Sec. 3. High intensity drug trafficking areas program
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/bill/115/hr/5925/eh/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
There is established in the Office a program to be known as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program (in this section referred to as the Program ). The purpose of the Program is to reduce drug trafficking and drug production in the United States by— facilitating cooperation among Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to share information and implement coordinated enforcement activities; enhancing law enforcement intelligence sharing among Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies; providing reliable law enforcement intelligence to law enforcement agencies needed to design effective enforcement strategies and operations; and supporting coordinated law enforcement strategies which maximize use of available resources to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in designated areas and in the United States as a whole.
The Director, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the head of each National Drug Control Program Agency, and the Governor of each applicable State, may designate any specified area of the United States as a high intensity drug trafficking area. After making a designation under paragraph
(1)and in order to provide Federal assistance to the area so designated, the Director may— obligate such sums as are appropriated for the Program; direct the temporary reassignment of Federal personnel to such area, subject to the approval of the head of the agency that employs such personnel; take any other action authorized under this section or chapter 10 of title 31, United States Code, as added by section 2(c), to provide increased Federal assistance to those areas; and coordinate activities under this section (specifically administrative, recordkeeping, and funds management activities) with State, local, and Tribal officials. The Director shall establish and maintain regulations under which a coalition of interested law enforcement agencies from an area may petition for designation as a high intensity drug trafficking area (in this section referred to as the HIDTA ). Such regulations shall provide for a regular review by the Director of the petition, including a recommendation regarding the merit of the petition to the Director by a panel of qualified, independent experts. In considering whether to designate an area under this section as a high intensity drug trafficking area, the Director shall consider, in addition to such other criteria as the Director considers to be appropriate, the extent to which— the area is a significant center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution; State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies have committed resources to respond to the drug trafficking problem in the area, thereby indicating a determination to respond aggressively to the problem; drug-related activities in the area are having a significant harmful impact in the area, and in other areas of the country; and a significant increase in allocation of Federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug-related activities in the area. To be eligible for funds appropriated under this section, each high intensity drug trafficking area shall be governed by an Executive Board. The Executive Board shall designate a chairman, vice chairman, and any other officers to the Executive Board that it determines are necessary. The Executive Board of a high intensity drug trafficking area shall be responsible for— providing direction and oversight in establishing and achieving the goals of the high intensity drug trafficking area; managing the funds of the high intensity drug trafficking area; reviewing and approving all funding proposals consistent with the overall objective of the high intensity drug trafficking area; and reviewing and approving all reports to the Director on the activities of the high intensity drug trafficking area. None of the funds appropriated under this section may be expended for any high intensity drug trafficking area, or for a partnership or region of a high intensity drug trafficking area, if the Executive Board for such area, region, or partnership, does not apportion an equal number of votes between representatives of participating agencies and representatives of participating State, local, and Tribal agencies. Where it is impractical for an equal number of representatives of agencies and State, local, and Tribal agencies to attend a meeting of an Executive Board in person, the Executive Board may use a system of proxy votes or weighted votes to achieve the voting balance required by this paragraph. The eligibility requirements of this section are intended to ensure the responsible use of Federal funds. Nothing in this section is intended to create an agency relationship between individual high intensity drug trafficking areas and the Federal Government. The Director shall ensure that not more than 5 percent of Federal funds appropriated for the Program are expended for substance use disorder treatment programs and not more than 5 percent of the Federal funds appropriated for the Program are expended for drug prevention programs. The Director may authorize use of resources available for the Program to assist Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in investigations and activities related to terrorism and prevention of terrorism, especially but not exclusively with respect to such investigations and activities that are also related to drug trafficking. The Director shall ensure— that assistance provided under paragraph
(1)remains incidental to the purpose of the Program to reduce drug availability and carry out drug-related law enforcement activities; and that significant resources of the Program are not redirected to activities exclusively related to terrorism, except on a temporary basis under extraordinary circumstances, as determined by the Director. The Director, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall ensure that a representative of the Drug Enforcement Administration is included in the Intelligence Support Center for each high intensity drug trafficking area. Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Director may expend up to 10 percent of the amounts appropriated under this section on a discretionary basis, in accordance with the criteria established under paragraph (2)— to respond to any emerging drug trafficking threat in an existing high intensity drug trafficking area; to establish a new high intensity drug trafficking area; or to expand an existing high intensity drug trafficking area. In allocating funds under this subsection, the Director shall consider— the impact of activities funded on reducing overall drug traffic in the United States, or minimizing the probability that an emerging drug trafficking threat will spread to other areas of the United States; and such other criteria as the Director considers appropriate. As part of the documentation that supports the President’s annual budget request for the Office, the Director shall submit to Congress a budget justification that includes— the amount proposed for each HIDTA, conditional upon a review by the Office of the request submitted by such HIDTA and the performance of such HIDTA, with supporting narrative descriptions and rationale for each request; a detailed justification that explains— the reasons for the proposed funding level and how such funding level was determined based on a current assessment of the drug trafficking threat in each high intensity drug trafficking area; how such funding will ensure that the goals and objectives of each such area will be achieved; and how such funding supports the National Drug Control Strategy; and the amount of HIDTA funds used to investigate and prosecute organizations and individuals trafficking in each major illicit drug, as identified by the Director, in the prior calendar year, and a description of how those funds were used. As part of each report submitted pursuant to section 1006(a) of title 31, United States Code, as added by section 2(c), the Director shall include, for each designated high intensity drug trafficking area, a report that— describes— the specific purposes for the high intensity drug trafficking area; and the specific long-term and short-term goals and objectives for the high intensity drug trafficking area; includes an evaluation of the performance of the high intensity drug trafficking area in accomplishing the specific long-term and short-term goals and objectives identified under subparagraph (1)(B); assesses the number and operation of all federally funded drug enforcement task forces within such high intensity drug trafficking area; describes— each Federal, State, local, and Tribal drug enforcement task force operating in such high intensity drug trafficking area; how such task forces coordinate with each other, with any high intensity drug trafficking area task force, and with investigations receiving funds from the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force; what steps, if any, each such task force takes to share information regarding drug trafficking and drug production with other federally funded drug enforcement task forces in the high intensity drug trafficking area; the role of the high intensity drug trafficking area in coordinating the sharing of such information among task forces; the nature and extent of cooperation by each Federal, State, local, and Tribal participant in ensuring that such information is shared among law enforcement agencies and with the high intensity drug trafficking area; the nature and extent to which information sharing and enforcement activities are coordinated with joint terrorism task forces in the high intensity drug trafficking area; and any recommendations for measures needed to ensure that task force resources are utilized efficiently and effectively to reduce the availability of illegal drugs in the high intensity drug trafficking areas; and in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence— evaluates existing and planned law enforcement intelligence systems supported by such high intensity drug trafficking area, or utilized by task forces receiving any funding under the Program, including the extent to which such systems ensure access and availability of law enforcement intelligence to Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies within the high intensity drug trafficking area and outside of such area; evaluates the extent to which Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies participating in each high intensity drug trafficking area are sharing law enforcement intelligence information to assess current drug trafficking threats and design appropriate enforcement strategies; and identifies the measures needed to improve effective sharing of information and law enforcement intelligence regarding drug trafficking and drug production among Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement participating in a high intensity drug trafficking area, and between such agencies and similar agencies outside the high intensity drug trafficking area. The Director, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall ensure that any drug enforcement intelligence obtained by the Intelligence Support Center for each high intensity drug trafficking area is shared, on a timely basis, with the drug intelligence fusion center operated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force of the Department of Justice. Before the Director awards any funds to a high intensity drug trafficking area, the Director shall certify that the law enforcement entities participating in that HIDTA are providing laboratory seizure data to the national clandestine laboratory database at the El Paso Intelligence Center. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Office to carry out this section $280 million for each fiscal years 2019 through 2023. The Director shall ensure that, of the amounts appropriated for a fiscal year for the Program, at least 2.5 percent is used in high intensity drug trafficking areas with severe neighborhood safety and illegal drug distribution problems. The funds used under paragraph
(1)shall be used to ensure the safety of neighborhoods and the protection of communities, including the prevention of the intimidation of witnesses of illegal drug distribution and related activities and the establishment of or support for programs that provide protection or assistance to witnesses in court proceedings. The Director shall work with the HIDTAs to develop and maintain best practice models to assist State, local, and Tribal governments in addressing witness safety, relocation, financial and housing assistance, or any other services related to witness protection or assistance in cases of illegal drug distribution and related activities. The Director shall ensure dissemination of the best practice models to each HIDTA.