[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4698 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4698

To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer to assist 
                     victims of national disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2006

Mr. Sensenbrenner introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide liability protection for individuals who volunteer to assist 
                     victims of national disasters.

    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 ``Disaster Relief Volunteer Protection 
Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is in the national interest to encourage individuals 
        to volunteer to assist victims of national disasters.
            (2) The exposure of potential volunteers, their employers, 
        and those who would use volunteers' services under existing law 
        to compensatory and punitive damages for negligent acts 
        discourages the provision of these services.
            (3) The availability of damages in these circumstances for 
        actions that constitute gross negligence creates uncertainty 
        concerning the actual conduct that might cause liability to be 
        imposed on volunteers.
            (4) Potential liability for acts of volunteers discourages 
        the employers or business partners of potential volunteers from 
        permitting those potential volunteers to provide disaster 
        relief services.
            (5) Potential liability for acts of volunteers discourages 
        entities that might use the services provided by volunteers in 
        national disasters from doing so.
            (6) Well-founded fear of liability under existing law for 
        providing goods discourages governmental and intergovernmental 
        entities from providing needed disaster relief goods.
            (7) Well-founded fear of liability for punitive damages 
        under existing law discourages governmental and 
        intergovernmental entities from providing needed disaster 
        relief goods and discourages potential volunteers from 
        providing volunteer services to disaster victims.
            (8) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages for providing 
        volunteer services deters potential volunteers from states 
        located outside the national disaster area from providing 
        volunteer services.
            (9) Fear of compensatory and punitive damages for providing 
        volunteer services deters potential foreign volunteers from 
        providing disaster relief services.
            (10) Any lessening of liability for volunteers providing 
        disaster relief services, their employers and business 
        partners, and entities utilizing their services should maintain 
        adequate incentives for each of these classes of persons or 
        entities to avoid causing harm.
            (11) Unwillingness to provide volunteer services to 
        disaster victims in the face of uncertain liability 
        substantially affects, burdens, and deters interstate commerce 
        and travel.
            (12) Unwillingness of employers and business partners to 
        allow their employees and business partners to provide disaster 
        relief services in the face of uncertain liability 
        substantially affects, burdens, and deters interstate commerce 
        and travel.
            (13) Unwillingness of persons, entities, or organizations 
        to accept disaster relief services from volunteers in the face 
        of uncertain liability substantially affects, burdens, and 
        deters interstate commerce and travel.
            (14) Unwillingness by foreigners to provide voluntary 
        disaster relief services in the face of uncertain liability 
        substantially affects, burdens, and deters foreign commerce and 
        travel.
            (15) Unless Congress provides uniform standards to address 
        disasters that could occur in any State or combination of 
        states, potential volunteers and others will not be certain 
        which laws would govern their providing disaster relief 
        services, which would substantially affect, burden, and deter 
        interstate and foreign commerce and travel in the event of a 
        national disaster.

SEC. 3. DISASTER RELIEF VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) Liability of Disaster Relief Volunteers.--A disaster relief 
volunteer shall not be liable for any injury (including personal 
injury, property damage or loss, and death) caused by an act or 
omission of such volunteer in connection with such volunteer's 
providing or facilitating the provision of disaster relief services 
if--
            (1) the injury was not caused by willful, wanton, or 
        reckless misconduct by the volunteer; and
            (2) the injury was not caused by the volunteer's operating 
        a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle for which 
        the state requires the operator or the owner of the vehicle, 
        craft, or vessel to--
                    (A) possess an operator's license; or
                    (B) maintain insurance.
    (b) Liability of Employer or Partner of Disaster Relief 
Volunteer.--An employer or business partner of a disaster relief 
volunteer shall not be liable for any act or omission of such volunteer 
in connection with such volunteer's providing or facilitating the 
provision of disaster relief services.
    (c) Liability of Host or Enabling Person, Entity, or 
Organization.--A person or entity, including a governmental entity, 
that works with, accepts services from, or makes its facilities 
available to a disaster relief volunteer to enable such volunteer to 
provide disaster relief services shall not be liable for any act or 
omission of such volunteer in connection with such volunteer's 
providing such services.
    (d) Liability of Nonprofit Organizations.--A nonprofit organization 
shall not be liable for any injury (including personal injury, property 
damage or loss, and death) caused by an act or omission in connection 
with such nonprofit organization's providing or facilitating the 
provision of disaster relief services if the injury was not caused by 
willful, wanton, or reckless misconduct by the nonprofit organization.
    (e) Liability of Governmental and Intergovernmental Entities for 
Donations of Disaster Relief Goods.--A governmental or 
intergovernmental entity that donates to an agency or instrumentality 
of the United States disaster relief goods shall not be liable for any 
injury (including personal injury, property damage or loss, and death) 
caused by such donated goods if the injury was not caused by willful, 
wanton, or reckless misconduct by such governmental or 
intergovernmental entity.
    (f) Limitation on Punitive and Noneconomic Damages Based on Actions 
of Disaster Relief Volunteers and Governmental Donors.--
            (1) Punitive damages.--Unless the claimant establishes by 
        clear and convincing evidence that its damages were proximately 
        caused by willful, wanton, or reckless misconduct by either--
                    (A) a disaster relief volunteer in any civil action 
                brought for injury caused by the volunteer's providing 
                or facilitating the provision of disaster relief 
                services; or
                    (B) a governmental or intergovernmental entity in 
                any civil action brought for injury caused by disaster 
                relief goods donated by such governmental or 
                intergovernmental entity;
        punitive damages may not be awarded in any civil action against 
        such a volunteer or governmental entity.
            (2) Noneconomic damages.--
                    (A) General rule.--In any civil action brought 
                against--
                            (i) a disaster relief volunteer for injury 
                        caused by such volunteer's providing or 
                        facilitating the provision of disaster relief 
                        services; or
                            (ii) a governmental or intergovernmental 
                        entity for injury caused by disaster relief 
                        goods donated by such governmental entity;
                liability for noneconomic loss, if permitted under 
                subsection (a) or (e) of this section, shall be 
                determined in accordance with this subparagraph.
                    (B) Amount of liability.--(i) The amount of 
                noneconomic loss allocated to the disaster relief 
                volunteer or governmental or intergovernmental entity 
                defendant shall be in direct proportion to the 
                percentage of responsibility of that defendant 
                (determined in accordance with clause (ii)) for the 
                harm to the claimant with respect to which that 
                defendant is liable. The court shall render a separate 
                judgment against each defendant in an amount determined 
                pursuant to this section.
                    (ii) For purposes of determining the amount of 
                noneconomic loss allocated to a defendant, the trier of 
                fact shall determine the percentage of responsibility 
                of each person or entity responsible for the claimant's 
                harm, whether or not such person or entity is a party 
                to the action.
    (g) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
abrogate or limit any protection that a volunteer, as defined in the 
Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 14501 et seq.), may be 
entitled to under that Act. Neither shall anything in this section be 
construed to confer any private right of action or to abrogate or limit 
any protection with respect to either liability or damages that any 
disaster relief volunteer or governmental or intergovernmental entity 
may be entitled to under any other provision of law.
    (h) Supplemental Declaration.--If a Disaster Declaration is issued, 
the President, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or the 
Secretary of Homeland Security may issue a Supplemental Declaration 
under this section.
            (1) Temporal effect.--Such Supplemental Declaration may 
        provide that, for purposes of this section, such Disaster 
        Declaration shall have such temporal effect as the President or 
        the Secretary may deem necessary or appropriate to further the 
        public interest, including providing that such Disaster 
        Declaration shall have an effective date earlier than the date 
        of the declaration or determination of such Disaster 
        Declaration.
            (2) Geographic and other conditions.--Such Supplemental 
        Declaration may provide that, for purposes of this section, 
        such Disaster Declaration shall have such geographic or other 
        conditions as the President or the Secretary may deem necessary 
        or appropriate to further the public interest.
    (i) Licensing, Certification, and Authorization.--This section 
shall not apply to a disaster relief volunteer where the disaster 
relief service such volunteer provides is of a type that generally 
requires a license, certificate, or authorization, and the disaster 
relief volunteer lacks such license, certificate, or authorization, 
unless--
            (1) such volunteer is licensed, certified, or authorized to 
        provide such services in any State to the extent required, if 
        any, by the appropriate authorities of that State, even if such 
        State is not the State in which the disaster relief volunteer 
        provides disaster relief services; or
            (2) otherwise specified in a Disaster Declaration or 
        Supplemental Declaration under this section.
    (j) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``Disaster Declaration'' means--
                    (A) a public health emergency declaration by the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 
                319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d);
                    (B) a declaration of a public health emergency or a 
                risk of such emergency as determined by the Secretary 
                of Homeland Security in accordance with clause (i) or 
                clause (ii) of section 2811(b)(3)(A) of such Act (42 
                U.S.C. 300hh-11(b)(3)(A)) and section 503(5) of the 
                Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 313(5)); or
                    (C) an emergency or major disaster declaration by 
                the President under section 401 or 501 of the Robert T. 
                Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
                (42 U.S.C. 5170 or 5191).
            (2) The term ``disaster relief volunteer'' means an 
        individual who provides disaster relief services in connection 
        with a Disaster Declaration without expectation or receipt of 
        compensation in exchange for providing such services.
            (3) The term ``disaster relief services'' means services or 
        assistance provided in preparation for, response to, or 
        recovery from any event that is the subject of a Disaster 
        Declaration, including but not limited to health, medical, fire 
        fighting, rescue, reconstruction, and any other services or 
        assistance specified by a Supplemental Declaration under this 
        section as necessary or desirable to prepare for, respond to, 
        or recover from an event that is the subject of a Disaster 
        Declaration.
            (4) The term ``disaster relief good'' means either--
                    (A) those goods provided in preparation for, 
                response to, or recovery from any event that is the 
                subject of a Disaster Declaration and reasonably 
                necessary to such preparation, response, or recovery; 
                or
                    (B) those goods defined by a Disaster Declaration 
                or Supplemental Declaration under this section.
            (5) The term ``noneconomic loss'' means losses for physical 
        and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical 
        impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of 
        life, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium 
        (other than loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury 
        to reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or 
        nature.
            (6) The term ``State'' means each of the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana 
        Islands, any other territory or possession of the United 
        States, or any political subdivision of any such State, 
        territory, or possession, and (for purposes of subsection (h)) 
        any foreign country.
            (7) The term ``compensation'' means monetary or other 
        compensation of any kind provided in exchange for an 
        individual's services, but does not include--
                    (A) reasonable reimbursement or allowance for 
                expenses actually incurred by such an individual;
                    (B) provision of reasonable supplies, lodging, or 
                transportation to such an individual; or
                    (C) such an individual's ordinary salary or 
                compensation paid by his or her employer while such 
                individual is on leave from his or her ordinary duties 
                with such employer in order to provide disaster relief 
                services.
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