[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 105 Introduced in House (IH)]






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 
                improved homeland preparedness and security at the 
                State level.
                    ``(B) Objectives.--Within 1 year of the date of 
                receipt of a grant under this section, a State shall 
                report to the Deputy Director on progress made in 
                meeting the objectives it developed under subparagraph 
                (A), how grant funds were used to meet such objectives, 
                and any failures to meet such objectives.
            ``(3) Repayment.--If the Deputy Director determines that a 
        first responder or State has improperly used Federal funds made 
        available under this section, the first responder or State 
        shall be liable to repay to the United States the amount 
        determined by the Deputy Director to have been used improperly.
    ``(h) Administrative Expenses.--The Deputy Director may use not 
more than 5 percent of the amounts appropriated to carry out this 
section for a fiscal year to establish and maintain the Office of 
National Preparedness under section 616 and for administrative expenses 
of carrying out this section in such fiscal year.
    ``(i) Coordination.--The Director shall establish working 
relationships with other Federal agencies to prevent duplication of 
assistance to first responders and States for purposes of homeland 
preparedness and security.''.
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