[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4361 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4361

  To provide for the security of public transportation systems in the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 2004

 Ms. Norton (for herself, Mr. Turner of Texas, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
  California, Mr. Markey, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. 
   Harman, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Andrews, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. 
  McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Pascrell, Mrs. 
 Christensen, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Lucas of Kentucky, Mr. Langevin, Mr. 
Meek of Florida, Mr. Chandler, Mrs. Maloney, and Mr. Matsui) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the security of public transportation systems in the 
                 United States, 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 ``Safe Transit and Rail Awareness and 
Investments for National Security Act of 2004'' or the ``Safe TRAINS 
Act''.

SEC. 2. HOMELAND SECURITY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION GRANTS.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Homeland Security is 
authorized to make grants for the purpose of improving the security of 
public transportation systems against acts of terrorism. The grant 
program shall be administered by the Under Secretary for Border and 
Transportation Security--
            (1) in consultation with the Director of the Office of 
        Domestic Preparedness, to ensure that the program is consistent 
        with other Department of Homeland Security grant programs;
            (2) with the Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure 
        Protection to ensure that grant awards are consistent with 
        critical infrastructure risk assessments and protective 
        priorities as they relate to public transportation; and
            (3) with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology to 
        ensure that technology aspects of grant proposals are feasible 
        and generally consistent with existing technologies and 
        standards.
    (b) Considerations.--Among the considerations on which grants shall 
be awarded are the following:
            (1) Risk of terrorism, including threat assessment, 
        vulnerabilities of public transportation systems, potential 
        effects of acts of terrorism against public transportation 
        systems, and past acts of terrorism against modes of 
        transportation.
            (2) Merits of the proposed projects to increase national 
        security, based on a consideration of--
                    (A) threats;
                    (B) vulnerabilities;
                    (C) consequences, including human casualties and 
                economic impacts;
                    (D) consequence management;
                    (E) the likelihood that such projects would have 
                been pursued in the normal course of business and in 
                the absence of national security considerations; and
                    (F) feasibility, based on the technical and 
                operational merits of the projects.
    (c) Allowable Use of Funds.--Grants made under this section shall 
be used for the purposes of--
            (1) support for increased capital investments in cameras, 
        close-circuit television, and other surveillance systems;
            (2) increased capital investment in command, control, and 
        communications systems, including investments for redundancy 
        and interoperability and for improved situational awareness, 
        such as emergency call boxes and vehicle locator systems;
            (3) increased training, including for carrying out 
        exercises under section 3, and technical support for public 
        transportation employees, especially for security awareness, 
        prevention, emergency response, including evacuation, and 
        decontamination;
            (4) expanded deployment of equipment and other measures, 
        including canine detection teams, for the detection of 
        explosives and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear 
        agents;
            (5) capital improvements and operating activities, 
        including personnel expenditures, to increase the physical 
        security of stations, vehicles, bridges, and tunnels;
            (6) capital improvements and operating activities to 
        improve passenger survivability in the event of an attack, 
        including improvements in ventilation, drainage, fire safety 
        technology, emergency communications systems, lighting systems, 
        passenger egress, and accessibility by emergency response 
        personnel;
            (7) acquisition of emergency response and support 
        equipment, including fire suppression and decontamination 
        equipment; and
            (8) expansion of employee education and public awareness 
        campaigns regarding security on public transportation systems.
    (d) Eligible Recipients.--Grants shall be made available under this 
section directly to owners, operators, and providers of public 
transportation systems. Owners, operators, and providers of 
infrastructure over which public transportation operates, but which is 
not primarily used for public transportation, may also be eligible for 
grants at the discretion of the Secretary.
    (e) Accountability.--The Secretary shall adopt necessary 
procedures, including audits, to ensure that grants made under this 
section are expended in accordance with the purposes of this Act and 
the priorities and other criteria developed by the Secretary. If the 
Secretary determines that a recipient has used any portion of the grant 
funds received under this section for a purpose other than the 
allowable uses specified for that grant under this section, the grantee 
shall return any amount so used to the Treasury of the United States.
    (f) Procedures for Grant Award.--The Secretary shall prescribe 
procedures and schedules for the awarding of grants under this section, 
including application and qualification procedures, and a record of 
decision on applicant eligibility. The Secretary shall issue a final 
rule establishing the procedures not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act.
    (g) Cost Share.--Grants made under this section shall account for 
no more than--
            (1) 85 percent for fiscal year 2005;
            (2) 80 percent for fiscal year 2006; and
            (3) 75 percent for fiscal year 2007,
of the expense of the purposes for which the grants are used.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the purposes of this 
section--
            (1) $1,200,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
            (2) $900,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
            (3) $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall remain available 
until expended.

