Disaster Learning and Life Saving Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8569 To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 9, 2020 Ms. PORTER (for herself and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. 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 ‘‘Disaster Learning and 4 Life Saving Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ACT OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘act of vio- 8 lence’’ means any terrorism-related or other willful 9 act of human violence that causes loss of human life, 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8569 IH or human or economic injury, including an explosion, 1 arson, mass shooting, or attack by a hostile force, as 2 determined by the Board. 3 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na- 4 tional Disaster Safety Board established under sec- 5 tion 3. 6 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The term ‘‘Chairperson’’ 7 means the Chairperson of the Board appointed 8 under section 3. 9 (4) ECONOMIC INJURY.—The term ‘‘economic 10 injury’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘substantial 11 economic injury’’ in section 7(b) of the Small Busi- 12 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)). 13 (5) INCIDENT.—The term ‘‘incident’’ means a 14 natural hazard, public health incident, or other cir- 15 cumstance that the Board decides to review. 16 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND 17 RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘institution of 18 higher education and research institution’’ means— 19 (A) an institution of higher education (as 20 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 21 Act (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 22 (B) a National Laboratory (as defined in 23 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 24 U.S.C. 15801)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8569 IH (C) a laboratory described in section 1 308(c)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2 2002 (6 U.S.C. 188(c)(2)); 3 (D) the National Domestic Preparedness 4 Consortium established under section 1204 of 5 the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 6 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1102) and 7 the members of such Consortium; and 8 (E) a research institution associated with 9 an institution of higher education. 10 (7) NATURAL HAZARD.—The term ‘‘natural 11 hazard’’ means any naturally occurring hurricane, 12 tornado, storm, heat wave, flood, high water, wind- 13 driven water, wind storm, wildfire, wildland urban 14 interface fire, urban conflagration fire, tidal wave, 15 tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, 16 mudslide, snowstorm, dust storm, drought, or com- 17 bination thereof, that causes or threatens to cause 18 loss of human life, or human or economic injury, as 19 determined by the Board. 20 (8) PUBLIC HEALTH INCIDENT.—The term 21 ‘‘public health incident’’ means any infectious dis- 22 ease outbreak or the public health and safety con- 23 sequences of chemical, radiological, and biological 24 events, as determined by the Board. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8569 IH (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 1 ing given the term in section 102 of the Robert T. 2 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 3 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 4 (10) TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTER.—The term 5 ‘‘technological disaster’’ means an incident that— 6 (A) is caused by human error or malfunc- 7 tion in technology, including a dam or struc- 8 tural failure, a fire (other than a naturally oc- 9 curring wildfire, wildland urban interface fire, 10 urban conflagration fire, or arson), a hazardous 11 material incident, a nuclear accident, and a 12 power and telecommunications failure; and 13 (B) causes loss of human life, or human or 14 economic injury, as determined by the Board. 15 (11) TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘terrorism’’ has 16 the meaning given the term in section 2 of the 17 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 18 (12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 19 government’’ means the governing body of any In- 20 dian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, 21 village, or community that the Secretary of the Inte- 22 rior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe under 23 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 24 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8569 IH SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE. 1 (a) ORGANIZATION.—There is established in the exec- 2 utive branch a National Disaster Safety Board, which 3 shall be an independent establishment, as defined in sec- 4 tion 104 of title 5, United States Code. 5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Board are— 6 (1) to reduce loss of life, injury, and economic 7 injury caused by future incidents by learning from 8 natural hazards and public health incidents, includ- 9 ing the impacts and underlying factors of such inci- 10 dents, in a standardized way; 11 (2) to maintain a focus that is future-looking 12 and national in scope, by applying what the Board 13 learns through the trends that emerge from the inci- 14 dents the Board reviews nationally to prevent loss of 15 life, or human or economic injury, not only in the af- 16 fected jurisdiction, but nationally, as the Board de- 17 termines relevant; 18 (3) in carrying out reviews, analyses, and rec- 19 ommendations, is not to be accusatory in nature and 20 the Board shall not seek to find blame in any indi- 21 vidual or organization, or second-guess any relevant 22 authorities; 23 (4) to address systemic causes behind the loss 24 of life and human or economic injury in incidents, 25 including by recommending the augmentation of re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8569 IH sources available to entities responsible for man- 1 aging incident consequences; and 2 (5) while preventing economic injury as part of 3 the mission of the Board, when relevant, to prioritize 4 efforts that focus on lifesaving and injury preven- 5 tion, especially in disproportionately impacted com- 6 munities, as its work determines them to be. 7 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 8 (a) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 10 the Board shall review and establish the facts, cir- 11 cumstances, and cause or probable cause of the loss 12 of life, human injury, and economic injury due to a 13 natural hazard or public health incident with 10 or 14 more fatalities or that meets the requirements de- 15 scribed in paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (b) 16 that occurs after the date of enactment of this Act. 17 (2) DUE TO A NATURAL HAZARD OR PUBLIC 18 HEALTH INCIDENT DEFINED.