[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2830 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2830

 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to 
carry out a pilot program to assess the benefits of establishing local 
  and regional hazardous material emergency response teams in certain 
                                 areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 1997

   Mr. Wise introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to 
carry out a pilot program to assess the benefits of establishing local 
  and regional hazardous material emergency response teams in certain 
                                 areas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. HAZARDOUS MATERIAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS.

    (a) Pilot Program.--The Administrator of the Federal Railroad 
Administration shall carry out a pilot program to assess the benefits 
of establishing local and regional hazardous material emergency 
response teams in rural and isolated mountainous areas with rail 
corridors that carry a high volume of hazardous materials.
    (b) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the program, the 
        Administrator shall make grants to provide funding for 4 
        demonstration projects to be conducted in areas described in 
        subsection (a).
            (2) Use of grants.--A grant received under this subsection 
        shall be used for establishing, training, and equipping 
        regional and local hazardous material emergency response teams.
            (3) Eligible grant recipients.--Any public or private 
        nonprofit entity that has experience in coordinating emergency 
        response actions to hazardous materials accidents and incidents 
        shall be eligible to receive a grant under this section.
            (4) Competitive grant selection.--The Administrator shall 
        conduct a national solicitation for applications for grants 
        under this section. Grantees shall be selected on a competitive 
        basis.
            (5) Applications.--A public or private nonprofit entity 
        interested in receiving a grant under this subsection shall 
        submit an application to the Administrator. The application 
        must be submitted at the time, and contain information, the 
        Administrator requires by regulation to carry out the 
        objectives of this section.
            (6) Grant criteria.--In selecting applicants for grants 
        under this subsection, the Administrator shall consider the 
        following:
                    (A) The ability of the applicant to form effective 
                partnerships between representatives of the public 
                safety community, business, and government.
                    (B) The need of the area for more advanced training 
                and continuing education of professionals and volunteer 
                emergency responders.
                    (C) The need of the area for enhanced 
                communications between emergency responders because of 
                the remoteness of the area.
                    (D) The extent to which the applicant demonstrates 
                a comprehensive or innovative approach or strategy to 
                address the needs of emergency responders.
                    (E) The ability of the applicant to obtain 
                financial and other assistance from non-Federal sources 
                to supplement grant amounts received under this 
                subsection.
                    (F) The ability of the applicant to identify local 
                community needs in various areas of hazardous materials 
                response training.
            (7) Grant amounts.--Each grant recipient under this section 
        shall receive in a fiscal year \1/4\ of the total amount 
        appropriated to carry out this section in such fiscal year.
    (c) Report.--Not later than March 31, 2002, the Administrator shall 
transmit to Congress a report on the results of the program conducted 
under this section, together with recommendations concerning 
continuation and expansion of the program.
    (d) Hazardous Material Defined.--In this section, the term 
``hazardous material'' means a substance or material that the Secretary 
of Transportation designates under section 5103(a) of title 49, United 
States Code.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section a total of $2,000,000 for fiscal 
years 1999 through 2001.
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