[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3373-S3375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 262. Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Sullivan, and Ms.
Harris) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the
bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
[[Page S3374]]
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the Agency;
(2) the term ``Agency'' means the Federal Emergency
Management Agency;
(3) the term ``public alert and warning system'' means the
integrated public alert and warning system of the United
States described in section 526 of the Homeland Security Act
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 321o);
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security; and
(5) the term ``State'' means any State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any
possession of the United States.
(b) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop
minimum requirements for State, Tribal, and local governments
to participate in the public alert and warning system and
that are necessary to maintain the integrity of the public
alert and warning system, including--
(A) guidance on the categories of public emergencies and
appropriate circumstances that warrant an alert and warning
from State, Tribal, and local governments using the public
alert and warning system;
(B) the procedures for State, Tribal, and local government
officials to authenticate civil emergencies and initiate,
modify, and cancel alerts transmitted through the public
alert and warning system, including protocols and technology
capabilities for--
(i) the initiation, or prohibition on the initiation, of
alerts by a single authorized or unauthorized individual;
(ii) testing a State, Tribal, or local government incident
management and warning tool without accidentally initiating
an alert through the public alert and warning system; and
(iii) steps a State, Tribal, or local government official
should take to mitigate the possibility of the issuance of a
false alert through the public alert and warning system;
(C) the standardization, functionality, and
interoperability of incident management and warning tools
used by State, Tribal, and local governments to notify the
public of an emergency through the public alert and warning
system;
(D) the annual training and recertification of emergency
management personnel on requirements for originating and
transmitting an alert through the public alert and warning
system;
(E) the procedures, protocols, and guidance concerning the
protective action plans that State, Tribal, and local
governments shall issue to the public following an alert
issued under the public alert and warning system;
(F) the procedures, protocols, and guidance concerning the
communications that State, Tribal, and local governments
shall issue to the public following a false alert issued
under the public alert and warning system;
(G) a plan by which State, Tribal, and local government
officials may, during an emergency, contact each other as
well as Federal officials and participants in the Emergency
Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alert System, when
appropriate and necessary, by telephone, text message, or
other means of communication regarding an alert that has been
distributed to the public; and
(H) any other procedure the Administrator considers
appropriate for maintaining the integrity of and providing
for public confidence in the public alert and warning system.
(2) Coordination with national advisory council report.--
The Administrator shall ensure that the minimum requirements
developed under paragraph (1) do not conflict with
recommendations made for improving the public alert and
warning system provided in the report submitted by the
National Advisory Council under section 2(b)(7)(B) of the
Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act
of 2015 (Public Law 114-143; 130 Stat. 332).
(3) Public consultation.--In developing the minimum
requirements under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall
ensure appropriate public consultation and, to the extent
practicable, coordinate the development of the requirements
with stakeholders of the public alert and warning system,
including--
(A) appropriate personnel from Federal agencies, including
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the
Agency, and the Federal Communications Commission;
(B) representatives of State and local governments and
emergency services personnel, who shall be selected from
among individuals nominated by national organizations
representing those governments and personnel;
(C) representatives of Federally recognized Indian tribes
and national Indian organizations;
(D) communications service providers;
(E) vendors, developers, and manufacturers of systems,
facilities, equipment, and capabilities for the provision of
communications services;
(F) third-party service bureaus;
(G) the national organization representing the licensees
and permittees of noncommercial broadcast television
stations;
(H) technical experts from the broadcasting industry;
(I) educators from the Emergency Management Institute; and
(J) other individuals with technical expertise as the
Administrator determines appropriate.
(4) Inapplicability of faca.--The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the public
consultation with stakeholders under paragraph (3).
(c) Incident Management and Warning Tool Validation.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish a
process to ensure that an incident management and warning
tool used by a State, Tribal, or local government to
originate and transmit an alert through the public alert and
warning system meets the requirements developed by the
Administrator under subsection (b)(1).
(2) Requirements.--The process required to be established
under paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) the ability to test an incident management and warning
tool in the public alert and warning system lab;
(B) the ability to certify that an incident management and
warning tool complies with the applicable cyber frameworks of
the Department of Homeland Security and the National
Institute of Standards and Technology;
(C) a process to certify developers of emergency management
software; and
(D) requiring developers to provide the Administrator with
a copy of and rights of use for ongoing testing of each
version of incident management and warning tool software
before the software is first used by a State, Tribal, or
local government.
