50 U.S.C. § 2315 — Testing of preparedness for emergencies

Page 378 TITLE 50—WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE § 2315 AMENDMENTS 2006—Pub. L. 109–163, § 1033(1), substituted ‘‘Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explo- sives response team’’ for ‘‘Chemical-biological emer- gency response team’’ in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1033(2), substituted ‘‘ra- diological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives’’ for ‘‘or related materials’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1033(3), in heading, sub- stituted ‘‘plans’’ for ‘‘plan’’ and, in text, substituted ‘‘The Secretary of Homeland Security shall incorporate into the National Response Plan prepared pursuant to section 312(6) of title 6, other existing Federal emer- gency response plans, and’’ for ‘‘Not later than Decem- ber 31, 1997, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall develop and incorporate into existing Federal emergency response plans and’’ in first sentence and ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’ for ‘‘Director’’ and ‘‘coordination’’ for ‘‘consultation’’ in second sentence. § 2315. Testing of preparedness for emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological weapons (a) Emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, chemical, or biological weapons (1) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop and carry out a program for testing and improving the responses of Federal, State, and local agencies to emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons and related materials. (2) The program shall include exercises to be carried out in accordance with sections 112(c) and 238(c)(1) of title 6. (3) In developing and carrying out the pro- gram, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Fed- eral Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of any other Federal, State, and local government agencies that have an expertise or responsibilities relevant to emer- gencies described in paragraph (1). (b) Annual revisions of programs The Secretary of Homeland Security shall re- vise the program developed under subsection (a) not later than June 1 in each fiscal year covered by the program. The revisions shall include ad- justments that the Secretary determines nec- essary or appropriate on the basis of the lessons learned from the exercise or exercises carried out under the program in the fiscal year, includ- ing lessons learned regarding coordination prob- lems and equipment deficiencies. (Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XIV, § 1415, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2720; Pub. L. 107–314, div. C, title XXXI, § 3154(a), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2738; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title X, § 1032, Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3428.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(1), sub- stituted ‘‘nuclear, radiological, chemical, or’’ for ‘‘chemical or’’ in heading. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(2), substituted ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’ for ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’ and ‘‘nuclear, radiological, biological, and’’ for ‘‘biological weapons and related materials and emergencies involving’’. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(3), substituted ‘‘in accordance with sections 112(c) and 238(c)(1) of title 6’’ for ‘‘during each of fiscal years 1997 through 2013’’. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(4), inserted ‘‘the Secretary of Defense,’’ before ‘‘the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’’ and struck out ‘‘the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agen- cy,’’ before ‘‘the Secretary of Energy,’’. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(b), (c), redesig- nated subsec. (c) as (b), substituted ‘‘The Secretary of Homeland Security shall revise the program developed under subsection (a)’’ for ‘‘The official responsible for carrying out a program developed under subsection (a) or (b) shall revise the program’’ in first sentence and ‘‘the Secretary’’ for ‘‘the official’’ in second sentence, and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (b) which related to emergencies involving nuclear and ra- diological weapons. Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(d), struck out heading and text of subsecs. (d) and (e) which related to option to transfer responsibility for programs under this section and to funding, respectively. 2002—Subsecs. (a)(2), (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–314 substituted ‘‘of fiscal years 1997 through 2013’’ for ‘‘of five succes- sive fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1997’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CONSTRUCTION OF EXTENSION WITH DESIGNATION OF ATTORNEY GENERAL AS LEAD OFFICIAL Pub. L. 107–314, div. C, title XXXI, § 3154(b), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2738, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by subsection (a) [amending this section] may not be construed as modifying the designation of the President titled ‘Designation of the Attorney General as the Lead Official for the Emergency Response As- sistance Program Under Sections 1412 and 1415 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997’, dated April 6, 2000, designating the Attorney Gen- eral to assume programmatic and funding responsibil- ities for the Emergency Response Assistance Program under sections 1412 [former 50 U.S.C. 2312] and 1415 [50 U.S.C. 2315] of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 (title XIV of the National De- fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997).’’ § 2316. Actions to increase civilian expertise (a) to (c) Omitted (d) Civilian expertise The President shall take reasonable measures to reduce the reliance of civilian law enforce- ment officials on Department of Defense re- sources to counter the threat posed by the use or potential use of biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction within the United States. The measures shall include— (1) actions to increase civilian law enforce- ment expertise to counter such a threat; and (2) actions to improve coordination between civilian law enforcement officials and other ci- vilian sources of expertise, within and outside the Federal Government, to counter such a threat. (e) Reports The President shall submit to Congress the following reports: (1) Not later than 90 days after September 23, 1996, a report describing the respective policy functions and operational roles of Federal agencies in countering the threat posed by the use or potential use of biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction within the United States. (2) Not later than one year after September 23, 1996, a report describing— (A) the actions planned to be taken to carry out subsection (d); and