[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2971 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 578
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2971
[Report No. 114-307]
To authorize the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2016
Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Carper, Mr. Booker, Mr.
McCain, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
August 30, 2016
Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 14, 2016,
by Mr. Johnson, with an amendment
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System.
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 Urban Search and Rescue
Response System Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE RESPONSE SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 327. NATIONAL URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE RESPONSE SYSTEM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions
shall apply:
``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(2) Agency.--The term `Agency' means the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
``(3) Hazard.--The term `hazard' has the meaning given the
term in section 602.
``(4) Nonemployee system member.--The term `nonemployee
System member' means a System member not employed by a
sponsoring agency or participating agency.
``(5) Participating agency.--The term `participating
agency' means a State or local government, nonprofit
organization, or private organization that has executed an
agreement with a sponsoring agency to participate in the
System.
``(6) Sponsoring agency.--The term `sponsoring agency'
means a State or local government that is the sponsor of a task
force designated by the Administrator to participate in the
System.
``(7) System.--The term `System' means the National Urban
Search and Rescue Response System to be administered under this
section.
``(8) System member.--The term `System member' means an
individual who is not a full-time employee of the Federal
Government and who serves on a task force or on a System
management or other technical team.
``(9) Task force.--The term `task force' means an urban
search and rescue team designated by the Administrator to
participate in the System.
``(b) General Authority.--Subject to the requirements of this
section, the Administrator shall continue to administer the emergency
response system known as the National Urban Search and Rescue Response
System.
``(c) Functions.--In administering the System, the Administrator
shall provide for a national network of standardized search and rescue
resources to assist States and local governments in responding to
hazards.
``(d) Task Forces.--
``(1) Designation.--The Administrator shall designate task
forces to participate in the System. The Administration shall
determine the criteria for such participation.
``(2) Sponsoring agencies.--Each task force shall have a
sponsoring agency. The Administrator shall enter into an
agreement with the sponsoring agency with respect to the
participation of each task force in the System.
``(3) Composition.--
``(A) Participating agencies.--A task force may
include, at the discretion of the sponsoring agency, 1
or more participating agencies. The sponsoring agency
shall enter into an agreement with each participating
agency with respect to the participation of the
participating agency on the task force.
``(B) Other individuals.--A task force may also
include, at the discretion of the sponsoring agency,
other individuals not otherwise associated with the
sponsoring agency or a participating agency. The
sponsoring agency of a task force may enter into a
separate agreement with each such individual with
respect to the participation of the individual on the
task force.
``(e) Management and Technical Teams.--The Administrator shall
maintain such management teams and other technical teams as the
Administrator determines are necessary to administer the System.
``(f) Appointment of System Members Into Federal Service.--
``(1) In general.--The Administrator may appoint a System
member into Federal service for a period of service to provide
for the participation of the System member in exercises,
preincident staging, major disaster and emergency response
activities, and training events sponsored or sanctioned by the
Administrator.
``(2) Nonapplicability of certain civil service laws.--The
Administrator may make appointments under paragraph (1) without
regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code,
governing appointments in the competitive service.
``(3) Relationship to other authorities.--The authority of
the Administrator to make appointments under this subsection
shall not affect any other authority of the Administrator under
this Act.
``(4) Limitation.--A System member who is appointed into
Federal service under paragraph (1) shall not be considered an
employee of the United States for purposes other than those
specifically set forth in this section.
``(g) Compensation.--
``(1) Pay of system members.--Subject to such terms and
conditions as the Administrator may impose by regulation, the
Administrator shall make payments to the sponsoring agency of a
task force--
``(A) to reimburse each employer of a System member
on the task force for compensation paid by the employer
to the System member for any period during which the
System member is appointed into Federal service under
subsection (f)(1); and
``(B) to make payments directly to a nonemployee
System member on the task force for any period during
which the nonemployee System member is appointed into
Federal service under subsection (f)(1).
``(2) Reimbursement for employees filling positions of
system members.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to such terms and
conditions as the Administrator may impose by
regulation, the Administrator shall make payments to
the sponsoring agency of a task force to be used to
reimburse each employer of a System member on the task
force for compensation paid by the employer to an
employee filling a position normally filled by the
System member for any period during which the System
member is appointed into Federal service under
subsection (f)(1).
``(B) Limitation.--Costs incurred by an employer
shall be eligible for reimbursement under subparagraph
(A) only to the extent that the costs are in excess of
the costs that would have been incurred by the employer
had the System member not been appointed into Federal
service under subsection (f)(1).
``(3) Method of payment.--A System member shall not be
entitled to pay directly from the Agency for a period during
which the System member is appointed into Federal Service under
subsection (f)(1).
``(h) Personal Injury, Illness, Disability, or Death.--
``(1) In general.--A System member who is appointed into
Federal service under subsection (f)(1) and who suffers
personal injury, illness, disability, or death as a result of a
personal injury sustained while acting in the scope of such
appointment, shall, for the purposes of subchapter I of chapter
81 of title 5, United States Code, be treated as though the
member were an employee (as defined by section 8101 of that
title) who had sustained the injury in the performance of duty.
