[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 638 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 638

  To clarify the authority of the Secretary of Defense to respond to 
                       environmental emergencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2003

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Hefley) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To clarify the authority of the Secretary of Defense to respond to 
                       environmental emergencies.

    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 ``International Environmental Defense 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Environmental emergencies, such as oil spills, wherever 
        they occur, can affect the national interests of the United 
        States.
            (2) In appropriate circumstances, it is in the national 
        interest of the United States for the Department of Defense to 
        provide assistance to respond to environmental emergencies, to 
        an extent not authorized under current law.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to authorize the 
Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to respond to environmental 
emergencies in appropriate circumstances.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RESPONSE TO 
              ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES.

    (a) Transportation of Humanitarian Relief Supplies to Respond to 
Environmental Emergencies.--Section 402 of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection (d):
    ``(d) Response to Environmental Emergencies.--The authority of the 
Secretary of Defense to transport humanitarian relief supplies under 
this section includes the authority to transport supplies intended for 
use to respond to, or mitigate the effects of, an event or condition, 
such as an oil spill, that threatens serious harm to the 
environment.''.
    (b) Conditions on Provision of Transportation.--Subsection (b) of 
such section is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ``or entity'' after 
        ``people'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)(E), by inserting ``or use'' after 
        ``distribution''; and
            (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``donor to ensure that 
        supplies to be transported under this section'' and inserting 
        ``entity requesting the transport of supplies under this 
        section to ensure that the supplies''.
    (c) Provision of Disaster Assistance.--Section 404 of such title is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``or serious harm to 
        the environment'' after ``loss of lives''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ``or the 
        environment'' after ``human lives''.
    (d) Provision of Humanitarian Assistance.--Section 2561(a) of such 
title is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``To the extent''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph
    ``(2) The authority of the Department of Defense to provide 
humanitarian assistance under this section includes the authority to 
transport supplies or provide assistance intended for use to respond 
to, or mitigate the effects of, an event or condition, such as an oil 
spill, that threatens serious harm to the environment.''.
                                 <all>