EMS Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3626 To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to set training requirements on eligibility for certain emergency manage- ment performance grants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 24, 2023 Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. CARTER of Louisiana) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to set training requirements on eligibility for certain emergency management performance grants, 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 ‘‘Emergency Manage- 4 ment Support Act’’ or the ‘‘EMS Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3626.IH H3626 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3626 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE 1 GRANTS PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 661 of the Post-Katrina 3 Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 4 762) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 7 and inserting a semicolon; 8 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period 9 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘local emergency management di- 12 rector’ means an official designated at the local level 13 to coordinate local disaster response, emergency 14 planning, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, 15 disaster mitigation, and related activities on a full- 16 time or part-time basis.’’; 17 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 18 section (g); 19 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to 22 receive a grant under this section— 23 ‘‘(1) a State shall— 24 ‘‘(A) require local emergency management 25 directors to successfully complete Federal 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3626.IH H3626 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3626 IH Emergency Management Agency provided base- 1 line emergency management training developed 2 in accordance with the National Incident Man- 3 agement System— 4 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the 5 date of enactment of this subsection; and 6 ‘‘(ii) recurrently at an interval deter- 7 mined by the Administrator to strengthen 8 local emergency management capacity; and 9 ‘‘(B) submit certifications to the Adminis- 10 trator annually as directed by the Adminis- 11 trator regarding compliance with the require- 12 ments in paragraph (1); or 13 ‘‘(2) with respect to a State that cannot certify 14 that all local emergency management directors have 15 completed training required under paragraph (1)(A), 16 a State shall submit a certification that includes— 17 ‘‘(A) an identification of all barriers to 18 achieving the baseline emergency management 19 training requirement; and 20 ‘‘(B) an approach to overcoming barriers 21 identified under subparagraph (A) with an an- 22 ticipated timeline for full compliance with the 23 baseline emergency management training re- 24 quirement.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3626.IH H3626 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3626 IH (4) in subsection (g), as so redesignated— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘There is’’ and inserting 2 the following: 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is’’; and 4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION.—There is 6 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 7 essary to carry out subsection (f).’’. 8 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 10 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall sub- 11 mit to Congress a report on compliance with the amend- 12 ments made by this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3626.IH H3626 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS