109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4698
To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer to
assist victims of national disasters.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2006
Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer to
assist victims of national disasters.
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 `Disaster Relief Volunteer Protection Act of
2006'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) It is in the national interest to encourage individuals to volunteer
to assist victims of national disasters.
(2) The exposure of potential volunteers, their employers, and those who
would use volunteers' services under existing law to compensatory and
punitive damages for negligent acts discourages the provision of these
services.
(3) The availability of damages in these circumstances for actions that
constitute gross negligence creates uncertainty concerning the actual
conduct that might cause liability to be imposed on volunteers.
(4) Potential liability for acts of volunteers discourages the employers
or business partners of potential volunteers from permitting those potential
volunteers to provide disaster relief services.
(5) Potential liability for acts of volunteers discourages entities that
might use the services provided by volunteers in national disasters from
doing so.
(6) Well-founded fear of liability under existing law for providing goods
discourages governmental and intergovernmental entities from providing
needed disaster relief goods.
(7) Well-founded fear of liability for punitive damages under existing
law discourages governmental and intergovernmental entities from providing
needed disaster relief goods and discourages potential volunteers from
providing volunteer services to disaster victims.
(8) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages for providing volunteer
services deters potential volunteers from states located outside the national
disaster area from providing volunteer services.
(9) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages for providing volunteer
services deters potential foreign volunteers from providing disaster relief
services.
(10) Any lessening of liability for volunteers providing disaster relief
services, their employers and business partners, and entities utilizing
their services should maintain adequate incentives for each of these classes
of persons or entities to avoid causing harm.
(11) Unwillingness to provide volunteer services to disaster victims in
the face of uncertain liability substantially affects, burdens, and deters
interstate commerce and travel.
(12) Unwillingness of employers and business partners to allow their employees
and business partners to provide disaster relief services in the face
of uncertain liability substantially affects, burdens, and deters interstate
commerce and travel.
(13) Unwillingness of persons, entities, or organizations to accept disaster
relief services from volunteers in the face of uncertain liability substantially
affects, burdens, and deters interstate commerce and travel.
(14) Unwillingness by foreigners to provide voluntary disaster relief
services in the face of uncertain liability substantially affects, burdens,
and deters foreign commerce and travel.
(15) Unless Congress provides uniform standards to address disasters that
could occur in any State or combination of states, potential volunteers
and others will not be certain which laws would govern their providing
disaster relief services, which would substantially affect, burden, and
deter interstate and foreign commerce and travel in the event of a national
disaster.
SEC. 3. DISASTER RELIEF VOLUNTEERS.
(a) Liability of Disaster Relief Volunteers- A disaster relief volunteer
shall not be liable for any injury (including personal injury, property
damage or loss, and death) caused by an act or omission of such volunteer
in connection with such volunteer's providing or facilitating the provision
of disaster relief services if--
(1) the injury was not caused by willful, wanton, or reckless misconduct
by the volunteer; and
(2) the injury was not caused by the volunteer's operating a motor vehicle,
vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle for which the state requires the operator
or the owner of the vehicle, craft, or vessel to--
(A) possess an operator's license; or
(b) Liability of Employer or Partner of Disaster Relief Volunteer- An employer
or business partner of a disaster relief volunteer shall not be liable for
any act or omission of such volunteer in connection with such volunteer's
providing or facilitating the provision of disaster relief services.
(c) Liability of Host or Enabling Person, Entity, or Organization- A person
or entity, including a governmental entity, that works with, accepts services
from, or makes its facilities available to a disaster relief volunteer to
enable such volunteer to provide disaster relief services shall not be liable
for any act or omission of such volunteer in connection with such volunteer's
providing such services.
(d) Liability of Nonprofit Organizations- A nonprofit organization shall
not be liable for any injury (including personal injury, property damage
or loss, and death) caused by an act or omission in connection with such
nonprofit organization's providing or facilitating the provision of disaster
relief services if the injury was not caused by willful, wanton, or reckless
misconduct by the nonprofit organization.
(e) Liability of Governmental and Intergovernmental Entities for Donations
of Disaster Relief Goods- A governmental or intergovernmental entity that
donates to an agency or instrumentality of the United States disaster relief
goods shall not be liable for any injury (including personal injury, property
damage or loss, and death) caused by such donated goods if the injury was
not caused by willful, wanton, or reckless misconduct by such governmental
or intergovernmental entity.
(f) Limitation on Punitive and Noneconomic Damages Based on Actions of Disaster
Relief Volunteers and Governmental Donors-
(1) PUNITIVE DAMAGES- Unless the claimant establishes by clear and convincing
evidence that its damages were proximately caused by willful, wanton,
or reckless misconduct by either--
(A) a disaster relief volunteer in any civil action brought for injury
caused by the volunteer's providing or facilitating the provision of
disaster relief services; or
(B) a governmental or intergovernmental entity in any civil action brought
for injury caused by disaster relief goods donated by such governmental
or intergovernmental entity;
punitive damages may not be awarded in any civil action against such a
volunteer or governmental entity.
(A) GENERAL RULE- In any civil action brought against--
(i) a disaster relief volunteer for injury caused by such volunteer's
providing or facilitating the provision of disaster relief services;
or
(ii) a governmental or intergovernmental entity for injury caused
by disaster relief goods donated by such governmental entity;
liability for noneconomic loss, if permitted under subsection (a) or
(e) of this section, shall be determined in accordance with this subparagraph.
(B) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY- (i) The amount of noneconomic loss allocated
to the disaster relief volunteer or governmental or intergovernmental
entity defendant shall be in direct proportion to the percentage of
responsibility of that defendant (determined in accordance with clause
(ii)) for the harm to the claimant with respect to which that defendant
is liable. The court shall render a separate judgment against each defendant
in an amount determined pursuant to this section.
(ii) For purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic loss allocated
to a defendant, the trier of fact shall determine the percentage of
responsibility of each person or entity responsible for the claimant's
harm, whether or not such person or entity is a party to the action.
(g) Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate
or limit any protection that a volunteer, as defined in the Volunteer Protection
Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 14501 et seq.), may be entitled to under that Act.
Neither shall anything in this section be construed to confer any private
right of action or to abrogate or limit any protection with respect to either
liability or damages that any disaster relief volunteer or governmental
or intergovernmental entity may be entitled to under any other provision
of law.
(h) Supplemental Declaration- If a Disaster Declaration is issued, the President,
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or the Secretary of Homeland
Security may issue a Supplemental Declaration under this section.
(1) TEMPORAL EFFECT- Such Supplemental Declaration may provide that, for
purposes of this section, such Disaster Declaration shall have such temporal
effect as the President or the Secretary may deem necessary or appropriate
to further the public interest, including providing that such Disaster
Declaration shall have an effective date earlier than the date of the
declaration or determination of such Disaster Declaration.
(2) GEOGRAPHIC AND OTHER CONDITIONS- Such Supplemental Declaration may
provide that, for purposes of this section, such Disaster Declaration
shall have such geographic or other conditions as the President or the
Secretary may deem necessary or appropriate to further the public interest.
(i) Licensing, Certification, and Authorization- This section shall not
apply to a disaster relief volunteer where the disaster relief service such
volunteer provides is of a type that generally requires a license, certificate,
or authorization, and the disaster relief volunteer lacks such license,
certificate, or authorization, unless--
(1) such volunteer is licensed, certified, or authorized to provide such
services in any State to the extent required, if any, by the appropriate
authorities of that State, even if such State is not the State in which
the disaster relief volunteer provides disaster relief services; or
(2) otherwise specified in a Disaster Declaration or Supplemental Declaration
under this section.
(j) Definitions- For purposes of this section:
(1) The term `Disaster Declaration' means--
(A) a public health emergency declaration by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 247d);
(B) a declaration of a public health emergency or a risk of such emergency
as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in accordance with
clause (i) or clause (ii) of section 2811(b)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
300hh-11(b)(3)(A)) and section 503(5) of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 313(5)); or
(C) an emergency or major disaster declaration by the President under
section 401 or 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 or 5191).
(2) The term `disaster relief volunteer' means an individual who provides
disaster relief services in connection with a Disaster Declaration without
expectation or receipt of compensation in exchange for providing such
services.
(3) The term `disaster relief services' means services or assistance provided
in preparation for, response to, or recovery from any event that is the
subject of a Disaster Declaration, including but not limited to health,
medical, fire fighting, rescue, reconstruction, and any other services
or assistance specified by a Supplemental Declaration under this section
as necessary or desirable to prepare for, respond to, or recover from
an event that is the subject of a Disaster Declaration.
(4) The term `disaster relief good' means either--
(A) those goods provided in preparation for, response to, or recovery
from any event that is the subject of a Disaster Declaration and reasonably
necessary to such preparation, response, or recovery; or
(B) those goods defined by a Disaster Declaration or Supplemental Declaration
under this section.
(5) The term `noneconomic loss' means losses for physical and emotional
pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement,
loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of
consortium (other than loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury
to reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature.
(6) The term `State' means each of the several States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, any other territory or possession
of the United States, or any political subdivision of any such State,
territory, or possession, and (for purposes of subsection (h)) any foreign
country.
(7) The term `compensation' means monetary or other compensation of any
kind provided in exchange for an individual's services, but does not include--
(A) reasonable reimbursement or allowance for expenses actually incurred
by such an individual;
(B) provision of reasonable supplies, lodging, or transportation to
such an individual; or
(C) such an individual's ordinary salary or compensation paid by his
or her employer while such individual is on leave from his or her ordinary
duties with such employer in order to provide disaster relief services.
END
