[Senate Report 117-254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 638
117th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      117-2
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



            GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISK MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2022

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 4488

            TO ESTABLISH AN INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON GLOBAL
               CATASTROPHIC RISK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES







[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]








               December 13, 2022.--Ordered to be printed  

                             _________
                              
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-010                   WASHINGTON : 2023













	       
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
         Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
           Naveed Jazayeri, Senior Professional Staff Member
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
            Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
       Clyde E. Hicks Jr., Minority Director of Homeland Security
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk


















                                                      Calendar No. 638
117th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      117-254

======================================================================



 
            GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISK MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2022

                                _______
                                

               December 13, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 4488]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4488) to establish 
an interagency committee on global catastrophic risk, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment, in the nature of a substitute, and 
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                     Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................  1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................  2
III. Legislative History..............................................  2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............  3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................  5
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................  5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............  8

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 4488, the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 
2022, would establish an interagency committee on global 
catastrophic risk to determine the full range of potential 
risks that have the potential to significantly harm, set back, 
or destroy human civilization at the global scale, the likely 
occurrence of each kind of risk, and proposals for how to 
better identify and assess such risks. Following its 
assessment, the committee would report on the adequacy of 
continuity of operations (COOP) and continuity of government 
(COG) plans for each identified risk. The bill also requires 
the committee to develop a catastrophic incident response 
strategy and implementation plan to: provide for basic needs of 
the United States population; coordinate response efforts with 
state and local governments, the private sector, and nonprofit 
relief organizations; promote personal and local readiness and 
non-reliance on government relief during periods of heightened 
tension or after catastrophic incidents; and develop 
international partnerships with allied nations for the 
provision of relief services and goods. The Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA), is then required to lead a national 
exercise to test and operationalize the implementation plan. 
The bill also requires the committee to issue recommendations 
to Congress that the United States could take to better prepare 
for and respond to catastrophic risks.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    Global catastrophic threats can produce consequences severe 
enough to result in significant harm or destruction of human 
civilization at the global scale or lead to human extinction. 
Catastrophic events are difficult to foresee and while unlikely 
to occur, it is important to ensure that the U.S. government is 
better prepared for high-consequence events that could cause 
significant harm. According to the Global Challenges 
Foundation, some current risks include weapons of mass 
destruction (WMDs), catastrophic climate change, and ecological 
collapse.\1\ Natural catastrophes include pandemics, asteroid 
impacts, and super volcanic eruptions that require coordinated 
global response. One potential emerging risk is through 
technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI), 
being abused in a way that pose catastrophic risk.\2\ The 
National Intelligence Council (Council), in their 2021 Global 
Trends Report, provided that technological advances both 
mitigate and generate existential risk on a global scale.\3\ 
The Council believes that low-probability, high-impact events 
may be difficult and expensive to prepare for, but developing 
strategies for mitigation of such events can provide some 
resilience.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Global Challenges Foundation, Global Catastrophic Risks 2021: 
Navigating the Complex Intersections (2021) (https://
globalchallenges.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Global-Catastrophic-
Risks-2021-FINAL.pdf).
    \2\Id.
    \3\National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2040: A More 
Contested World (March 2021).
    \4\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This legislation is intended to mitigate against such 
potential risks by establishing an interagency committee on 
global catastrophic risk to determine the full range of 
potential risks and prepare for the response to a catastrophe.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 4488 was introduced by Senators Portman (R-OH) and 
Peters (D-MI) on June 23, 2022 and referred to the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 
Senators Cornyn (R-TX) and Hassan (D-NH) joined as cosponsors 
of the bill on August 6, 2022.
    The Committee considered the legislation at a business 
meeting on August 3, 2022. During the meeting, Senators Portman 
and Padilla offered a substitute amendment, as modified, that 
incorporated agency technical drafting assistance, clarified 
defined terms, added additional members to the interagency 
committee, made changes to the reporting and exercise 
requirements, and added a rule of construction. The Committee 
adopted the Portman-Padilla substitute amendment, as modified, 
and reported the bill favorably by voice vote, as amended. The 
Senators present were: Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, 
Ossoff, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section designates the name of the bill as the 
``Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 2022.''

Section 2. Definitions

    This section defines the terms ``basic need,'' 
``catastrophic incident,'' ``committee,'' ``critical 
infrastructure,'' ``existential risk,'' ``global catastrophic 
risk,'' ``global catastrophic and existential threats,'' 
``national exercise program'' and ``tribal government.''

Section 3. Interagency committee on global catastrophic risk

    Subsection (a) provides that within 90 days after enactment 
of this bill, the President is required to establish an 
interagency committee on global catastrophic risk.
    Subsection (b) lists the members of the committee as 
follows: the Assistant to the President for National Security 
Affairs; the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy; the Director of National Intelligence and the Director 
of the National Intelligence Council; the Secretary of DHS and 
the Administrator of the FEMA; the Secretary of State and the 
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International 
Security; the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation; the Secretary of Energy, the Under 
Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security, and the Director of 
Science; the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the 
Assistant Secretary of Global Affairs; the Secretary of 
Commerce, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 
Atmosphere, and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards 
and Technology; the Secretary of the Interior and the Director 
of the United States Geological Survey; the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Assistant 
Administrator for Water; the Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; the Director of the 
National Science Foundation; the Secretary of the Treasury; the 
Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; 
the Secretary of Defense, the Assistant Secretary of the Army 
for Civil Works, and the Chief of Engineers and Commanding 
General of the Army Corps of Engineers; the Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development; and other stakeholders 
the President determines appropriate.
    Subsection (c) requires the committee to be co-chaired by a 
senior representative of the President and the Deputy 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 
Resilience.

