Sec. 301. Weapons of mass destruction prevention and preparedness
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The Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following new title: The Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department shall— conduct intelligence and information sharing activities consistent with the National Intelligence Strategy for Countering the Threat from Weapons of Mass Destruction under section 201 of the WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2014 and the National Intelligence Strategy for Countering Biological Threats under section 202 of that Act; support homeland security-focused intelligence analysis of terrorist actors, their claims, and their plans to conduct attacks involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials against the Nation; support homeland security-focused intelligence analysis of global infectious disease, public health, food, agricultural, and veterinary issues; support homeland security-focused risk analysis and risk assessments of the homeland security hazards described in paragraphs
(2)and (3), by providing relevant quantitative and nonquantitative threat information; leverage existing and emerging homeland security capabilities and structures, including fusion centers established pursuant to section 210A, to enhance prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts with respect to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack; share information and provide tailored analytical support on these threats to State, local, and tribal authorities as well as other national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders; and perform other responsibilities, as assigned by the Secretary. Where appropriate, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis shall coordinate with other relevant Department components, others in the Intelligence Community, including the National Counter Proliferation Center, and other Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities, including officials from high-threat areas, and enable such entities to provide recommendations on optimal information sharing mechanisms, including expeditious sharing of classified information, and on how they can provide information to the Department. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the appropriate congressional committees on— the intelligence and information sharing activities under subsection
(a)and of all relevant entities within the Department to counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction; and the Department’s activities in accordance with relevant intelligence strategies, including the National Intelligence Strategy for Countering the Threat from Weapons of Mass Destruction and the National Intelligence Strategy for Countering Biological Threats. The report shall include— a description of methods established to assess progress of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis in implementing this section; and such assessment. The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, shall, in coordination with relevant Department components and other appropriate Federal departments and agencies— produce and update periodically a terrorism risk assessment of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats; and produce and update periodically an integrated terrorism risk assessment that assesses all of those threats and compares them against one another according to their relative risk. The Secretary shall— convene an interagency task force of relevant subject matter experts to assess the proposed methodology to be used for assessments required under subsection (a), and to provide recommendations to the Secretary as to the adequacy of such methodology; conduct sensitivity analysis on each assessment to identify and prioritize research activities to close knowledge gaps; and consider the evolving threat from an intelligent adversary. Each assessment under subsection
(a)shall include a description of the methodology used for the assessment. The assessments required under subsection
(a)shall be used to inform and guide risk management decisions, including— the threat assessments and determinations by the Secretary regarding agents and toxins pursuant to section 319F–2 of the Public Health Service Act; allocation of resources for research and development for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attack prevention, protection, response, and recovery; prioritization of medical countermeasure research, development, acquisition, and distribution activities and other national strategic biodefense research; tailored risk assessments and risk mitigation studies, as appropriate, on topics such as radiological materials security or the economic risks of a biological attack; and other homeland security activities as determined appropriate by the Secretary and the heads of other agencies. The Secretary shall, for each assessment required under subsection (a)— seek input from national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders, and other Federal, State, local, and tribal officials involved in efforts to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats; ensure that written procedures are in place to guide the interagency development of the assessments, including for input, review, and implementation purposes, among relevant Federal partners; share the risk assessments with Federal, State, local and tribal officials with appropriate security clearances and a need for the information in the classified version; and to the maximum extent practicable, make available an unclassified version for Federal, State, local, and tribal officials involved in prevention and preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. The Secretary shall establish written procedures for appropriate usage of the assessments required under subsection (a), including— a description of the types of departmental activities for which the assessments should be considered; the extent to which the findings of the assessments should play a role in such activities; the point in planning processes at which the assessments should be considered; and how users can access expertise within the Department to aid in interpretation of the results of the assessments. There shall be maintained in the Department the Export Enforcement Coordination Center, with capability for national export enforcement coordination that is managed by the Secretary and coordinates the export enforcement activities among the Department, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Intelligence Community, and other Federal agencies as appropriate. The Center shall— enhance Federal coordination for law enforcement counterproliferation investigations, including coordination and deconfliction with intelligence counterproliferation activities; address licensing inquiries, reviews, requests, checks, and verifications; and conduct outreach and provide training to the export trade community. Congress finds the following: The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism recommended that the Federal Government should practice greater openness of public information so that citizens better understand the threat and the risk this threat poses to them . There are unique challenges for community preparedness for attacks from weapons of mass destruction. The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall develop a communications plan designed to provide information to the public related to preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks. As appropriate, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall consult with State, local, and tribal authorities and coordinate with other Federal departments and agencies in developing the communications plans under paragraph (1). The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall develop and disseminate, through an alerts and warnings system, pre-scripted messages and message templates for State, local, and tribal authorities so that those authorities can quickly and rapidly disseminate critical information to the public in anticipation of, during, or in the immediate aftermath of a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attack, and to be included in the Department of Homeland Security’s lessons learned information sharing system. The pre-scripted messages or message templates shall— be developed in consultation with State, local, and tribal authorities and in coordination with other appropriate Federal departments and agencies; be designed to provide accurate, essential, and appropriate information and instructions to the population directly affected by an incident, including information regarding an evacuation, sheltering in place, hospital surge operations, health, and safety; be designed to provide accurate, essential, and appropriate information and instructions to children and other special needs populations within the population directly affected by an incident; be designed to provide accurate, essential, and appropriate information and instructions to emergency response providers and medical personnel responding to an incident; and include direction for the coordination of Federal, State, local, and tribal communications teams. The Administrator shall develop pre-scripted messages or message templates under this paragraph in multiple formats to ensure delivery— in cases where the usual communications infrastructure is unusable; to individuals with disabilities or other special needs and individuals with limited English proficiency; and to educational and childcare facilities, including daycare centers, grade schools, universities, hospitals, and elderly care facilities. The Administrator shall ensure that all pre-scripted messages and message templates developed under this paragraph are made available to State, local, and tribal authorities so that those authorities may incorporate them, as appropriate, into their emergency plans. The Administrator shall also make available relevant technical assistance to those authorities to support communications planning. To ensure that the pre-scripted messages or message templates developed under this paragraph can be effectively utilized in a disaster or incident, the Administrator shall incorporate Federal, State, local, and tribal communications teams that deliver such pre-scripted messages or message templates into exercises, including those conducted under the National Exercise Program. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the communications plans required to be developed under this subsection, including pre-scripted messages or message templates developed in conjunction with the plans and a description of the means that will be used to deliver these messages during such incidents. The Secretary, in coordination with the Attorney General and heads of appropriate Federal agencies, shall for purposes of preparedness and collective response to terrorism and for other purposes— ensure that homeland security information concerning terrorist threats is provided to State, local, and tribal authorities and the public within the United States, as appropriate; and establish a process to optimize opportunities for qualified heads of State, local, and tribal government entities to obtain appropriate security clearances so that they may receive classified threat information when appropriate. Consistent with the requirements of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, on a timely basis, prepare unclassified threat bulletins on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. Each assessment required under subparagraph
(A)shall— include guidance to the public for preventing and responding to acts of terrorism arising from such threats; and be made available on the Internet Web site of the Department and other publicly accessible Internet Web sites, communication systems, and information networks. The Secretary, using information provided by the terrorism risk assessments under section 2102 and material threat assessments and determinations under the Project BioShield Act of 2004 ( Public Law 108–276 ) and the amendments made by that Act— shall provide to State, local, and tribal authorities written guidance on communicating terrorism-related threats and risks to the public within their jurisdictions; and shall identify and articulate the governmental rationale for identifying particular communities as being at heightened risk of exploitation. The Secretary shall use Internet Web sites, communication systems, and information networks in operation on the date of an assessment under this subsection, and shall coordinate with other heads of Federal departments and agencies to provide information through existing channels to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2)(B)(ii). The Secretary shall provide guidance on how State, local, tribal, and private entities can partner with public television stations to disseminate information provided by the Department and shall provide information on best practices on disseminating information to residents of local communities, including leveraging public television stations. The Secretary, acting through the Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall assist State, local, and tribal authorities in improving and promoting individual and community preparedness and collective response to terrorist attacks involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials against the United States by— developing guidance and checklists of recommended actions for individual and community prevention and preparedness efforts and disseminating such guidance and checklists to communities and individuals; updating new and existing guidance and checklists as appropriate; disseminating to communities and individuals the guidance developed under section 2131, as appropriate; providing information and training materials in support of individual and community preparedness efforts; conducting individual and community preparedness outreach efforts; and such other actions as the Secretary determines appropriate. The Secretary shall coordinate with Federal departments and agencies and with private sector and nongovernmental organizations to promote individual and community preparedness and collective response to terrorist attacks involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials against the United States. In compiling guidance for individual and community preparedness in order to carry out subsection (a)(4), the Secretary shall give due regard to best practices based on the experience of other agencies and countries and the expertise of academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations. The Secretary shall carry out a program to detect a biological attack or event that poses a high risk to homeland security. Through such program, the Secretary shall— deploy detection capabilities to areas, based on high risks identified by Department assessments, to indicate the presence of biological agents; consider multiple deployment strategies including surge capability; provide information to participating laboratories and programs for their use in monitoring public health, and biological material or other data from those detectors to participating laboratories and programs for testing and evaluation; regularly communicate with, and provide information about the presence of biological agents to, appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies responsible for public health, law enforcement, and emergency services, in a manner that ensures transparency with the governments served by such personnel; provide advanced planning tools, concepts of operations (including alarm resolution protocols and response guidance), standard operating procedures, and training exercises (including in collaboration with relevant national level exercises) for collective response to and recovery from biological attacks; and provide technical assistance to jurisdictions hosting the program to improve their ability to respond to a detected pathogen. Under the program required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— enter into memoranda of agreement or interagency agreements under the Economy Act of 1933 (31 U.S.C. 1535 et seq.) with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, setting forth roles and responsibilities, including with respect to validating performance and developing testing protocols for participating laboratories and coordination with appropriate State, local, and tribal agencies; establish criteria for determining whether plans for biological detector capabilities and coverage sufficiently protect the United States population, and make such determinations on an annual basis; acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, implement a process for establishing assay performance standards and evaluation for equivalency for biological threat assays, that— evaluates biological threat detection assays, their protocols for use, and their associated response algorithms for confirmation of biological threat agents, taking performance measures and concepts of operation into consideration; develops interagency peer-reviewed assay performance and equivalency standards based on the findings of the evaluation under subparagraph (A); requires implementation of the standards developed under subparagraph
(B)for all Department biological detection programs; promotes use of such standards among all other Federal biological detection programs and makes them available to the private sector and other end-users as appropriate; and is updated as necessary; prior to obligating funds to acquire biodetection systems for purposes of operational testing and evaluation, require— a determination of the sensitivity and specificity of the currently deployed biodetection system; an assessment of the sensitivity and specificity of the next generation biodetection system or systems under consideration for acquisition and whether it meets established operational requirements; provision of all raw data to the Science and Technology Directorate to enable the Under Secretary to— conduct a trade-off study comparing the results of subparagraphs
(A)and (B); and perform a technical readiness assessment in accordance with section 308(b); and that the findings under subparagraph
(C)inform the cost-benefit analysis under paragraph (5)(A) and any Departmental acquisition review board decision regarding the biodetection system or systems under consideration; and prior to acquiring and deploying biodetection technology, require— a cost-benefit analysis, including an analysis of alternatives, that shall be informed by the terrorism risk assessments under section 2102; operational testing and evaluation; operational assessment by the end users of the technology; and the Department, other relevant executive agencies, and local jurisdictions intended to host the systems to agree on concepts of operations for resolving alarms. The Secretary may enter into contracts with participating laboratories and programs for— the provision of laboratory services or other biosurveillance activities as appropriate for purposes of this section on a fee-for-service basis or on a prepayment or other similar basis; and administrative and other costs related to hosting program personnel and equipment in these laboratories or programs. In this section: The term participating laboratory means a laboratory that has been accepted as a member of the Laboratory Response Network for Biological Terrorism that— is fully equipped to detect and respond quickly to acts of biological terrorism; provides biocontainment and microbiological analysis in support of the Department and relevant law enforcement agencies with responsibilities for investigating biological incidents; and supports assay evaluation, research and development. The term assay means any scientific test that is designed to detect the presence of a biological threat agent that is of a type selected under criteria established by the Secretary. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall require the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, in consultation with the heads of other relevant operational components of the Department of Homeland Security, to assess whether the development of technological screening capabilities for biological agents, pandemic influenza, and other infectious diseases should be undertaken by the Directorate of Science and Technology to support entry and exit screening at ports of entry and for other homeland security purposes. If the Under Secretary determines that the development of such screening capabilities should be undertaken, the Secretary shall, to the extent possible, initiate development of safe and effective methods to— rapidly screen incoming persons at ports of entry for biological agents, pandemic influenza, and other infectious diseases; and obtain results of such screening near the point of entry. To inform the purchase of detection technology, the Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, may carry out a program to— establish near-term minimum performance metrics to support public safety actionable activities, based to the greatest extent practicable on voluntary consensus standards, to evaluate the effectiveness of detection technology for high-priority biological agents and toxins and high-priority chemical agents; establish a process for voluntary testing and evaluation of technology by an accredited laboratory to demonstrate conformance to such consensus standards, or performance metrics if standards do not exist, for the effective detection of high-priority biological agents and toxins and high-priority chemical agents, including incentivization for the program through potential cost sharing with technology manufacturers and for SAFETY Act certification or placement on the authorized equipment list, or both; and with permission from the detection technology manufacturer, make available to Federal departments and agencies, State, territorial, local, and tribal entities, and the private sector the results of detection system testing and evaluation under paragraph (2). The Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office shall establish and maintain a multilayered system of detection technologies, programs, and guidelines designed to enhance the Nation’s ability to detect and prevent a radiological or nuclear attack in high-risk United States cities, as determined by the Secretary. The Director shall develop a surge capability for radiological and nuclear detection systems that can be deployed within the United States rapidly in response to actionable intelligence or warnings, and includes procurement of appropriate technology, training, and exercises. The programs under subsections
(a)and
(b)shall be integrated into the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture and shall inform architecture studies, technology gaps, and research activities of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Attorney General, and the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate, shall— develop for police, fire, emergency medical services, emergency management, and medical and public health personnel, voluntary guidance for responding to a release of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear material; make such guidance available to State, local, and tribal authorities, including primary and secondary schools and other educational institutions, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and the public; and in developing the guidance under paragraph (1)— review the experiences of other countries and the expertise of academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations; and consider the unique needs of children and other vulnerable populations. The guidance developed under subsection (a)(1) shall be voluntary, risk-based guidance that shall include— protective action guidance for ensuring the security, health, and safety of emergency response providers and their families and household contacts; specific information regarding the effects of the chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material on those exposed to the agent; and best practices for emergency response providers to effectively diagnose, handle, and otherwise manage individuals affected by an incident involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material. The Secretary shall— review the guidance developed under subsection (a)(1) at least once every 2 years; make revisions to the guidance as appropriate; and make any revised guidance available to State, local, and tribal authorities, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and the public. In carrying out the requirements of this section, the Secretary shall establish procedures to— enable members of the first responder and first provider community to submit recommendations of areas in which guidance is needed and could be developed under subsection (a)(1); determine which entities should be consulted in developing or revising the guidance; prioritize, on a regular basis, guidance that should be developed or revised; and develop and disseminate the guidance in accordance with the prioritization under paragraph (3). The Secretary shall acquire, use, and disseminate the best available integrated plume models to enable rapid response activities following a chemical, biological, nuclear, or radiological attack or event. The Secretary shall— identify Federal, State, and local needs regarding plume models and ensure the rapid development and distribution of integrated plume models that meet those needs to appropriate officials of the Federal Government and State, local, and tribal authorities to enable immediate response to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack or event; establish mechanisms for dissemination by appropriate emergency response officials of the integrated plume models described in paragraph
