' means
any local governmental entity, Indian tribe (as defined in
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450(b)), Indian tribe organization,
or Native village (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) that has jurisdiction
over 1 or more of the following:
``(A) Law enforcement officers.
``(B) Firefighters.
``(C) Emergency personnel.
``(D) Public and environmental health personnel.
``(E) Such other personnel with duties related to
homeland preparedness or security, or both, as the
Director may determine.
``(b) Grant Program.--The Deputy Director of the Office of National
Preparedness shall establish a program to make grants to first
responders and States to prepare for and respond to incidents of
terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.
``(c) Maintenance of Effort.--
``(1) In general.--No first responder or State shall be
eligible to receive a grant under this section unless the
aggregate expenditures of the first responder or State for
homeland preparedness and security (as defined by the Deputy
Director) are maintained at a level which does not fall below
the average level of such expenditures for its 2 fiscal years
preceding the date of receipt of the grant.
``(2) Enforcement.--If a first responder or State does not
meet the aggregate expenditure for homeland preparedness and
security required under paragraph (1) in a fiscal year, the
Director shall withhold the amount of a grant from the first
responder or State until the first responder or State makes
such expenditure.
``(d) Uses of Grants.--Grants made under this section--
``(1) may be used by a first responder only--
``(A) to purchase interoperable equipment in
compliance with Federal standards established by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency section 616(c)(4);
``(B) to train personnel that have responsibilities
relating to homeland preparedness or security, or both,
and that are under the jurisdiction of the first
responder;
``(C) to upgrade emergency operating centers;
``(D) to conduct terrorism response exercises;
``(E) to compensate for overtime costs incurred in
carrying out activities under subparagraphs (B) and (D)
or as approved by the Deputy Director; and
``(F) to carry out such other related activities or
to purchase materials or equipment as are approved by
the Deputy Director; and
``(2) may be used by States only--
``(A) to establish coordinated interstate and
intrastate antiterrorism programs;
``(B) to establish mutual aid programs;
``(C) to plan and develop and execute terrorism
response exercises;
``(D) to establish or upgrade statewide emergency
notification systems; and
``(E) to carry out such other related activities,
or to purchase such materials and equipment, as are
approved by the Deputy Director.
``(e) Allocation of Funds.--Subject to advance appropriations, the
Deputy Director shall make--
``(1) a grant under this section to each State in each of
fiscal years 2003 through 2007 of $10,000,000;
``(2) grants to first responders under this section,
through the regional points of contact of the Agency designated
under section 616(c)(1), in an amount not to exceed $50,000,000
per Agency region in each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007
based on--
``(A) the likelihood of a terrorism attack as
determined by the appropriate Federal agency
responsible for making terrorism threat assessments;
``(B) the location of the population for which the
first responders have responsibility;
``(C) the proximity to vital infrastructure,
including--
``(i) military installations;
``(ii) public buildings (as defined in
section 13 of the Public Buildings Act of 1959
(40 U.S.C. 612));
``(iii) nuclear power plants;
``(iv) chemical plants; and
``(v) national landmarks; and
``(D) the proximity to international borders;
``(3) grants in such amounts to first responders in rural,
nonurban areas as the Director determines appropriate; and
``(4) grants in such amounts to such other first responders
having responsibility for homeland preparedness or security, or
both, as the Deputy Director determines appropriate.
``(f) Administrative Expenses.--
``(1) States.--Not more than 2 percent of a grant made to a
State under this section may be used for administrative
expenses of carrying out its responsibilities under this
section.
``(2) Local first responders.--Not more than 2 percent of a
grant made to a first responder under this section may be used
for administrative expenses of carrying out its
responsibilities under this section.
``(g) Accountability and Oversight.--
``(1) Agency objectives and reports.--
``(A) Objectives.--The Deputy Director shall
develop quantifiable, measurable objectives for
achieving improved homeland preparedness and security
at the regional level.
``(B) Reports.--The Deputy Director shall require
each regional point of contact of the Agency designated
under section 616(c)(1) to make annual reports to the
Deputy Director on improvements in homeland
preparedness and security within the region and to
report failures to meet the quantifiable objectives
developed under subparagraph (A) to the Inspector
General of the Agency.
``(2) State objectives and reports.--
``(A) Reports.--Each State, as a condition of
receipt of a grant under this section, shall develop
quantifiable, measurable objectives for achieving
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