Section 4. Report required

    Subsection (a) provides that within one year of final 
enactment of this bill, and every 10 years after, the 
President, with support from the established committee, is 
required to submit a detailed report to Congress assessing 
global catastrophic and existential risk.
    Subsection (b) details the matters that must be covered in 
the report required by subsection (a).
    Subsection (c) provides that in the creation of the report 
required under subsection (a), the President and the committee 
must regularly consult with subject matter experts, including 
those from non-governmental, academic, and private sector 
institutions.
    Subsection (d) states that the report required under 
subsection (a) must be submitted to Congress in unclassified 
form, but there may also include a classified version.

Section 5. Report on continuity of operations and continuity of 
        government planning

    Subsection (a) requires the President, with support from 
the committee, to submit a secondary report, within 180 days of 
the report required under Section 4, that reports on the 
adequacy of continuity of operations and continuity of 
government plans based on the assessed global catastrophic and 
existential risk.
    Subsection (b) details the matters that must be covered in 
the report required by subsection (a).
    Subsection (c) states that the report required under 
subsection (a) must be submitted to Congress in unclassified 
form, but there may also include a classified version.

Section 6. Enhanced catastrophic incident annex

    Subsection (a) provides that the President, with support 
from the committee, is required to supplement each Federal 
Interagency Operational Plan to include an annex containing a 
strategy to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of 
the civilian population affected by catastrophic incidents.
    Subsection (b) details the information each annex, required 
under subsection (a) must provide.
    Subsection (c) provides the assumptions that the President 
and committee should account for when designing the strategy 
required under subsection (a), such as multiple levels of 
critical infrastructure failure.
    Subsection (d) states that existing contingency plans may 
be incorporated in the strategy required under subsection (a) 
if they are amended to be in accordance with the requirements 
of this section.
    Subsection (e) provides that the strategy developed under 
subsection (a) must be made available to the public but may 
include a classified annex available to the appropriate 
Congressional Committees and government entities.

Section 7. Validation of the strategy through an exercise

    This section requires that within 1 year after the addition 
of the annex required under section 6, DHS is required to lead 
an exercise to test and enhance the operationalization of the 
strategy.

Section 8. Recommendations

    Subsection (a) requires the President to provide 
recommendation to Congress on actions that should be taken to 
prepare the United States to implement the strategy, and 
additional authorities that should be considered for Federal 
agencies and the President to implement the strategy more 
effectively.
    Subsection (b) provides that the President may include the 
recommendations required under subsection (a) in a report 
submitted under Section 9.

Section 9. Reporting requirements

    This section provides that within 1 year of the DHS 
exercise required under Section 7, the President is required to 
submit a report to Congress that includes a description of the 
efforts to develop and update the strategy required under 
Section 6.

Section 10. Rule of construction

    This section states that nothing in this Act can be 
construed to supersede the civilian emergency management 
authority of the FEMA Administrator.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, November 9, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed table summarizing estimated budgetary 
effects and mandates information for some of the legislation 
that has been ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during the 117th 
Congress.
    If you wish further details, we will be pleased to provide 
them. The CBO staff contact for each estimate is listed on the 
enclosed table.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

     SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

    The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the 
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to 
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation 
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In 
order to provide the Congress with as much information as 
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the 
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the 
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during 
the 117th Congress. The legislation listed in this table 
generally would have small effects, if any, on direct spending 
or revenues, CBO estimates. Where possible, the table also 
provides information about the legislation's estimated effects 
on spending subject to appropriation and on intergovernmental 
and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act.

                                                  ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                       Increases
                                                               Direct                 Spending Subject   Pay-As-You-   On-Budget
   Bill        Title        Status      Last      Budget     Spending,    Revenues,          to              Go         Deficits    Mandates    Contact
  Number                               Action    Function    2023-2032    2023-2032    Appropriation,    Procedures    Beginning
                                                                                          2023-2027        Apply?       in 2033?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4488    Global         Ordered     08/03/22  800         0            Between      Not estimated     Yes           No           No          Matthew
            Catastrophic   reported                                       zero and                                                              Pickford
            Risk                                                          $500,000
            Management
            Act of 2022
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4488 would establish an interagency committee to assess the risk of global catastrophes that could harm or destroy human civilization. The bill would
  require the President to develop a strategy based on the committee's recommendations to respond to such risks and require the Department of Homeland
  Security to lead an exercise to test the strategy. CBO estimates that enacting S. 4488 would have no effect on direct spending and an insignificant
  effect on revenues over the 2023 2032 period. CBO has not estimated the discretionary costs of implementing the bill. The bill contains no
  intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation would make no change in existing law, 
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of 
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this 
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current 
law.

                                  [all]