First Responder Access to Innovative Technologies Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2743 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a process to review applications for certain grants to purchase equipment or systems that do not meet or exceed any applicable national voluntary consensus standards, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2021 Mr. PAYNE (for himself and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a process to review applications for certain grants to purchase equipment or systems that do not meet or exceed any applicable national voluntary consensus standards, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Responder Ac- 4 cess to Innovative Technologies Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2743.IH H2743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2743 IH SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN EQUIPMENT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2008 of the Homeland 2 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 609) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (f)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘If an applicant’’ and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENT.—If an appli- 7 cant’’; and 8 (B) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraphs: 10 ‘‘(2) REVIEW PROCESS.—The Administrator 11 shall implement a uniform process for reviewing ap- 12 plications that, in accordance with paragraph (1), 13 contain explanations to use grants provided under 14 section 2003 or 2004 to purchase equipment or sys- 15 tems that do not meet or exceed any applicable na- 16 tional voluntary consensus standards developed 17 under section 647 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 18 Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 747). 19 ‘‘(3) FACTORS.—In carrying out the review 20 process under paragraph (2), the Administrator 21 shall consider the following: 22 ‘‘(A) Current or past use of proposed 23 equipment or systems by Federal agencies or 24 the Armed Forces. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2743.IH H2743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2743 IH ‘‘(B) The absence of a national voluntary 1 consensus standard for such equipment or sys- 2 tems. 3 ‘‘(C) The existence of an international con- 4 sensus standard for such equipment or systems, 5 and whether such equipment or systems meets 6 such standard. 7 ‘‘(D) The nature of the capability gap 8 identified by the applicant and how such equip- 9 ment or systems will address such gap. 10 ‘‘(E) The degree to which such equipment 11 or systems will serve the needs of the applicant 12 better than equipment or systems that meet or 13 exceed existing consensus standards. 14 ‘‘(F) Any other factor determined appro- 15 priate by the Administrator.’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 17 section: 18 ‘‘(g) REVIEW PROCESS.—The Administrator shall 19 implement a uniform process for reviewing applications to 20 use grants provided under section 2003 or 2004 to pur- 21 chase equipment or systems not included on the Author- 22 ized Equipment List maintained by the Administrator.’’. 23 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than 24 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2743.IH H2743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2743 IH Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Secu- 1 rity shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security 2 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 3 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 4 ate a report assessing the implementation of the review 5 process established under paragraph (2) of subsection (f) 6 of section 2008 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 7 (as added by subsection (a) of this section), including in- 8 formation on the following: 9 (1) The number of requests to purchase equip- 10 ment or systems that do not meet or exceed any ap- 11 plicable consensus standard evaluated under such re- 12 view process. 13 (2) The capability gaps identified by applicants 14 and the number of such requests granted or denied. 15 (3) The processing time for the review of such 16 requests. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2743.IH H2743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS