II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 888 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 21, 2005 Mr. Salazar introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To direct the Department of Homeland Security to provide guidance and training to State and local governments relating to sensitive homeland security information, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Homeland Security Information Guidance and Training Act of 2005.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)there are few uniform standards for State and local government agencies to handle sensitive homeland security information; (2)there are detailed procedures for handling classified documents created by the Federal Government, but there is little guidance for how to make decisions relating to the management of information from non-Federal sources, including locally generated homeland security plans, State-level grants, and intelligence gathered by local law enforcement agencies; (3)State and local government officials have— (A)a wide variety of approaches for handling such information; (B)wasted precious resources battling over what information to make public and what information to keep secret; and (C)established a wide array of procedures for sharing sensitive information among emergency management personnel; and (4)the current system is inefficient and has not ensured the adequate balance between protecting sensitive information and ensuring that public officials and the public have the information needed to keep the Nation safe.

3.

Guidance for best practices relating to sensitive information

(a)

In general

Consistent with section 201(d) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121(d)), the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection shall establish best practices for State and local governments to assist State and local governments in making determinations on— (1)the types of sensitive non-Federal homeland security information (including locally generated homeland security plans, State-level grants, and intelligence gathered by local law enforcement information agencies) that— (A)should be made available to the public; or (B)should be treated as information which should not be made available to the public; and (2)how to use and share sensitive homeland security information among State and local emergency management personnel. (b)

Effect on state and local governments

Nothing under subsection (a) shall be construed to— (1)require any State or local government to comply with any best practice established under that subsection; or (2)preempt any State or local law.

4.

Training

The Director of the Office for Domestic Preparedness shall— (1)establish a training curriculum based on the best practices established under section 3; and (2)provide training to State and local governments using that curriculum.

5.

Guidance on grant information

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall publish in the Federal Register detailed instructions for State and local governments on the management of information relating to homeland security grants administered by the Department of Homeland Security.