Border Community Input in Border Security Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1292 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require border community stakeholder consultation before the Secretary of Homeland Security may construct, install, deploy, operate, or maintain additional physical bar- riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology between ports of entry along the land border with Mexico, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. VELA (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require border community stakeholder consultation before the Secretary of Homeland Security may construct, install, deploy, operate, or maintain additional physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, or technology between ports of entry along the land border with Mexico, 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 ‘‘Border Community 4 Input in Border Security Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1292 IH SEC. 2. BORDER COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER CONSULTA- 1 TION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 3 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 890B. BORDER COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER CON- 6 SULTATION. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 102 of 8 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsi- 9 bility Act of 1996, the Secretary may not construct, in- 10 stall, deploy, operate, or maintain additional physical bar- 11 riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology (including the 12 removal of obstacles for such purpose) between ports of 13 entry in a Border Patrol sector along the land border with 14 Mexico until the Secretary publishes in the Federal Reg- 15 ister a final mitigation plan with respect to such sector 16 to minimize in such sector the impact on the economic, 17 environmental, ecological, historical, cultural, commercial, 18 or other quality of life factors for the communities and 19 residents located near the sites at which any such physical 20 barriers, tactical infrastructure, or technology are to be 21 constructed, installed, deployed, operated, or maintained 22 (or obstacles are to be removed), as the case may be. Such 23 final mitigation plan shall be developed in accordance with 24 this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1292 IH ‘‘(b) INITIAL MITIGATION PLAN.—The Secretary 1 shall publish on a publicly available website of the Depart- 2 ment an announcement regarding any removal, construc- 3 tion, installation, deployment, operation, or maintenance 4 described in subsection (a). Such announcement shall— 5 ‘‘(1) explain the basis for the Secretary’s deter- 6 mination that any such removal, construction, instal- 7 lation, deployment, operation, or maintenance, as 8 the case may be, is the most practical and effective 9 method to achieve situational awareness and oper- 10 ational control at the site in the Border Patrol sec- 11 tor at issue along such border; 12 ‘‘(2) include, with respect to any such removal, 13 construction, installation, deployment, operation, or 14 maintenance, an initial mitigation plan to minimize 15 the impact on the economic, environmental, ecologi- 16 cal, historical, cultural, commercial, or other quality 17 of life factors for border community stakeholders; 18 ‘‘(3) provide an opportunity for written feed- 19 back and input from border community stake- 20 holders; and 21 ‘‘(4) include the dates, times, and places for at 22 least two public meetings in locations within 20 23 miles of each site for which the Secretary makes a 24 determination pursuant to paragraph (1) for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1292 IH purpose of soliciting feedback and input from border 1 community stakeholders regarding such initial miti- 2 gation plan. 3 ‘‘(c) FINAL MITIGATION PLAN.—After receiving feed- 4 back and input under subsection (b) regarding an initial 5 mitigation plan, the Secretary shall develop a final mitiga- 6 tion plan taking into consideration such feedback and 7 input. The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register 8 such final mitigation plan. 9 ‘‘(d) UPDATES TO FINAL MITIGATION PLAN.—The 10 Secretary shall update a final mitigation plan under this 11 section if significant construction, installation, deploy- 12 ment, operation, or maintenance of additional physical 13 barriers, tactical infrastructure, or technology (including 14 the removal of obstacles for such purpose) is determined 15 necessary. Any such update shall— 16 ‘‘(1) be published on a publicly available website 17 of the Department; 18 ‘‘(2) meet the requirement described in sub- 19 section (b)(1); and 20 ‘‘(3) provide an opportunity for written feed- 21 back and input from border community stake- 22 holders. 23 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.—Not more than 90 days before 24 commencing any construction, installation, deployment, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1292 IH operation, or maintenance of additional physical barriers, 1 tactical infrastructure, or technology (including removal of 2 obstacles for such purpose) at a site in a Border Patrol 3 sector in accordance with this section, the Secretary shall 4 provide the Comptroller General of the United States, the 5 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security 7 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate with the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(1) The final mitigation plan under subsection 10 (c) or an updated final mitigation plan under sub- 11 section (d), together with information relating to the 12 feedback and input received in accordance with sub- 13 section (b) or subsection (d), respectively. 14 ‘‘(2) Information on the following: 15 ‘‘(A) The type of additional physical bar- 16 riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology the 17 Secretary has determined is most practical and 18 effective to achieve situational awareness and 19 operational control at such site. 20 ‘‘(B) The associated timeline for the con- 21 struction, installation, deployment, operation, or 22 maintenance of such additional physical bar- 23 riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology (in- 24 cluding removal of obstacles for such purpose). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1292 IH ‘‘(C) Projected costs, analysis of alter- 1 natives, and plans for such removal, construc- 2 tion, installation, deployment, operation, or 3 maintenance or such additional physical bar- 4 riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology, to- 5 gether with specific information on how much 6 of such site is privately owned and may be sub- 7 ject to eminent domain. 8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) BORDER COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS.— 10 The term ‘border community stakeholders’ means, 11 with respect to sites in Border Patrol sectors at 12 which construction, installation, deployment, oper- 13 ation, or maintenance of additional physical barriers, 14 tactical infrastructure, or technology (including re- 15 moval of obstacles for such purpose) is the subject 16 of an initial, final, or updated final mitigation plan 17 under this section— 18 ‘‘(A) private property owners of such sites; 19 ‘‘(B) State or local governments or Indian 20 tribes that own, manage, or administer such 21 sites or the use of resources of such sites; and 22 ‘‘(C) other individuals who could be im- 23 pacted by such departmental action, as deter- 24 mined by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1292 IH ‘‘(2) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘oper- 1 ational control’ has the meaning given such term in 2 section 2 of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public 3 Law 109–367; 8 U.S.C. 1701 note). 4 ‘‘(3) PROPERTY.—The term ‘property’ means 5 land, including an estate or interest in land, includ- 6 ing an easement or right of way in land.’’. 7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 8 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 9 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 10 890A the following new item: 11 ‘‘Sec. 890B. Border community stakeholder consultation.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1292.IH H1292 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS