Sec. 3. Border and maritime security efficiencies
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Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 231 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following new sections: The Secretary shall establish and operate the following departmental Joint Task Forces (in this section referred to as Joint Task Force ) to conduct joint operations using Department component and office personnel and capabilities to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States: Joint Task Force-East shall, at the direction of the Secretary and in coordination with Joint Task Force West, create and execute a strategic plan to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States and shall operate and be located in a place or region determined by the Secretary.
Joint Task Force-West shall, at the direction of the Secretary and in coordination with Joint Task Force East, create and execute a strategic plan to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States and shall operate and be located in a place or region determined by the Secretary. Joint Task Force-Investigations shall, at the direction of the Secretary, be responsible for coordinating criminal investigations supporting Joint Task Force–West and Joint Task Force–East.
The Secretary shall appoint a Director to head each Joint Task Force. Each Director shall be senior official selected from a relevant component or office of the Department, rotating between relevant components and offices every two years. The Secretary may extend the appointment of a Director for up to two additional years, if the Secretary determines that such an extension is in the best interest of the Department. The Secretary shall make the following appointments to the following Joint Task Forces:
The initial Director of Joint Task Force–East shall be a senior officer of the Coast Guard. The initial Director of Joint Task Force–West shall be a senior official of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The initial Director of Joint Task Force–Investigations shall be a senior official of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Secretary shall appoint a Deputy Director for each Joint Task Force. The Deputy Director of a Joint Task Force shall, to the greatest extent practicable, be an official of a different component or office than the Director of each Joint Task Force.
Each Joint Task Force Director shall— identify and prioritize border and maritime security threats to the homeland; maintain situational awareness within their areas of responsibility, as determined by the Secretary; provide operational plans and requirements for standard operating procedures and contingency operations; plan and execute joint task force activities within their areas of responsibility, as determined by the Secretary; set and accomplish strategic objectives through integrated operational planning and execution; exercise operational direction over personnel and equipment from Department components and offices allocated to the respective Joint Task Force to accomplish task force objectives; establish operational and investigative priorities within the Director’s operating areas; coordinate with foreign governments and other Federal, State, and local agencies, where appropriate, to carry out the mission of the Director’s Joint Task Force; identify and provide to the Secretary the joint mission requirements necessary to secure the land and maritime borders of the United States; and carry out other duties and powers the Secretary determines appropriate.
The Secretary may, upon request of the Director of a Joint Task Force, allocate on a temporary basis component and office personnel and equipment to the requesting Joint Task Force, with appropriate consideration of risk given to the other primary missions of the Department. When reviewing requests for allocation of component personnel and equipment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider the impact of such allocation on the ability of the donating component to carry out the primary missions of the Department, and in the case of the Coast Guard, the missions specified in section 888.
Personnel and equipment of the Coast Guard allocated under this subsection may only be used to carry out operations and investigations related to securing the maritime borders of the United States. As directed by the Secretary— each Director of a Joint Task Force shall be provided sufficient resources from relevant components and offices of the Department and the authority necessary to carry out the missions and responsibilities required under this section; the resources referred to in paragraph
(1)shall be under the operational authority, direction, and control of the Director of the Joint Task Force to which such resources were assigned; and the personnel and equipment of the Joint Task Forces shall remain under the administrative direction of its primary component or office. Each Joint Task Force shall have a staff to assist the Directors in carrying out the mission and responsibilities of the Joint Task Forces. Such staff shall be filled by officials from relevant components and offices of the Department. The Secretary shall— establish performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the Joint Task Forces in securing the land and maritime borders of the United States; submit such metrics to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and in the case of metrics related to securing the maritime borders of the United States, additionally to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, by the date that is not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this section; and submit to such Committees— an initial report that contains the evaluation described in paragraph
(1)by not later than January 31, 2017; and a second report that contains such evaluation by not later than January 31, 2018. The Secretary shall establish a Department joint duty training program for the purposes of enhancing departmental unity of efforts and promoting workforce professional development. Such training shall be tailored to improve joint operations as part of the Joint Task Forces established under subsection (a). The joint duty training program established under paragraph
(1)shall address, at minimum, the following topics: National strategy. Strategic and contingency planning. Command and control of operations under joint command. International engagement. The Homeland Security Enterprise. Border security. Interagency collaboration. Leadership. The joint duty training program established under paragraph
(1)shall consist of— one course intended for mid-level officers and officials of the Department assigned to or working with the Joint Task Forces, and one course intended for senior officers and officials of the Department assigned to or working with the Joint Task Forces, to ensure a systematic, progressive, and career-long development of such officers and officials in coordinating and executing Department-wide joint planning and operations. Except as provided in subparagraph (C), each Joint Task Force Director and Deputy Director of a Joint Task Force shall complete relevant parts of the joint duty training program under this subsection prior to assignment to a Joint Task Force. All senior and mid-level officers and officials serving on the staff of a Joint Task Force shall complete relevant parts of the joint duty training program under this subsection within the first year of assignment to a Joint Task Force. Subparagraph
(A)does not apply in the case of the initial Directors and Deputy Directors of a Joint Task Force. The Secretary may establish additional Joint Task Forces for the purposes of— coordinating operations along the northern border of the United States; homeland security crises, subject to subsection (l); establishing other regionally-based operations; or cybersecurity. The Secretary may not establish a Joint Task Force for any major disaster or emergency declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq. ) or an incident for which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has primary responsibility for management of the response under title V of this Act, including section 504(a)(3)(A), unless the responsibilities of the Joint Task Force— do not include operational functions related to incident management, including coordination of operations; and are consistent with the requirements of sections 509(c), 503(c)(3), and 503(c)(4)(A) of this Act and section 302 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5143 ). Nothing in this section reduces the responsibilities or functions of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under title V of this Act, provisions of law enacted by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 ( Public Law 109–295 ), and other laws, including the diversion of any asset, function, or mission from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency pursuant to section 506. The Secretary shall submit a notification to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and in the case of a Joint Task Force in which the Coast Guard will participate or a Joint Task Force established under paragraph
(2)or
(3)of subsection
(k)to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, 90 days prior to the establishment of the Joint Task Force. The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph
(1)in the event of an emergency circumstance that imminently threatens the protection of human life or the protection of property. The Inspector General of the Department shall conduct a review of the Joint Task Forces established under this section. The review required under paragraph
(1)shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of the Joint Task Force structure in securing the land and maritime borders of the United States, together with recommendations for enhancements to such structure to further strengthen border security. The Inspector General of the Department shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that contains the review required under paragraph
(1)by not later than January 31, 2018. In this section, the term situational awareness means a knowledge and unified understanding of unlawful cross-border activity, including threats and trends concerning illicit trafficking and unlawful crossings, and the ability to forecast future shifts in such threats and trends, the ability to evaluate such threats and trends at a level sufficient to create actionable plans, and the operational capability to conduct continuous and integrated surveillance of the land and maritime borders of the United States. This section expires on September 30, 2018. Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a maritime operations coordination plan for the coordination and cooperation of maritime operations undertaken by components and offices of the Department with responsibility for maritime security missions. Such plan shall update the maritime operations coordination plan released by the Department in July 2011, and shall address the following: Coordination of planning, integration of maritime operations, and development of joint maritime domain awareness efforts of any component or office of the Department with responsibility for maritime homeland security missions. Maintaining effective information sharing and, as appropriate, intelligence integration, with Federal, State, and local officials and the private sector, regarding threats to maritime security. Leveraging existing departmental coordination mechanisms, including the interagency operational centers as authorized under section 70107A of title 46, United States Code, Coast Guard’s Regional Coordinating Mechanisms, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Center, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Operational Integration Center, and other regional maritime operational command centers. Cooperation and coordination with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, and State and local agencies, in the maritime environment, in support of maritime homeland security missions. Work conducted within the context of other national and Department maritime security strategic guidance. Not later than July 1, 2020, the Secretary, acting through the Department’s Office of Operations Coordination and Planning, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an update to the maritime operations coordination plan required under subsection (a). . The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 433 the following new items: Sec. 434. Border Security Joint Task Forces. Sec. 435. Updates of maritime operations coordination plan. .
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- Pub. L. 109-295
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Sec. 3
Border and maritime security efficiencies
Pub. L.Pub. L. 109-295
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