``(2) Election of benefits.--
``(A) In general.--A System member (or, in the case
of the death of the System member, the System member's
dependent) who is entitled under paragraph (1) to
receive benefits under subchapter I of chapter 81 of
title 5, United States Code, by reason of personal
injury, illness, disability, or death, and to receive
benefits from a State or local government by reason of
the same personal injury, illness, disability or death
shall elect to--
``(i) receive benefits under such
subchapter; or
``(ii) receive benefits from the State or
local government.
``(B) Deadline.--A System member or dependent shall
make an election of benefits under subparagraph (A) not
later than 1 year after the date of the personal
injury, illness, disability, or death that is the
reason for the benefits, or until such later date as
the Secretary of Labor may allow for reasonable cause
shown.
``(C) Effect of election.--An election of benefits
made under this paragraph is irrevocable unless
otherwise provided by law.
``(3) Reimbursement for state or local benefits.--Subject
to such terms and conditions as the Administrator may impose by
regulation, if a System member or dependent elects to receive
benefits from a State or local government under paragraph
(2)(A), the Administrator shall reimburse the State or local
government for the value of the benefits.
``(4) Public safety officer claims.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to bar any claim by, or with
respect to, any System member who is a public safety officer,
as defined in section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3769b 3796b),
for any benefits authorized under part L of title I of that Act
(42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.).
``(i) Liability.--A System member appointed into Federal service
under subsection (f)(1), while acting within the scope of the
appointment, shall be considered to be an employee of the Federal
Government under section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code, and
chapter 171 of that title, relating to tort claims procedure.
``(j) Employment and Reemployment Rights.--With respect to a System
member who is not a regular full-time employee of a sponsoring agency
or participating agency, the following terms and conditions apply:
``(1) Service.--Service as a System member shall be
considered to be `service in the uniformed services' for
purposes of chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code,
relating to employment and reemployment rights of individuals
who have performed service in the uniformed services
(regardless of whether the individual receives compensation for
such participation). All rights and obligations of such persons
and procedures for assistance, enforcement, and investigation
shall be as provided for in such chapter.
``(2) Preclusion.--Preclusion of giving notice of service
by necessity of appointment under this section shall be
considered to be preclusion by `military necessity' for
purposes of section 4312(b) of title 38, United States Code,
pertaining to giving notice of absence from a position of
employment. A determination of such necessity shall be made by
the Administrator and shall not be subject to judicial review.
``(k) Licenses and Permits.--If a System member holds a valid
license, certificate, or other permit issued by any State or other
governmental jurisdiction evidencing the member's qualifications in any
professional, mechanical, or other skill or type of assistance required
by the System, the System member is deemed to be performing a Federal
activity when rendering aid involving such skill or assistance during a
period of appointment into Federal service under subsection (f)(1).
``(l) Preparedness Cooperative Agreements.--Subject to the
availability of appropriations for such purpose, the Administrator
shall enter into an annual preparedness cooperative agreement with each
sponsoring agency. Amounts made available to a sponsoring agency under
such a preparedness cooperative agreement shall be for the following
purposes:
``(1) Training and exercises, including training and
exercises with other Federal, State, and local government
response entities.
``(2) Acquisition and maintenance of equipment, including
interoperable communications and personal protective equipment.
``(3) Medical monitoring required for responder safety and
health in anticipation of and following a major disaster,
emergency, or other hazard, as determined by the Administrator.
``(m) Response Cooperative Agreements.--The Administrator shall
enter into a response cooperative agreement with each sponsoring
agency, as appropriate, under which the Administrator agrees to
reimburse the sponsoring agency for costs incurred by the sponsoring
agency in responding to a major disaster or emergency.
``(n) Obligations.--The Administrator may incur all necessary
obligations consistent with this section in order to ensure the
effectiveness of the System.
``(o) Equipment Maintenance and Replacement.--Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees (as defined in
section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)) a report
on the development of a plan, including implementation steps and
timeframes, to finance, maintain, and replace System equipment.
``(p) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out the System and the provisions of this section
such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2017, 2018, and
2019.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Applicability of title 5, united states code.--Section
8101(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) by transferring subparagraph (F) to between
subparagraph (E) and the matter following subparagraph
(E);
(C) in subparagraph (F)--
(i) by striking ``United States Code,'';
and
(ii) by adding ``and'' at the end; and
(D) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the
following:
``(G) an individual who is a System member of the
National Urban Search and Rescue Response System during
a period of appointment into Federal service pursuant
to section 327 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act;''.
(2) Inclusion as part of uniformed services for purposes of
userra.--Section 4303 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (13), by inserting ``, a period
for which a System member of the National Urban Search
and Rescue Response System is absent from a position of
employment due to an appointment into Federal service
under section 327 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act'' before ``, and a
period''; and
(B) in paragraph (16), by inserting ``System
members of the National Urban Search and Rescue
Response System during a period of appointment into
Federal service under section 327 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act,'' after ``Public Health Service,''.
Calendar No. 578
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2971
[Report No. 114-307]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System.
_______________________________________________________________________
August 30, 2016
Reported with an amendment