6 U.S.C. § 1184 — Over-the-road bus security training pro-

Page 484 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 1184 scribed in subsection (b) to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism. (b) Covered entities Entities to be assessed under the program shall include— (1) Federal, State, and local agencies and tribal governments; (2) over-the-road bus operators and over-the- road bus terminal owners and operators; (3) governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers and law enforce- ment agencies; and (4) any other organization or entity that the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) Requirements The Secretary shall ensure that the program— (1) consolidates existing security exercises for over-the-road bus operators and terminals administered by the Department and the De- partment of Transportation, as jointly deter- mined by the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation, unless the Secretary waives this consolidation requirement, as appro- priate; (2) consists of exercises that are— (A) scaled and tailored to the needs of the over-the-road bus operators and terminals, including addressing the needs of the elderly and individuals with disabilities; (B) live, in the case of the most at-risk fa- cilities to a terrorist attack; (C) coordinated with appropriate officials; (D) as realistic as practicable and based on current risk assessments, including credible threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences; (E) inclusive, as appropriate, of over-the- road bus frontline employees; and (F) consistent with the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, the National Preparedness Goal, and other such national initiatives; (3) provides that exercises described in para- graph (2) will be— (A) evaluated by the Secretary against clear and consistent performance measures; (B) assessed by the Secretary to identify best practices, which shall be shared, as ap- propriate, with operators providing over-the- road bus transportation, nonprofit employee organizations that represent over-the-road bus employees, Federal, State, local, and tribal officials, governmental and non- governmental emergency response providers, and law enforcement personnel; and (C) used to develop recommendations, as appropriate, provided to over-the-road bus operators and terminal owners and operators on remedial action to be taken in response to lessons learned; (4) allows for proper advanced notification of communities and local governments in which exercises are held, as appropriate; and (5) assists State, local, and tribal govern- ments and over-the-road bus operators and terminal owners and operators in designing, implementing, and evaluating additional exer- cises that conform to the requirements of paragraph (2). (d) National Exercise Program The Secretary shall ensure that the exercise program developed under subsection (c) is con- sistent with the National Exercise Program es- tablished under section 748 of this title. (Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1533, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 460.) § 1184. Over-the-road bus security training pro- gram (a) In general Not later than 6 months after August 3, 2007, the Secretary shall develop and issue regula- tions for an over-the-road bus training program to prepare over-the-road bus frontline employees for potential security threats and conditions. The regulations shall take into consideration any current security training requirements or best practices. (b) Consultation The Secretary shall develop regulations under subsection (a) in consultation with— (1) appropriate law enforcement, fire service, emergency response, security, and terrorism experts; (2) operators providing over-the-road bus transportation; and (3) nonprofit employee labor organizations representing over-the-road bus employees and emergency response personnel. (c) Program elements The regulations developed under subsection (a) shall require security training programs, to in- clude, at a minimum, elements to address the following, as applicable: (1) Determination of the seriousness of any occurrence or threat. (2) Driver and passenger communication and coordination. (3) Appropriate responses to defend or pro- tect oneself. (4) Use of personal and other protective equipment. (5) Evacuation procedures for passengers and over-the-road bus employees, including indi- viduals with disabilities and the elderly. (6) Psychology, behavior, and methods of terrorists, including observation and analysis. (7) Training related to psychological re- sponses to terrorist incidents, including the ability to cope with hijacker behavior and pas- senger responses. (8) Live situational training exercises re- garding various threat conditions, including tunnel evacuation procedures. (9) Recognition and reporting of dangerous substances, suspicious packages, and situa- tions. (10) Understanding security incident proce- dures, including procedures for commu- nicating with emergency response providers and for on-scene interaction with such emer- gency response providers. (11) Operation and maintenance of security equipment and systems. (12) Other security training activities that the Secretary considers appropriate. Page 485 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 1185 (d) Required programs (1) Development and submission to Secretary Not later than 90 days after the Secretary issues the regulations under subsection (a), each over-the-road bus operator shall develop a security training program in accordance with such regulations and submit the program to the Secretary for approval. (2) Approval Not later than 60 days after receiving a secu- rity training program under this subsection, the Secretary shall approve the program or re- quire the over-the-road bus operator that de- veloped the program to make any revisions to the program that the Secretary considers nec- essary for the program to meet the require- ments of the regulations. An over-the-road bus operator shall respond to the Secretary’s com- ments not later than 30 days after receiving them. (3) Training Not later than 1 year after the Secretary ap- proves a security training program in accord- ance with this subsection, the over-the-road bus operator that developed the program shall complete the training of all over-the-road bus frontline employees who were hired by the op- erator more than 30 days preceding such date. For such employees employed less than 30 days by an operator preceding such date, training shall be completed within the first 60 days of employment. (4) Updates of regulations and program revi- sions The Secretary shall periodically review and update, as appropriate, the training regula- tions issued under subsection (a) to reflect new or changing security threats. Each over- the-road bus operator shall revise its training program accordingly and provide additional training as necessary to its employees within a reasonable time after the regulations are up- dated. (e) National Training Program The Secretary shall ensure that the training program developed under subsection (a) is a component of the National Training Program established under section 748 of this title. (f) Reporting requirements Not later than 2 years after the date of regula- tion issuance, the Secretary shall review imple- mentation of the training program of a rep- resentative sample of over-the-road bus opera- tors and over-the-road bus frontline employees, and report to the appropriate congressional committees of such reviews. The Secretary may submit the report in both classified and redacted formats as necessary. (Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1534, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 461.) § 1185. Over-the-road bus security research and development (a) Establishment of research and development program The Secretary, acting through the Under Sec- retary for Science and Technology and the Ad- ministrator of the Transportation Security Ad- ministration, shall carry out a research and de- velopment program for the purpose of improving the security of over-the-road buses. (b) Eligible projects The research and development program may include projects— (1) to reduce the vulnerability of over-the- road buses, stations, terminals, and equipment to explosives and hazardous chemical, biologi- cal, and radioactive substances, including the development of technology to screen pas- sengers in large numbers with minimal inter- ference and disruption; (2) to test new emergency response and re- covery techniques and technologies, including those used at international borders; (3) to develop improved technologies, includ- ing those for— (A) emergency response training, including training in a tunnel environment, if appro- priate; and (B) security and redundancy for critical communications, electrical power, com- puter, and over-the-road bus control sys- tems; and (4) to address other vulnerabilities and risks identified by the Secretary. (c) Coordination with other research initiatives The Secretary— (1) shall ensure that the research and devel- opment program is consistent with the other transportation security research and develop- ment programs required by this Act; (2) shall, to the extent practicable, coordi- nate the research and development activities of the Department with other ongoing re- search and development security-related ini- tiatives, including research being conducted by— (A) the Department of Transportation, in- cluding University Transportation Centers and other institutes, centers, and simulators funded by the Department of Transpor- tation; (B) the National Academy of Sciences; (C) the Technical Support Working Group; (D) other Federal departments and agen- cies; and (E) other Federal and private research lab- oratories, research entities, and institutions of higher education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities; (3) shall carry out any research and develop- ment project authorized by this section through a reimbursable agreement with an ap- propriate Federal agency, if the agency— (A) is currently sponsoring a research and development project in a similar area; or (B) has a unique facility or capability that would be useful in carrying out the project; (4) may award grants and enter into coopera- tive agreements, contracts, other trans- actions, or reimbursable agreements to the en- tities described in paragraph (2) and eligible recipients under section 1182 of this title; and