(1)to nongovernmental organizations and the public to enable appropriate collective response activities; ensure that guidance and training in how to appropriately use such models are provided; and ensure that lessons learned from assessing the development and dissemination of integrated plume models during exercises administered by the Department are put into the lessons learned information sharing system maintained by the Department. For purposes of this section: The term plume model means the assessment of the location and prediction of the spread of agents following a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack or event. The term integrated plume model means a plume model that integrates protective action guidance and other information as the Secretary determines appropriate. The Secretary shall carry out a program for system assessment and validation of emergency response equipment at the Department, to be known as the SAVER Program . The Secretary shall ensure that such program— conducts objective, impartial, practitioner-relevant, and operationally oriented assessments and validations of commercial emergency responder equipment and systems, including hand-held detectors for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents; prioritizes such evaluation based on the technical results obtained from the program established under section 2123, if available; is supported by a network of scientists who, in coordination with subject matter experts, perform the assessment and validation activities using strict scientific and testing protocols; provides results along with other relevant equipment information to the emergency response provider community in an operationally useful form; provides information on equipment that falls within the categories listed in the Department’s authorized equipment list; provides information that enables decisionmakers and responders to better select, procure, use, and maintain emergency responder equipment; and shares such information nationally with the emergency response provider community. In carrying out their functions, responsibilities, authorities, and duties to counter biological terrorism, the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the heads of other participating Federal agencies are authorized, subject to the availability of appropriations, to enter into contracts with laboratories that comprise the Laboratory Response Network for Biological Terrorism and other federally networked laboratories that agree to participate in such a contract, for the provision of laboratory testing services on a fee-for-service basis or on a prepayment or other similar basis. Prior to entering into such a contract with any laboratory in the Laboratory Response Network for Biological Terrorism, the Secretary, the Attorney General, or the head of any other participating Federal agency shall inform the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is authorized in the Department a bioforensics analysis center to provide support for law enforcement and intelligence-related investigations and actions to— provide definitive bioforensics analysis in support of the executive agencies with primary responsibilities for preventing, deterring, responding to, attributing, and recovering from biological attacks; and undertake other related bioforensics activities. The center shall charge and retain fees to reimburse the cost of any service provided to an executive agency that requested such service. Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary may implement a program under which executive agencies as considered appropriate by the Secretary provide personnel, on a reimbursable basis, to the center for the purpose of— providing training and other educational benefits for such stakeholders to help them to better understand the policies, procedures, and laws governing national bioforensics activities; and bolstering the capabilities and information sharing activities of the bioforensics analysis center authorized under subsection
(a)with national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders. The Secretary shall conduct a Metropolitan Medical Response System Program, that shall assist State and local governments in preparing for and responding to public health and mass casualty incidents resulting from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other man-made disasters. The Secretary, through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, may make grants under this section to State and local governments to assist in preparing for and responding to mass casualty incidents resulting from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other man-made disasters. In developing guidance for grants authorized under this section, the Administrator shall consult with the Chief Medical Officer. A grant made under this section may be used to support the integration of emergency management, health, and medical systems into a coordinated response to mass casualty incidents caused by any hazard, including— to strengthen medical surge capacity; to strengthen mass prophylaxis capabilities including development and maintenance of an initial pharmaceutical stockpile sufficient to protect first responders, their families, and immediate victims from a chemical or biological event, including the procurement of home medical kits that are approved pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq. ) or the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 201 et seq. ), as applicable; to strengthen chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive detection, response, and decontamination capabilities; to develop and maintain mass triage and pre-hospital treatment plans and capabilities; for planning; to support efforts to strengthen information sharing and collaboration capabilities of regional, State, and urban areas in support of public health and medical preparedness; for medical supplies management and distribution; for training and exercises; for integration and coordination of the activities and capabilities of public health personnel and medical care providers with those of other emergency response providers as well as other Federal agencies, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations, for the forward movement of patients; and for such other activities as the Administrator provides. Except as provided in subparagraph (C), any jurisdiction that received funds through the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program in fiscal year 2009 shall be eligible to receive a grant under this section. Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the Administrator may make grants under this section to the metropolitan statistical area with the largest population in any State in which no jurisdiction received funds through the Metropolitan Medical Response Program in fiscal year 2009, or in which funding was received only through another State. For each of fiscal years 2014 through 2016, no jurisdiction that would otherwise be eligible to receive grants under subclause
