To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to establish a program to provide assistance to enhance the ability of first responders to prepare for and respond to all hazards, and for other purposes.

April 28, 2003

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to establish a program to provide assistance to enhance the ability of first responders to prepare for and respond to all hazards, 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 `Emergency Preparedness and Response Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDING- Congress finds that the Federal Government must enhance the ability of first responders to prepare for and respond to all hazards.

(b) PURPOSES- The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to establish within the Federal Emergency Management Agency the Office of National Preparedness;

(2) to establish a program to provide assistance to enhance the ability of first responders to respond to all hazards; and

(3) to address issues relating to urban search and rescue task forces.

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. 5196(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(11) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION- The term `weapon of mass destruction' has the meaning given the term in section 2302 of title 50, United States Code.'.

SEC. 4. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

(a) IN GENERAL- 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:

`(1) DIRECTOR- The term `Director' means the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

`(2) FIRST RESPONDER- The term `first responder' means--

`(A) fire, emergency medical service, and law enforcement personnel; and

`(B) such other personnel as are identified by the Director.

`(3) LOCAL ENTITY- The term `local entity' has the meaning given the term by regulation promulgated by the Director.

`(4) PROGRAM- The term `program' means the program established under subsection (b).

`(b) PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Director shall establish a program to provide assistance to States to enhance the ability of State and local first responders to respond to all hazards.

`(2) FEDERAL SHARE- The Federal share of the costs eligible to be paid using assistance provided under the program shall be not less than 75 percent, as determined by the Director.

`(3) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE- Assistance provided under paragraph (1) may consist of--

`(A) grants; and

`(B) such other forms of assistance as the Director determines to be appropriate.

`(c) USES OF ASSISTANCE- Assistance provided under subsection (b)--

`(1) shall be used--

`(A) to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, interoperable equipment that is necessary to respond to hazards;

`(B) to train first responders, consistent with guidelines and standards developed by the Director;

`(C) in consultation with the Director, to develop, construct, or upgrade preparedness training facilities;

`(D) to develop, construct, or upgrade emergency operating centers;

`(E) to develop preparedness and response plans consistent with Federal, State, and local strategies, as determined by the Director;

`(F) to provide systems and equipment to meet communication needs, such as emergency notification systems, interoperable equipment, and secure communication equipment;

`(G) to conduct exercises; and

`(H) to carry out such other related activities as are approved by the Director; and

`(2) shall not be used to provide compensation to first responders (including payment for overtime).

`(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS- For each fiscal year, in providing assistance under subsection (b), the Director shall make available--

`(1) to each of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, $3,000,000; and

`(2) to each State (other than a State specified in paragraph (1))--

`(A) a base amount of $15,000,000; and

`(B) a percentage of the total remaining funds made available for the fiscal year based on criteria established by the Director, such as--

`(i) population; and

`(ii) location of vital infrastructure, including--

`(I) military installations;

`(II) public buildings (as defined in section 3301(a) of title 40, United States Code);

`(III) nuclear power plants;

`(IV) chemical plants; and

`(V) national landmarks.

`(e) PROVISION OF FUNDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND LOCAL ENTITIES- For each fiscal year, not less than 75 percent of the assistance provided to each State under this section shall be provided to local governments and local entities within the State.

`(f) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES-

`(1) DIRECTOR- For each fiscal year, the Director may use to pay salaries and other administrative expenses incurred in administering the program not more than the lesser of--

`(A) 5 percent of the funds made available to carry out this section for the fiscal year; or

`(B)(i) for fiscal year 2004, $75,000,000; and

`(ii) for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2007, $50,000,000.

`(2) RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE- For each fiscal year, not more than 10 percent of the funds retained by a State after application of subsection (e) may be used to pay salaries and other administrative expenses incurred in administering the program.

`(g) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES- The Director may provide assistance to a State under this section only if the State agrees to maintain, and to ensure that each local government that receives funds from the State in accordance with subsection (e) maintains, for the fiscal year for which the assistance is provided, the aggregate expenditures by the State or the local government, respectively, for the uses described in subsection (c)(1) at a level that is at or above the average annual level of those expenditures by the State or local government, respectively, for the 2 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year for which the assistance is provided.

`(h) REPORTS-

`(1) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR- As a condition of receipt of assistance under this section for a fiscal year, a State shall submit to the Director, not later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal year, a report on the use of the assistance in the fiscal year.

`(2) EXERCISE AND REPORT TO CONGRESS- As a condition of receipt of assistance under this section, not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this section, a State shall--

`(A) conduct an exercise, or participate in a regional exercise, approved by the Director, to measure the progress of the State in enhancing the ability of State and local first responders to respond to all hazards; and

`(B) submit a report on the results of the exercise to--

`(i) the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

`(ii) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

`(i) COORDINATION-

`(1) WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES- The Director shall, as necessary, coordinate the provision of assistance under this section with activities carried out by appropriate Federal agencies.

`(2) WITH INDIAN TRIBES- In providing and using assistance under this section, the Director and the States shall, as appropriate, coordinate with--

`(A) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) and other tribal organizations; and

`(B) Native villages (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) and other Alaska Native organizations.'.

(b) COST SHARING FOR EMERGENCY OPERATING CENTERS- Section 614 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5196c) is amended--

(1) by inserting `(other than section 630)' after `carry out this title'; and

(2) by inserting `(other than section 630)' after `under this title'.

SEC. 5. URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES.

Subtitle B of title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

5197 et seq.) (as amended by section 4(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 631. URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES.

`(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

`(1) URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE EQUIPMENT- The term `urban search and rescue equipment' means any equipment that the Director determines to be necessary to respond to a major disaster or emergency declared by the President under this Act.

`(2) URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCE- The term `urban search and rescue task force' means any of the 28 urban search and rescue task forces designated by the Director as of the date of enactment of this section.

`(b) ASSISTANCE-

`(1) MANDATORY GRANTS FOR COSTS OF OPERATIONS- For each fiscal year, of the amounts made available to carry out this section, the Director shall provide to each urban search and rescue task force a grant of not less than $1,500,000 to pay the costs of operations of the urban search and rescue task force (including costs of basic urban search and rescue equipment).

`(2) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS- The Director may provide to any urban search and rescue task force a grant, in such amount as the Director determines to be appropriate, to pay the costs of--

`(A) operations in excess of the funds provided under paragraph (1);

`(B) urban search and rescue equipment;

`(C) equipment necessary for an urban search and rescue task force to operate in an environment contaminated or otherwise affected by a weapon of mass destruction;

`(D) training, including training for operating in an environment described in subparagraph (C);

`(E) transportation;

`(F) expansion of the urban search and rescue task force; and

`(G) incident support teams, including costs of conducting appropriate evaluations of the readiness of the urban search and rescue task force.

`(3) PRIORITY FOR FUNDING- The Director shall distribute funding under this subsection so as to ensure that each urban search and rescue task force has the capacity to deploy simultaneously at least 2 teams with all necessary equipment, training, and transportation.

`(c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS- The Director shall establish such requirements as are necessary to provide grants under this section.

`(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), the Director may establish urban search and rescue task forces in addition to the 28 urban search and rescue task forces in existence on the date of enactment of this section.

`(2) REQUIREMENT OF FULL FUNDING OF EXISTING URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES- Except in the case of an urban search and rescue task force designated to replace any urban search and rescue task force that withdraws or is otherwise no longer considered to be an urban search and rescue task force designated by the Director, no additional urban search and rescue task forces may be designated or funded until the 28 urban search and rescue task forces are able to deploy simultaneously at least 2 teams with all necessary equipment, training, and transportation.'.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

Section 626 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5197e) is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:

`(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-

`(1) IN GENERAL- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this title (other than sections 630 and 631).

`(2) PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 630--

`(A) $3,340,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

`(B) $3,458,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2007.

`(3) URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES-

`(A) IN GENERAL- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 631--

`(i) $160,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

`(ii) $42,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2007.

`(B) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS- Amounts made available under subparagraph (A) shall remain available until expended.'.

END