[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3227 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3227

 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to establish clearly defined standards and guidelines 
  for Federal, State, and local government emergency preparedness and 
              response capability, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2003

Mr. Shays (for himself, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Turner of Ohio, Mr. Tierney, 
Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Ruppersberger) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 
in addition to the Select Committee on Homeland Security, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to establish clearly defined standards and guidelines 
  for Federal, State, and local government emergency preparedness and 
              response capability, 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 ``National Preparedness Standards 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Second Report of the Advisory Panel to Assess 
        Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons 
        of Mass Destruction (also known as the Gilmore Commission) 
        called for standards for emergency preparedness and response.
            (2) The National Strategy for Homeland Security calls for 
        the issuance of standards for emergency preparedness and 
        response.
            (3) The standard-setting activities called for in the 
        Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) need to be 
        accelerated and coordinated.
            (4) Actual preparedness against the threat of weapons of 
        mass destruction is not being enhanced sufficiently.
            (5) The lack of standards for Federal, State, and local 
        government emergency preparedness and response poses the risk 
        of grant funds for emergency preparedness and response being 
        wasted.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 510. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE STANDARDS.

    ``(a) Requirement to Establish Standards.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        other Federal agencies, State and local emergency responder 
        agencies and officials, and standard-setting bodies from the 
        emergency responder community, shall establish clearly defined 
        standards and guidelines for Federal, State, and local 
        government emergency preparedness and response capability, 
        including for training, interoperable communication systems, 
        and response equipment.
            ``(2) Content.--The Secretary shall design such standards 
        to comply with the following:
                    ``(A) Flexibility.--The standards shall be 
                sufficiently flexible to allow local government 
                officials to set priorities based on their needs, while 
                reaching nationally determined preparedness levels 
                within a fixed time period.
                    ``(B) Measurable capabilities.--The standards shall 
                be designed to develop emergency preparedness and 
                response capabilities that are measurable and subject 
                to Federal audit.
    ``(b) Determination of State and Local Government Minimum Essential 
Capability.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) determine for each State the minimum essential 
        emergency preparedness and response capability that should be 
        achieved by the State, including State and local government 
        emergency preparedness and response agencies of the State; and
            ``(2) measure for each State progress made by State and 
        local government emergency preparedness and response agencies--
                    ``(A) in achieving the minimum essential capability 
                determined for the State under paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) complying with standards issued by the 
                Secretary under this section.
    ``(c) Improvement of Compliance With Standards.--To improve 
compliance with emergency preparedness and response capability 
standards under this section, the Secretary may--
            ``(1) coordinate and consolidate the development by the 
        Federal Government of standards for Federal, State, and local 
        government for Federal, State, and local government emergency 
        preparedness and response capability, including for training, 
        interoperable communication systems, and response equipment;
            ``(2) establish and coordinate an integrated capability for 
        Federal, State, and local governments and emergency responders 
        to plan for and address potential consequences of terrorism;
            ``(3) coordinate provision of Federal terrorism 
        preparedness assistance to State, tribal, and local 
        governments;
            ``(4) establish standards for a national, interoperable 
        emergency communications and warning system; and
            ``(5) establish standards for training of first responders, 
        and for equipment to be used by first responders, to respond to 
        incidents of terrorism, including incidents involving weapons 
        of mass destruction.
    ``(d) Consultation.--In carrying out activities under this section, 
the Secretary shall consult with relevant private sector groups, 
including--
            ``(1) the National Fire Protection Association;
            ``(2) National Association of County and City Health 
        Officials;
            ``(3) Association of State and Territorial Health 
        Officials; and
            ``(4) American National Standards Institute.
    ``(e) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall, by not later than 9 
months after the date of the enactment of this section and annually 
thereafter, report to the Congress, on a State-by-State basis, 
regarding--
            ``(1) progress achieved, by grant and training programs 
        administered by the Department, in--
                    ``(A) increasing State and local government 
                terrorism preparedness; and
                    ``(B) conforming such State and local government 
                terrorism preparedness to applicable standards issued 
                by Federal agencies;
            ``(2) when State and local government terrorism 
        preparedness will conform to such standards; and
            ``(3) the amount of expenditures required for State and 
        local government terrorism preparedness to conform to such 
        standards.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 509 
the following:

``Sec. 510. Emergency preparedness and response standards.''.

SEC. 4. STANDARD WITH RESPECT TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, pursuant to the amendment 
made by section 3, include in the fiscal year 2005 budget request for 
the Department of Homeland Security a minimum essential emergency 
preparedness and response capability standard with respect to weapons 
of mass destruction- and terrorism-related disaster equipment and 
training, separately--
            (1) for metropolitan areas, expressed per 100,000 persons 
        in a metropolitan area; and
            (2) for rural areas.
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