(I)shall receive a grant under this section if it would result in any jurisdiction under subparagraph
(A)receiving less funding than such jurisdiction received in fiscal year 2009. Subject to subparagraph (C), the Administrator may determine that additional jurisdictions are eligible to receive grants under this section. For each of fiscal years 2014 through 2016, the eligibility of any additional jurisdiction to receive grants under this section is subject to the availability of appropriations beyond that necessary to— ensure that each jurisdiction eligible to receive a grant under subparagraph
(A)does not receive less funding than such jurisdiction received in fiscal year 2009; and provide grants to jurisdictions eligible under clause (i). The Administrator shall distribute grant funds under this section to the State in which the jurisdiction receiving a grant under this section is located. Subject to subparagraph (C), not later than 45 days after the date on which a State receives grant funds under subparagraph (A), the State shall provide the jurisdiction receiving the grant 100 percent of the grant funds, and not later than 45 days after the State releases the funds, all fiscal agents shall make the grant funds available for expenditure. The Administrator may permit a State to provide to a jurisdiction receiving a grant under this section 97 percent of the grant funds awarded if doing so would not result in any jurisdiction eligible for a grant under paragraph (3)(A) receiving less funding than such jurisdiction received in fiscal year 2009. The Administrator shall ensure that each jurisdiction that receives a grant under this section, as a condition of receiving such grant, is actively coordinating its preparedness efforts with surrounding jurisdictions, with the official with primary responsibility for homeland security (other than the Governor) of the government of the State in which the jurisdiction is located, and with emergency response providers from all relevant disciplines, as determined by the Administrator, to effectively enhance regional preparedness. The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the Chief Medical Officer, and the National Metropolitan Medical Response System Working Group, shall issue performance measures within 1 year after the date of enactment of this section that enable objective evaluation of the performance and effective use of funds provided under this section in any jurisdiction. In this section, the term National Metropolitan Medical Response System Working Group means— 10 Metropolitan Medical Response System Program grant managers, who shall— include 1 such grant manager from each region of the Agency; comprise a population-based cross section of jurisdictions that are receiving grant funds under the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program; and include— 3 selected by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and 3 selected by the Chief Medical Officer; and 3 State officials who are responsible for administration of State programs that are carried out with grants under this section, who shall be selected by the Administrator. There is authorized to be appropriated $42,000,000 to carry out the program for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018. The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and in coordination with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall conduct tailored risk assessments to inform prioritization of national recovery activities for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents, to be updated as necessary. In conducting the risk assessments under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies; consider recovery of both indoor areas and outdoor environments; and consider relevant studies previously prepared by other Federal agencies, or other appropriate stakeholders. Upon completion of the risk assessments required by this section, the Secretary shall provide the findings to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and heads of other relevant Federal agencies in order to inform ongoing and future work, including research and guidance development, undertaken by those agencies in recovery and remediation from chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incidents. The results of the risk assessment under this section shall inform appropriate Federal research to address the high-risk capability gaps uncovered by each assessment. The results of each risk assessment shall be submitted to the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days after completion of the assessment. The Secretary shall develop and issue guidance for clean-up and restoration of indoor and outdoor areas, including subways and other mass transportation facilities, that have been exposed to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials. The Secretary shall develop and issue the guidance, within 24 months after the date of enactment of this section, in consultation with— the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Education; the Secretary of the Interior; the Attorney General; the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of Transportation; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Secretary of the Treasury; the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. The guidance developed under subsection
(a)shall clarify Federal roles and responsibilities for assisting State, local, and tribal authorities and include risk-based recommendations for— standards for effective decontamination of affected sites; standards for safe post-event occupancy of affected sites, including for vulnerable populations such as children and individuals with health concerns; requirements to ensure that the decontamination procedures for responding organizations do not conflict; requirements that each responding organization uses a uniform system for tracking costs and performance of clean-up contractors; maintenance of negative air pressure in buildings; standards for proper selection and use of personal protective equipment; air sampling procedures; development of occupational health and safety plans that are appropriate for the specific risk to responder health; and waste disposal. The Secretary shall— not less frequently than once every 2 years, review the guidance developed under subsection (a); make revisions to the guidance as appropriate; and make the revised guidance available to the Federal Government, State, local, and tribal authorities, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and the public. In carrying out the requirements of this section, the Secretary shall establish procedures to— prioritize issuance of guidance based on the results of the risk assessment under section 2131; inventory existing relevant guidance; enable the public to submit recommendations of areas in which guidance is needed; determine which entities should be consulted in developing or revising the guidance; prioritize, on a regular basis, guidance that should be developed or revised; and develop and disseminate the guidance in accordance with the prioritization under paragraph (5). The Secretary shall develop and revise the guidance developed under subsection (a), and the procedures required under subsection (d), in consultation with— the heads of other Federal departments and agencies that are not required to be consulted under subsection (a), as the Secretary considers appropriate; State, local, and tribal authorities; and nongovernmental organizations and private industry. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall provide appropriate congressional committees with— a description of the procedures established under subsection (d); any guidance in effect on the date of the report; a list of entities to which the guidance described in paragraph
(2)was disseminated; a plan for reviewing the guidance described in paragraph (2), in accordance with subsection (e); the prioritized list of the guidance required under subsection (d)(4), and the methodology used by the Secretary for such prioritization; and a plan for developing, revising, and disseminating the guidance. To facilitate recovery from a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack or other incident involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials and to foster collective response to terrorism, the Secretary shall develop exercises in consultation with State, local, and tribal authorities and other appropriate Federal agencies, and, as appropriate, in collaboration with national level exercises, including exercises that address, to the best knowledge available at the time, analysis, indoor environmental cleanup methods, and decontamination standards, including those published in the guidance issued under section 2142. The Secretary shall provide electronically, to the maximum extent practicable, lessons learned reports to each designated representative of State, local, and tribal jurisdictions and private sector entities that participate in National Level Exercises of the Department. Each lessons learned report shall be tailored to convey information on that exercise that could be leveraged to enhance preparedness and response. . The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end the following new items: Title XXI—WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS Subtitle A—Prevention Sec. 2101. Weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing. Sec. 2102. Risk assessments. Sec. 2103. National Export Enforcement Coordination. Sec. 2104. Communication of threat information. Sec. 2105. Individual and community preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks. Subtitle B—Protection Sec. 2121. Detection of biological attacks. Sec. 2122. Rapid biological threat detection and identification at ports of entry. Sec. 2123. Evaluating detection technology. Sec. 2124. Domestic implementation of the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture. Subtitle C—Response Sec. 2131. First responder guidance concerning chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks. Sec. 2132. Integrated plume modeling for collective response. Sec. 2133. Establishment of the system assessment and validation for emergency responders (SAVER) program. Sec. 2134. Payment for laboratory response services. Sec. 2135. Bioforensics capabilities. Sec. 2136. Metropolitan Medical Response System Program. Subtitle D—Recovery Sec. 2141. Identifying and addressing gaps in recovery capabilities. Sec. 2142. Recovery from a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attack or incident. Sec. 2143. Exercises. . Section 316 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 195b ), and the item relating to such section in section 1(b) of such Act, are repealed. The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Metropolitan Medical Response System Working Group shall conduct a review of the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program authorized under section 2136 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by this section, including an examination of— the extent to which the program goals and objectives are being met; the performance metrics that can best help assess whether the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program is succeeding; how the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program can be improved; how the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program complements and enhances other preparedness programs supported by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services; the degree to which the strategic goals, objectives, and capabilities of the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program are incorporated in State and local homeland security plans; how eligibility for financial assistance, and the allocation of financial assistance, under the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program should be determined, including how allocation of assistance could be based on risk; implications for the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program if it were managed as a contractual agreement; and the resource requirements of the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Chief Medical Officer shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the results of the review under this section. The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the implementation of paragraph (1)(E). In this subsection the term National Metropolitan Medical Response System Working Group has the meaning that term has in section 2136 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by this section.
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- Pub. L. 108-276
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Sec. 301
Weapons of mass destruction prevention and preparedness
Pub. L.Pub. L. 108-276
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