TITLE V — EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
This title concerns the responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security for emergency preparedness and response.
Section 501. Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response.
This section specifies primary responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response. These include: (1) helping to ensure the preparedness of emergency response providers for terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies, (2) establishing standards, conducting exercises and training, evaluating performance, and providing funds in relation to the Nuclear Incident Response Team (defined in section 504 of the bill), (3) providing the federal government's response to terrorist attacks and major disasters, (4) aiding the recovery from terrorist attacks and major disasters, (5) working with other federal and non-federal agencies to build a comprehensive national incident management system, (6) consolidating existing federal government emergency response plans into a single, coordinated national response plan, and (7) developing comprehensive programs for developing interoperative communications technology and ensuring that emergency response providers acquire such technology. The responsibility of providing the federal government's response to terrorist attacks and major disasters - item (3) above - includes a number of specific functions: (A) coordinating the overall response, (B) directing the Domestic Emergency Support Team, the Strategic National Stockpile, the National Disaster Medical System, and the Nuclear Incident Response Team, (C) overseeing the Metropolitan Medical Response System, and (D) coordinating other federal response resources.
As with other parts of the bill, the specification of primary responsibilities in this section does not detract from other important functions that will be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, such as those of the United States Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In all areas, the bill fully preserves the authority to carry out the functions of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including support for community initiatives that promote homeland security, such as the Citizen Corps.
[ Text of Bill ]
Section 502. Functions transferred.
This section identifies agencies and functions relevant to emergency preparedness and response that are to be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. These include (1) the Federal Emergency Management Agency; (2) the following units of the Department of Justice: the Office for Domestic Preparedness of the Office of Justice Programs, the National Domestic Preparedness Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Domestic Emergency Support Teams; and (3) the following units of the Department of Health and Human Services: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness (including the Office of Emergency Preparedness, the National Disaster Medical System, and the Metropolitan Medical Response System) and the Strategic National Stockpile.
