National Response Framework Improvement Act of 2020

II Calendar No. 621 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4153 [Report No. 116–318] To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate the Na- tional Response Framework based on lessons learned from the COVID– 19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 2, 2020 Mr. JOHNSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs DECEMBER 14, 2020 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate the National Response Framework based on lessons learned from the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4153 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Response 2 Framework Improvement Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. EVALUATION OF NATIONAL RESPONSE FRAME- 4 WORK. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 7 Federal Emergency Management Agency (referred to in 8 this Act as the ‘‘Administrator’’), acting through the Na- 9 tional Integration Center, shall conduct an initial evalua- 10 tion of the National Response Framework of the Depart- 11 ment of Homeland Security to determine whether there 12 are any gaps or inefficiencies in the Framework based on 13 the response to the COVID–19 pandemic. 14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—After conducting the evalua- 15 tion required under subsection (a), the Administrator 16 shall— 17 (1) in accordance with section 509(b)(2) of the 18 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 19 319(b)(2)), update the National Response Frame- 20 work, in coordination with the heads of the primary 21 and support agencies of the emergency support func- 22 tions, based on the gaps or inefficiencies identified 23 through the evaluation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4153 RS (2) provide recommendations on actions rel- 1 evant agencies can take to address gaps identified 2 through the evaluation; and 3 (3) conduct an additional evaluation as part of 4 the after-action review process of the Federal Emer- 5 gency Management Agency. 6 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY INFORMATION SHARING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall— 8 (1) evaluate the processes for collecting and 9 sharing information across the primary and support 10 agencies of the emergency support functions during 11 an incident for which the emergency support func- 12 tions are activated under the National Response 13 Framework; 14 (2) provide recommendations to the heads of 15 the primary and support agencies of emergency sup- 16 port functions for how to improve processes under 17 paragraph (1); and 18 (3) update the National Response Framework 19 to account for new information collection and shar- 20 ing processes that result from the evaluation and 21 recommendations under paragraphs (1) and (2). 22 (b) COORDINATION.—In evaluating the processes re- 23 quired under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator shall co- 24 ordinate with the head of each emergency support function 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4153 RS coordinator and the heads of primary and support agen- 1 cies of the emergency support functions. 2 (c) MODIFICATIONS.—The Administrator may make 3 modifications to the processes incorporated into the Na- 4 tional Response Framework under subsection (a)(3) dur- 5 ing an incident in which the emergency support functions 6 are activated under the National Response Framework if 7 the Administrator determines such modifications are nec- 8 essary to ensure efficient communication and information 9 sharing. 10 SEC. 4. TRAINING. 11 (a) EVALUATION OF TRAINING PROGRAM.—Not later 12 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 13 Administrator shall— 14 (1) conduct an assessment of the training pro- 15 grams for primary and support agencies of the 16 emergency support functions under the National Re- 17 sponse Network that are in effect on the date of en- 18 actment of this Act; and 19 (2) provide recommendations to the heads of 20 the primary and support agencies of emergency sup- 21 port functions for how to improve the training pro- 22 grams described in paragraph (1). 23 (b) ANNUAL TRAINING.—The Administrator shall, on 24 an annual basis and in coordination with the heads of pri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4153 RS mary and support agencies of the emergency support func- 1 tions under the National Response Framework, provide 2 training on enhancements or updates made to the Na- 3 tional Response Framework. 4 SEC. 5. REQUIRED BRIEFING. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 7 brief the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 8 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Home- 9 land Security of the House of Representatives on— 10 (1) the evaluation conducted under section 2, 11 including the updates made to the National Re- 12 sponse Framework and the recommendations re- 13 quired under section 2(b); 14 (2) the evaluation and recommendations devel- 15 oped under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3(a); 16 and 17 (3) the training program required to be estab- 18 lished under section 4, including information relat- 19 ing to how frequently training is offered and the at- 20 tendance of the training by employees of relevant 21 agencies. 22 (b) NOTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall provide 23 notice to Congress on any technology system updates that 24 develop after the briefing required under subsection (a) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4153 RS that may impact information sharing efforts across the 1 emergency support functions. 