SEC. 3. TRAINING EXERCISES.

    (a) Guidelines.--Not later than 4 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall publish 
guidelines for the conduct by recipients of grants under section 2 of 
appropriate exercises for emergency response and public transportation 
employee training purposes.
    (b) Plans.--Not later than 6 months after receipt of a grant under 
section 2, the recipient of such grant shall transmit to the Secretary 
its emergency response plan as well as a plan for conducting exercises 
for emergency response and public transportation employee training 
purposes pursuant to the guidelines published under subsection (a).
    (c) Exercises.--
            (1) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after receipt of a 
        grant under section 2, the recipient of such grant shall 
        conduct an exercise pursuant to the plan for conducting 
        exercises transmitted under subsection (b).
            (2) Exemptions.--The Secretary may exempt a grant recipient 
        from the requirement under paragraph (1) if the recipient has 
        recently conducted an equivalent exercise.
            (3) Notice and report.--Not later than 30 days after 
        conducting an exercise under paragraph (1) or as described in 
        paragraph (2), the recipient shall notify the Secretary that 
        such exercise has been completed, including a description of 
        the results of the exercise and findings and lessons learned 
        from the exercise, and shall make recommendations for changes, 
        if necessary, to existing emergency response plans. If the 
        recipient revises an emergency response plan as a result of an 
        exercise under this subsection, the recipient shall transmit 
        the revised plan to the Secretary not later than 6 months after 
        the exercise.
    (d) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall provide technical 
assistance in the design, preparation for, and conduct of emergency 
response exercises.
    (e) Use of Plans.--The Secretary shall ensure that information 
submitted to the Secretary under this section is protected from any 
form of disclosure that might compromise public transportation security 
or trade secrets. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the Secretary 
may use such information, on a nonattributed basis unless otherwise 
agreed to by the source of the information, to aid in developing 
recommendations, best practices, and materials for use by public 
transportation authorities to improve security practices and emergency 
response capabilities.

SEC. 4. SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, develop, disseminate to 
appropriate owners, operators, and providers of public transportation 
systems, public transportation employees and employee representatives, 
and Federal, State, and local officials, and transmit to the Congress a 
report containing best practices for the security of public 
transportation systems. In developing best practices, the Secretary 
shall be responsible for consulting with and collecting input from 
owners, operators, and providers of public transportation systems, 
public transportation employee representatives, first responders, 
industry associations, private sector experts, academic experts, and 
appropriate Federal, State, and local officials.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC AWARENESS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop a national plan for public 
outreach and awareness. Such plan shall be designed to increase 
awareness of measures that the general public, public transportation 
passengers, and public transportation employees can take to increase 
public transportation system security. Such plan shall also provide 
outreach to owners, operators, providers, and employees of public 
transportation systems to improve their awareness of available 
technologies, ongoing research and development efforts, and available 
Federal funding sources to improve public transportation security. Not 
later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall implement the plan developed under this section.

SEC. 6. SECURITY PLAN.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with 
the Secretary of Transportation and in accordance with the Memorandum 
of Agreement executed under section 7, shall develop a strategic plan 
for the security of the Nation's public transportation systems and 
transmit to Congress a report containing a summary of that plan. Such 
plan shall--
            (1) include a comprehensive assessment of risks to the 
        Nation's public transportation systems, including an assessment 
        of threats of terrorist attack, vulnerabilities against 
        terrorist attack, and human, economic, and national security 
        consequences of terrorist attack;
            (2) take into account actions taken or planned by both 
        public and private entities to address identified security 
        issues;
            (3) describe measures for prevention, protection, and 
        preparedness, including recommended actions and best practices 
        (as described in section 4);
            (4) make prioritized recommendations for improving public 
        transportation system security;
            (5) identify specific actions the Federal Government should 
        take to provide increased security support for public 
        transportation systems, both generally and in periods of high 
        or severe threat levels of alert;
            (6) identify measures for coordinating initiatives 
        undertaken by the public and private sectors to increase 
        security of public transportation systems;
            (7) contain an estimate of the cost to implement measures, 
        recommendations, and best practices, and other actions 
        contained within the plan;
            (8) identify milestones and timeframes for implementing 
        measures, recommendations, and best practices, and other 
        actions contained within the plan; and
            (9) identify methods for measuring progress against the 
        plan and communicating such progress to owners, operators, and 
        providers of public transportation systems and to Congress.
    (b) Implementation.--The Secretary shall begin implementation of 
the plan not later than 3 months after its development.
    (c) Consultation; Use of Existing Resources.--In developing the 
plan under this section, the Secretary shall be responsible for 
consulting with and collecting input from owners, operators, and 
providers of public transportation systems, public transportation 
employee representatives, first responders, industry associations, 
private sector experts, academic experts, and appropriate Federal, 
State, and local officials.
    (d) Format.--The Secretary may submit the report in both classified 
and unclassified formats if the Secretary considers that such action is 
appropriate or necessary.
    (e) 2-Year Updates.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Transportation, shall update the plan every 2 years, as 
necessary, and transmit such updated report to Congress.

SEC. 7. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Transportation 
shall execute a Memorandum of Agreement governing the roles and 
responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security and the 
Department of Transportation, respectively, in addressing security 
matters for public transportation systems, including the process the 
departments will follow to promote communications, efficiency, and 
nonduplication of effort. Such Memorandum of Agreement shall also 
establish a formal mechanism to ensure coordination and the timely 
sharing of expertise and information between the Department of Homeland 
Security and the Department of Transportation, as appropriate, in 
public transportation security.

SEC. 8. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SECURITY CENTERS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish more than 1 but not more than 4 National Transportation 
Security Centers at institutions of higher education to assist in 
carrying out this Act and to conduct research and education, and to 
develop or provide professional training, including the training of 
public transportation employees and public transportation-related 
professionals, with emphasis on utilization of intelligent 
transportation systems, technologies, and architectures.
    (b) Criteria.--The Secretary shall designate the Centers according 
to the following selection criteria:
            (1) The demonstrated commitment of the institution to 
        transportation security issues.
            (2) The use of and experience with partnerships with other 
        institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, or 
        other nonprofit laboratories.
            (3) Capability to conduct both practical and theoretical 
        research and technical systems analysis.
            (4) Utilization of intelligent transportation system 
        technologies and architectures.
            (5) Ability to develop professional training programs.
            (6) Capability and willingness to conduct education of 
        transportation security professionals.
            (7) Such other criteria that the Secretary may designate.
    (c) Funding.--The Secretary shall provide such funding as is 
necessary to the National Transportation Security Centers established 
under subsection (a) to carry out this section.

SEC. 9. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.

    (a) In General.--No employee or other person may be harassed, 
prosecuted, held liable, or discriminated against in any way--
            (1) because that person--
                    (A) has commenced or caused to be commenced, or is 
                about to commence;
                    (B) has testified or is about to testify at; or
                    (C) has assisted or participated in, or is about to 
                assist or participate in any manner in,
        a proceeding or any other action to enhance public 
        transportation security; or
            (2) because that person has refused to violate or assist in 
        the violation of any law, rule, or regulation related to public 
        transportation security.
    (b) Application of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Amendments.--
            (1) Civil action to protect against retaliation in fraud 
        cases.--Section 1514A of title 18, United States Code, shall 
        apply to subsection (a) of this section as if--
                    (A) an act or refusal to act described in 
                subsection (a) were described in such section 1514A; 
                and
                    (B) a violation of subsection (a) were a violation 
                of such section 1514A(a).
            (2) Retaliating against a witness, victim, or informant.--
        Section 1513(e) of title 18, United States Code, shall apply to 
        a violation of subsection (a) of this section as if the 
        violation of subsection (a) were a violation of such section 
        1513.

SEC. 10. DEFINITION.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``public transportation employees'' means 
        security personnel, dispatchers, vehicle and vessel operators, 
        other onboard employees, maintenance and support personnel, and 
        other appropriate employees of owners, operators, and providers 
        of public transportation systems; and
            (2) the term ``public transportation systems'' means 
        passenger, commuter, and light rail, including Amtrak and 
        subways, buses, commuter ferries, and other modes of public 
        transit.
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