—For purposes of 19 paragraph (1), the term ‘‘due to a natural hazard or 20 public health incident’’ means a fatality that, if not 21 for the natural hazard or public health incident, as 22 the case may be, would not have occurred within the 23 time frame of the incident, as defined by standards 24 developed by the Board. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8569 IH (b) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER INCIDENT WAR- 1 RANTS BOARD REVIEW.—In carrying out subsection (a), 2 the Board— 3 (1) may begin the review of an incident, includ- 4 ing by monitoring the natural hazard or public 5 health incident and collecting facts, before the total 6 number of fatalities is known if the Board deter- 7 mines that the natural hazard or public health inci- 8 dent has the potential to cause 10 or more fatalities 9 at its onset, in accordance with the policies and pro- 10 cedures established by the Board; 11 (2) may, by a two-thirds vote, decide that an in- 12 cident that caused 10 or more fatalities does not re- 13 quire a review and shall issue a public statement ex- 14 plaining the determination; 15 (3) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 16 any natural hazard or public health incident that oc- 17 curs after the date of enactment of this Act upon re- 18 quest from a representative of an affected State, 19 Tribal government, or unit of local government, re- 20 gardless of the number of fatalities; 21 (4) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 22 any natural hazard or public health incident that oc- 23 curs after the date of enactment of this Act upon 24 recommendation by the Office for the Protection of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8569 IH Disproportionately Impacted Communities of the 1 Board, which the Office may make because of the 2 incident’s impacts on populations that are socially, 3 medically, or economically vulnerable, as decided by 4 the Office; and 5 (5) may, by a majority vote, decide to review a 6 natural hazard or public health incident that occurs 7 after the date of enactment of this Act if— 8 (A) the Board determines that information 9 may be gained by the review that will be useful 10 in reducing systemic causes behind the loss of 11 life and human or economic injury; and 12 (B) the incident— 13 (i) did not result in 10 or more fatali- 14 ties; and 15 (ii)(I) could have resulted in a large 16 number of fatalities if not for swift inter- 17 vention or a shift in the course of events; 18 or 19 (II) resulted in, as determined by the 20 Board— 21 (aa) a significant amount of eco- 22 nomic or infrastructure damage; 23 (bb) significant human displace- 24 ment; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8569 IH (cc) a significant number of se- 1 vere non-fatal injuries or cases of se- 2 vere illness; and 3 (6) shall, by majority vote, determine whether 4 each incident for which the President issues a major 5 disaster declaration under section 401 of the Robert 6 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 7 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) meets the criteria for re- 8 view under paragraph (5). 9 (c) NATURE OF REVIEW.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a review 11 under this Act, the Board shall— 12 (A) conduct the review to determine the 13 facts, conditions, and circumstances relating to 14 the loss of life, human injury, and economic in- 15 jury due to an incident; 16 (B) following an initial assessment of an 17 incident by the Board, notify any individual or 18 organization that the Board anticipates will be 19 affected by the review as to the extent of the 20 expected review response of the Board; 21 (C) use the results of the review under 22 subparagraph (A) to— 23 (i) determine how and why people die 24 and are injured during an incident; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8569 IH (ii) issue recommendations to prevent 1 or mitigate the loss of life, human injury, 2 or economic injury due to similar incidents; 3 and 4 (D) report on the facts and circumstances 5 of the incident review, including the pre-inci- 6 dent resilience or vulnerabilities of the incident 7 area or population. 8 (2) GENERALIZED NATURE OF REVIEWS.—A 9 review of loss of life and injury conducted by the 10 Board shall— 11 (A) be generalized; 12 (B) focus on trends across an incident; and 13 (C) not aim to determine the exact indi- 14 vidual cause of death or injury of any affected 15 people. 16 (3) FACT-FINDING PROCEEDING.—Any review 17 of an incident by the Board under this Act shall be 18 a fact-finding proceeding with no adverse parties. 19 (4) LIMITATION OF APPLICABILITY OF OTHER 20 ACTS.— 21 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.— 22 Any review proceedings of the Board under this 23 Act shall not be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8569 IH (i) subject to the Administrative Pro- 1 cedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.); or 2 (ii) conducted for the purpose of de- 3 termining the rights, liabilities, or blame of 4 any person, as the review is not an adju- 5 dicatory proceeding. 6 (B) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chap- 7 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com- 8 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 9 Act’’), shall not apply to the review proceedings 10 of the Board under this Act. 11 (C) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 12 ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 13 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Board. 14 (5) INITIATING REVIEWS.—The Board shall ini- 15 tiate a review of an incident by monitoring the situa- 16 tion and assessing available facts to determine the 17 appropriate review response, without interfering in 18 any ongoing lifesaving and life sustaining efforts un- 19 derway by other entities. 20 (6) ALIGNMENT AND COORDINATION.—In car- 21 rying out this Act, the Board shall coordinate with 22 Federal, State, local, and Tribal entities to— 23 (A) establish or adopt standard methods of 24 measuring the impacts of natural hazards and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8569.IH H8569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8569 IH accessing response capacity and capabilities to 1 maintain consistency and allow for the analysis 2 of trends over time; 3 (B) ensure that the standard data sets and 4 formats necessary for reviews developed under 5 subparagraph (A) are propagated among Fed- 6 eral, State, local, and tribal entities that may be 7 involved in response operations; 8 (C) leverage, to the extent practicable, 9 data collected using standard data sets and for- 10 mats established under subparagraph (B) by 11 Federal entities involved in response operations 12 to avoid any duplication of data collection; and 13 (D) during incident response operations, 14 coordinate with partners active in the operatio [Text truncated for display. 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