(d) Review and Update of Memoranda of Understanding.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall review the
memoranda of understanding between the Agency and State,
Tribal, and local governments with respect to the public
alert and warning system to ensure that all agreements ensure
compliance with the requirements developed by the
Administrator under subsection (b)(1).
(e) Future Memoranda.--The Administrator shall ensure that
any new memorandum of understanding entered into between the
Agency and a State, Tribal, or local government on or after
the date of enactment of this Act with respect to the public
alert and warning system ensures that the agreement requires
compliance with the requirements developed by the
Administrator under subsection (b)(1).
(f) Missile Alert and Warning Authorities.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Authority.--On and after the date that is 120 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the authority to
originate an alert warning the public of a missile launch
directed against a State using the public alert and warning
system shall reside primarily with the Federal Government.
(B) Delegation of authority.--The Secretary may delegate
the authority described in subparagraph (A) to a State,
Tribal, or local entity if, not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary submits a report
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security
of the House of Representatives that--
(i) it is not feasible for the Federal Government to alert
the public of a missile threat against a State; or
(ii) it is not in the national security interest of the
United States for the Federal Government to alert the public
of a missile threat against a State.
(C) Activation of system.--Upon verification of a missile
threat, the President, utilizing established authorities,
protocols and procedures, may activate the public alert and
warning system.
(D) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph shall
be construed to change the command and control relationship
between entities of the Federal Government with respect to
the identification, dissemination, notification, or alerting
of information of missile threats against the United States
that was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of
this Act.
(2) Required processes.--The Secretary, acting through the
Administrator, shall establish a process to promptly notify a
State warning point, and any State entities that the
Administrator determines appropriate, following the issuance
of an alert described in paragraph (1)(A) so the State may
take appropriate action to protect the health, safety, and
welfare of the residents of the State.
(3) Guidance.--The Secretary, acting through the
Administrator, shall work with the Governor of a State
warning point to develop and implement appropriate protective
action plans to respond to an alert described in paragraph
(1)(A) for that State.
(4) Study and report.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
(A) examine the feasibility of establishing an alert
designation under the public alert and warning system that
would be used to alert and warn the public of a missile
threat while concurrently alerting a State warning point so
that a State may activate related protective action plans;
and
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(B) submit a report of the findings under subparagraph (A),
including of the costs and timeline for taking action to
implement an alert designation described in subparagraph (A),
to--
(i) the Subcommittee on Homeland Security of the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate;
(ii) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate;
(iii) the Subcommittee on Homeland Security of the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;
and
(iv) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives.
(g) Use of Integrated Public Alert and Warning System
Lab.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Administrator shall--
(1) develop a program to increase the utilization of the
public alert and warning system lab of the Agency by State,
Tribal, and local governments to test incident management and
warning tools and train emergency management professionals on
alert origination protocols and procedures; and
(2) submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report
describing--
(A) the impact on utilization of the public alert and
warning system lab by State, Tribal, and local governments
resulting from the program developed under paragraph (1); and
(B) any further recommendations that the Administrator
would make for additional statutory or appropriations
authority necessary to increase the utilization of the public
alert and warning system lab by State, Tribal, and local
governments.
(h) Awareness of Alerts and Warnings.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator shall--
(1) conduct a review of the National Watch Center and each
Regional Watch Center of the Agency; and
(2) submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report on
the review conducted under paragraph (1), which shall
include--
(A) an assessment of the technical capability of the
National and Regional Watch Centers described in paragraph
(1) to be notified of alerts and warnings issued by a State
through the public alert and warning system;
(B) a determination of which State alerts and warnings the
National and Regional Watch Centers described in paragraph
(1) should be aware of; and
(C) recommendations for improving the ability of the
National and Regional Watch Centers described in paragraph
(1) to receive any State alerts and warnings that the
Administrator determines are appropriate.
(i) Timeline for Compliance.--Each State shall be given a
reasonable amount of time to comply with any new rules,
regulations, or requirements imposed under this section.
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