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Response 4 Framework Improvement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ROLLING SUMMARIES OF NATIONAL RESPONSE 6 FRAMEWORK. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, and as frequently thereafter 9 as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Manage- 10 ment Agency (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Adminis- 11 trator’’) determines appropriate until the date on which the 12 first biennial evaluation required under subparagraph (D) 13 of section 509(b)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 14 (6 U.S.C. 319(b)(2)), as added by section 4 of this Act, is 15 submitted, the Administrator shall provide not less than 1 16 summary on any gaps or inefficiencies in the National Re- 17 sponse Framework of the Department of Homeland Security 18 based on the response to the COVID–19 pandemic to— 19 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 20 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 21 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 22 House of Representatives. 23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—After the end of the COVID-19 24 pandemic, as part of the after-action review process of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4153 RS COVID–19 pandemic by the Federal Emergency Manage- 1 ment Agency, the Administrator shall conduct an evalua- 2 tion of the National Response Framework, which shall in- 3 clude— 4 (1) any updates, as determined necessary by the 5 Administrator, to the National Response Framework, 6 in coordination with the heads of the primary and 7 support agencies of the emergency support functions, 8 based on the gaps or inefficiencies identified through 9 the evaluation; and 10 (2) recommendations on actions relevant agen- 11 cies can take to address gaps identified through the 12 evaluation. 13 SEC. 3. REQUIRED BRIEFINGS. 14 The Administrator shall brief the Committee on Home- 15 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 16 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives on each summary required to be provided under 18 section 2(a) not later than 1 year after the date on which 19 the summary is provided. 20 SEC. 4. BIENNIAL EVALUATIONS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 509(b) of the Homeland Se- 22 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 319(b)) is amended— 23 (1) in paragraph (2)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4153 RS (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1 at the end; 2 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 3 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(D) not less frequently than once every 2 6 years— 7 ‘‘(i) evaluating potential gaps and in- 8 efficiencies in the National Response 9 Framework, including by evaluating the 10 processes for collecting and sharing infor- 11 mation across the emergency support func- 12 tion coordinators, primary agencies, and 13 support agencies during an incident for 14 which the emergency support functions are 15 activated under the National Response 16 Framework; 17 ‘‘(ii) providing recommendations to the 18 heads of the emergency support function co- 19 ordinators, primary agencies, and support 20 agencies for how to improve processes de- 21 scribed in clause (i); 22 ‘‘(iii) updating the National Response 23 Framework to account for new information 24 collection and sharing processes that result 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4153 RS from the evaluation and recommendations 1 under clauses (i) and (ii), including by 2 modifying any previously incorporated 3 processes if the Administrator determines 4 such modifications are necessary to ensure 5 efficient communication and information 6 sharing; 7 ‘‘(iv) conducting an assessment of the 8 training programs for emergency support 9 function coordinators, primary agencies, 10 and support agencies; and 11 ‘‘(v) providing recommendations to the 12 heads of the emergency support function co- 13 ordinators, primary agencies, and support 14 agencies of emergency support functions for 15 how to improve the training programs de- 16 scribed in clause (iv).’’; and 17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 19 than 30 days after the date on which the Adminis- 20 trator, acting through the National Integration Cen- 21 ter, completes an evaluation required under para- 22 graph (2)(D), the Administrator shall provide written 23 notice to the appropriate congressional committees.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4153 RS (b) AFTER-ACTION EVALUATION.—For purposes of the 1 biennial evaluation required under subparagraph (D) of 2 section 509(b)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 3 U.S.C. 319(b)(2)), as added by subsection (a) of this section, 4 if the evaluation required under section 2(b)(3) of this Act 5 is completed during the 2-year period following the date of 6 enactment of this Act, the evaluation shall be considered to 7 fulfill the biennial evaluation requirement in subparagraph 8 (D) of such section 509(b)(2) for the first 2-year period after 9 the date of enactment of this Act. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 621 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4153 [Report No. 116–318] A BILL To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate the National Response Framework based on lessons learned from the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 14, 2020 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S4153.RS S4153 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS