Sec. 204. Emergency response assistance
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Section 5116 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— by redesignating subsection
(k)as subsection (l); by inserting after subsection
(j)the following: In this subsection: The term significant hazardous materials transportation incident means an incident that— involves hazardous materials being moved by a motor carrier or rail carrier; requires a response by at least 1 eligible entity described in paragraph
(6)for which the Secretary estimates the costs to the eligible entity to be at least $15,000; and results in a serious injury, fatality, or substantial property damage. The term substantial property damage means damage to public or private property or the environment (including clean up costs) the Secretary reasonably estimates to be more than $45,000. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2026, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after providing an opportunity for notice and comment, shall establish an emergency response assistance program to provide immediate financial assistance to communities responding to a significant hazardous materials transportation incident. The Secretary shall have the authority to declare a significant hazardous materials transportation incident. The Secretary shall establish and publish guidelines to determine whether a significant hazardous materials transportation incident has occurred. The Secretary shall immediately make available from the amount set aside under subsection (h)(3) in the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Fund established under subsection (h)(1) (referred to in this subsection as the Fund ) up to $10,000,000 to quickly reimburse eligible entities described in paragraph
(6)that responded to a significant hazardous materials transportation incident if— the Secretary declares the incident a significant hazardous materials transportation incident; and at least 14 days but not later than 21 days after the declaration of a significant hazardous materials transportation incident, the Secretary determines, in accordance with paragraph (8), that the responsible party does not have an acceptable reimbursement plan. In addition to any amounts made available under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall make additional funding available from the amount set aside under subsection (h)(3) in the Fund if the Secretary determines that the additional funding is necessary. The Secretary may make funds available under this subsection if the Secretary determines the responsible party is not complying with its acceptable plan under paragraph (8). The Secretary may provide funds from the amount set aside under subsection (h)(3) in the Fund to a State in which a hazardous materials transportation incident occurred for the State to use and administer reimbursements in accordance with this subsection, including by providing funds to eligible entities described in paragraph (6). The eligible entities referred to in paragraphs (4)(A) and
(5)are— States, territories, and Tribes; political subdivisions of a State or territory; and public emergency response organizations. Funds made available under paragraph
(4)or
(5)may be used only— for the cost of replacing personal protective equipment that is damaged, contaminated, or otherwise rendered unusable as a result of the response of the eligible entity to a significant hazardous materials transportation incident; for overtime pay of employees of eligible entities that responded to the scene of a significant hazardous materials transportation incident; for operational costs exceeding standard operating expenses that are directly related to the cost of responding to the significant hazardous materials transportation incident, such as the costs of running a supplementary emergency response center; for the cost of providing baseline health care assessments to emergency response personnel who responded to the significant hazardous materials transportation incident, but not more than $1,000 per person, which shall be adjusted annually for inflation; and to reimburse an eligible entity for an eligible cost described in any of clauses
(i)through
(iv)that is incurred within 30 days of the date of a significant hazardous materials transportation incident. Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary declares a significant hazardous materials transportation incident for which an eligible entity receives assistance under this subsection, the eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary documentation for each item for which that assistance was used pursuant to the eligible uses of funds described in subparagraph (A). If the Secretary determines that an eligible entity has used assistance received under this subsection in a manner that violates subparagraph
(A)or any other provision of this subsection, the eligible entity shall reimburse the Fund (if the assistance was provided from the Fund) or the responsible party (if the assistance was provided by the responsible party), for the amount of that assistance. For purposes of paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the Secretary shall consider a reimbursement plan of a responsible party to be acceptable if the plan seeks to review and process claims made by eligible entities for the costs described in paragraph
(7)not later than 90 days after the date of the significant hazardous materials transportation incident. A plan to provide reimbursement to eligible entities in accordance with subparagraph
(A)may be submitted to the Secretary for approval in advance of any significant hazardous materials transportation incident to which the plan might apply. A hazardous materials emergency response plan approved by the Secretary in accordance with section 20155(e) shall be considered an acceptable plan for purposes of this subsection. Subject to subparagraph (F), the party responsible for a significant hazardous materials transportation incident shall be liable to the Secretary for reimbursement of all amounts disbursed from the Fund under this subsection for that significant hazardous materials transportation incident. Any funding recovered by the Secretary under this subsection shall be deposited back into the Fund. After the Secretary has received the documented costs under paragraph (7)(B), the Secretary shall provide notice to the responsible party regarding the total amount owed. Not later than 30 days after the Secretary makes a determination of the amount for which the responsible party is liable under subparagraph (A), the responsible party may challenge that determination as a final agency action. The Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States to collect unpaid amounts under this paragraph and any accrued interest on those amounts. In a civil action under clause (i), the amount for which a responsible party is liable, as determined by the Secretary, unless challenged under subparagraph (D), shall not be subject to judicial review. If the responsible party is a small business concern (within the meaning of part 121 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)) that is unable to fully reimburse the Secretary, the Secretary shall have discretion with respect to the amount of funds the Secretary requests from the responsible party under this paragraph. The Secretary shall streamline the application process for the receipt of funds under this subsection, including by— providing technical assistance to eligible entities; and creating a template that eligible entities can use to apply for funding. Nothing in this subsection limits, or may be construed to limit, the liability of a responsible party. A responsible party may, in accordance with any other applicable law— seek to establish that another party was responsible, in whole or in part (as such other law allows), for the applicable significant hazardous materials transportation incident; and seek reimbursement (to the extent such other law allows) from that other party. Nothing in this subsection limits, or may be construed to limit, the ability of a responsible party to seek reimbursement from any other party found to be responsible in any civil action arising from the applicable significant hazardous materials transportation incident. A determination by the Secretary that a party is a responsible party for purposes of this subsection shall not be considered or otherwise have any effect with respect to the determination of liability in any civil action described in clause (ii). No activity taken under this subsection to reimburse an eligible entity, reimburse the Secretary, prepare or carry out a reimbursement plan, or otherwise comply with or make a payment under this subsection shall be considered or otherwise have any effect with respect to the determination of liability in any civil action described in clause (ii). Not later than September 30, 2027, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on the effectiveness this subsection. The report submitted under subparagraph
(A)shall include, at a minimum, information on— the number of significant hazardous materials transportation incidents that received funding under this subsection; the amount of financial assistance the Secretary provided to eligible entities; the amount of financial assistance responsible parties submitted to the Secretary under paragraph (9); the amount of reimbursement the Secretary received from eligible entities as required under paragraph (7)(C); whether the amounts provided by the Secretary under this subsection adequately reflect the amounts actually spent by the eligible entities; whether the Secretary was able to provide the financial assistance quickly enough to the eligible entities so that the assistance effectively supported the preparedness of the eligible entities to respond to potential future incidents; and any other factors the Comptroller General of the United States considers to be appropriate to review the effectiveness of this subsection. ; and by adding at the end the following: In this section: The term emergency response personnel means— an employee of a State, territory, Tribe, or political subdivision of a State; and a person belonging to a public emergency response organization. The term public emergency response organization means— a fire department that has an all-paid force of firefighting personnel other than paid-on-call firefighters; a fire department that has— paid firefighting personnel; and volunteer firefighting personnel; a nonaffiliated EMS organization; and a fire department that has an all-volunteer force of firefighting personnel. For purposes of subparagraph (A)(iii), the term nonaffiliated EMS organization means a public or private nonprofit emergency medical services organization that— is not affiliated with a hospital; and does not serve a geographic area for which the Secretary or a State finds that emergency medical services are adequately provided by a fire department. .