[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6038 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6038
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to direct the President to modernize the integrated
public alert and warning system of the United States, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 13, 2008
Mr. Graves (for himself and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to direct the President to modernize the integrated
public alert and warning system of the United States, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Integrated Public Alert and Warning
System Modernization Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) numerous technologies exist to enable the Federal
Government to vastly enhance its public alert and warning
system;
(2) the potential benefits of these enhancements include--
(A) greater security, survivability, and redundancy
of the system;
(B) an improved ability to notify remote locations;
(C) the ability to geographically target and
deliver alerts and warnings to multiple devices; and
(D) the ability to allow individuals to request
specific alerts and warnings;
(3) a modern, integrated public alert and warning system
will better enable government officials to provide civilian
populations with timely and effective warnings of disasters,
such as the devastating tornados and floods in the Midwest in
2008; and
(4) the Federal Government should modernize its alert and
warning system to improve its ability to alert the residents of
the United States of all potential hazards under all
conditions.
SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.
(a) In General.--Section 202 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5132) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(e) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization.--
``(1) In general.--In order to provide timely and effective
disaster warnings under this section, the President, acting
through the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, shall--
``(A) modernize the integrated public alert and
warning system of the United States (in this section
referred to as the `public alert and warning system')
to ensure that the President under all conditions can
alert and warn governmental authorities and the
civilian population in areas endangered by disasters;
and
``(B) implement the public alert and warning
system.
``(2) Implementation requirements.--In carrying out
paragraph (1), the Director shall--
``(A) assign to the National Continuity Programs
Directorate, or its successor, responsibility for
advising the Director on the modernization and
implementation of the public alert and warning system;
``(B) establish or adopt, as appropriate, common
alerting and warning protocols, standards, terminology,
and operating procedures for the public alert and
warning system;
``(C) include in the public alert and warning
system the capability to adapt the distribution and
content of communications on the basis of geographic
location, risks, or personal user preferences, as
appropriate;
``(D) include in the public alert and warning
system the capability to alert and warn individuals
with disabilities and individuals with limited English
proficiency; and
``(E) ensure the conduct of training, tests, and
exercises for the public alert and warning system.
``(3) System requirements.--The public alert and warning
system shall--
``(A) incorporate multiple communications
technologies;
``(B) be designed to adapt to, and incorporate,
future technologies for communicating directly with the
public;
``(C) be designed to provide alerts to the largest
portion of the affected population feasible and improve
the ability of remote areas to receive alerts;
``(D) promote local and regional public and private
partnerships to enhance community preparedness and
response; and
``(E) provide redundant alert mechanisms where
practicable so as to reach the greatest number of
people regardless of whether they have access to, or
utilize, any specific medium of communication or any
particular device.
``(4) Pilot programs.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall conduct pilot
programs for the purpose of demonstrating the
feasibility of using a variety of methods for achieving
the system requirements specified in paragraph (3).
``(B) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of this subsection, and annually
thereafter for the duration of the pilot programs, the
Director shall submit to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report
containing--
``(i) a description and assessment of the
effectiveness of the pilot programs;
``(ii) any recommendations of the Director
for additional authority to continue the pilot
programs or make any of the programs permanent;
and
``(iii) any other findings and conclusions
of the Director with respect to the pilot
programs.
``(5) Implementation plan.--Not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this subsection, the Director shall
submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a detailed plan
for implementing this subsection. The plan shall include a
timeline for implementation, a spending plan, and
recommendations for any additional authority that may be
necessary to fully implement this subsection.
``(6) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $37,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for each
fiscal year thereafter.''.
(b) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this Act
(including the amendment made by this Act) shall be construed to affect
the authority of the Department of Commerce or the Federal
Communications Commission.
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