Planning and training grants, monitoring, and review

49 U.S.C. § 5116
in effect
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(a) Planning and Training Grants.—(1) The Secretary shall make grants to States and Indian tribes—(A) to develop, improve, and carry out emergency plans under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.), including ascertaining flow patterns of hazardous material on lands under the jurisdiction of a State or Indian tribe, and between lands under the jurisdiction of a State or Indian tribe and lands of another State or Indian tribe; (B) to decide on the need for regional hazardous material emergency response teams; and (C) to train public sector employees to respond to accidents and incidents involving hazardous material. (2) To the extent that a grant is used to train emergency responders under paragraph (1)(C), the State or Indian tribe shall provide written certification to the Secretary that the emergency responders who receive training under the grant will have the ability to protect nearby persons, property, and the environment from the effects of accidents or incidents involving the transportation of hazardous material in accordance with existing regulations or National Fire Protection Association standards for competence of responders to accidents and incidents involving hazardous materials. (3) The Secretary may make a grant to a State or Indian tribe under paragraph (1) of this subsection only if—(A) the State or Indian tribe certifies that the total amount the State or Indian tribe expends (except amounts of the Federal Government) for the purpose of the grant will at least equal the average level of expenditure for the last 5 years; and (B) any emergency response training provided under the grant shall consist of—(i) a course developed or identified under section 5115 of this title; or (ii) any other course the Secretary determines is consistent with the objectives of this section. (4) A State or Indian tribe receiving a grant under this subsection shall ensure that planning and emergency response training under the grant is coordinated with adjacent States and Indian tribes. (5) A training grant under paragraph (1)(C) may be used—(A) to pay—(i) the tuition costs of public sector employees being trained; (ii) travel expenses of those employees to and from the training facility; (iii) room and board of those employees when at the training facility; and (iv) travel expenses of individuals providing the training; (B) by the State, political subdivision, or Indian tribe to provide the training; and (C) to make an agreement with a person (including an authority of a State, a political subdivision of a State or Indian tribe, or a local jurisdiction), subject to approval by the Secretary, to provide the training if—(i) the agreement allows the Secretary and the State or Indian tribe to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits of the training without prior notice; (ii) the person agrees to have an auditable accounting system; and (iii) the State or Indian tribe conducts at least one on-site observation of the training each year. (6) The Secretary shall allocate amounts made available for grants under this subsection among eligible States and Indian tribes based on the needs of the States and Indian tribes for emergency response planning and training. In making a decision about those needs, the Secretary shall consider—(A) the number of hazardous material facilities in the State or on land under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; (B) the types and amounts of hazardous material transported in the State or on such land; (C) whether the State or Indian tribe imposes and collects a fee for transporting hazardous material; (D) whether such fee is used only to carry out a purpose related to transporting hazardous material; (E) the past record of the State or Indian tribe in effectively managing planning and training grants; and (F) any other factors the Secretary determines are appropriate to carry out this subsection. (b) Compliance With Certain Law.—The Secretary may make a grant to a State under this section in a fiscal year only if the State certifies that the State complies with sections 301 and 303 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001, 11003). (c) Applications.—A State or Indian tribe interested in receiving a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary. The application must be submitted at the time, and contain information, the Secretary requires by regulation to carry out the objectives of this section. (d) Government’s Share of Costs.—A grant under this section is for 80 percent of the cost the State or Indian tribe incurs in the fiscal year to carry out the activity for which the grant is made. Amounts of the State or tribe under subsection (a)(3)(A) of this section are not part of the non-Government share under this subsection. (e) Monitoring and Technical Assistance.—In coordination with the Secretaries of Transportation and Energy, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall monitor public sector emergency response planning and training for an accident or incident involving hazardous material. Considering the results of the monitoring, the Secretaries, Administrators, and Director each shall provide technical assistance to a State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian tribe for carrying out emergency response training and planning for an accident or incident involving hazardous material and shall coordinate the assistance using the existing coordinating mechanisms of the National Response Team and, for radioactive material, the Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee. (f) Delegation of Authority.—To minimize administrative costs and to coordinate Federal financial assistance for emergency response training and planning, the Secretary may delegate to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Secretaries of Labor and Energy any of the following:(1) authority to receive applications for grants under this section. (2) authority to review applications for technical compliance with this section. (3) authority to review applications to recommend approval or disapproval. (4) any other ministerial duty associated with grants under this section. (g) Minimizing Duplication of Effort and Expenses.—The Secretaries of Transportation, Labor, and Energy, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall review periodically, with the head of each department, agency, or instrumentality of the Government, all emergency response and preparedness training programs of that department, agency, or instrumentality to minimize duplication of effort and expense of the department, agency, or instrumentality in carrying out the programs and shall take necessary action to minimize duplication. (h) Annual Registration Fee Account and Its Uses.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an account in the Treasury (to be known as the “Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Fund”) into which the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit amounts the Secretary of Transportation transfers to the Secretary of the Treasury under section 5108(g)(2)(C) of this title. Without further appropriation, amounts in the account are available—(1) to make grants under this section and section 5107(e); (2) to monitor and provide technical assistance under subsection (e) of this section; (3) to publish and distribute an emergency response guide; and (4) to pay administrative costs of carrying out this section and sections 5107(e) and 5108(g)(2) of this title, except that not more than 2 percent of the amounts made available from the account in a fiscal year may be used to pay those costs. (i) Supplemental Training Grants.—(1) In order to further the purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary shall, subject to the availability of funds and through a competitive process, make a grant or make grants to national nonprofit fire service organizations for the purpose of training instructors to conduct hazardous materials response training programs for individuals with statutory responsibility to respond to hazardous materials accidents and incidents. (2) For the purposes of this subsection the Secretary, after consultation with interested organizations, shall—(A) identify regions or locations in which fire departments or other organizations which provide emergency response to hazardous materials transportation accidents and incidents are in need of hazardous materials training; and (B) prioritize such needs and develop a means for identifying additional specific training needs. (3) Funds granted to an organization under this subsection shall only be used—(A) to provide training, including portable training, for instructors to conduct hazardous materials response training programs; (B) to purchase training equipment used exclusively to train instructors to conduct such training programs; and (C) to disseminate such information and materials as are necessary for the conduct of such training programs. (4) The Secretary may only make a grant to an organization under this subsection in a fiscal year if the organization enters into an agreement with the Secretary to provide training, including portable training, for instructors to conduct hazardous materials response training programs in such fiscal year that will use—(A) a course or courses developed or identified under section 5115 of this title; or (B) other courses which the Secretary determines are consistent with the objectives of this subsection; for training individuals with statutory responsibility to respond to accidents and incidents involving hazardous materials. Such agreement also shall provide that training courses shall comply with Federal regulations and national consensus standards for hazardous materials response and be open to all such individuals on a nondiscriminatory basis. (5) The Secretary may not award a grant to an organization under this subsection unless the organization ensures that emergency responders who receive training under the grant will have the ability to protect nearby persons, property, and the environment from the effects of accidents or incidents involving the transportation of hazardous material in accordance with existing regulations or National Fire Protection Association standards for competence of responders to accidents and incidents involving hazardous materials. (6) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (3), to the extent determined appropriate by the Secretary, a grant awarded by the Secretary to an organization under this subsection to conduct hazardous material response training programs may be used to train individuals with responsibility to respond to accidents and incidents involving hazardous material. (7) For the purposes of this subsection, the term “portable training” means live, instructor-led training provided by certified fire service instructors that can be offered in any suitable setting, rather than specific designated facilities. Under this training delivery model, instructors travel to locations convenient to students and utilize local facilities and resources. (8) The Secretary may impose such additional terms and conditions on grants to be made under this subsection as the Secretary determines are necessary to protect the interests of the United States and to carry out the objectives of this subsection. (j) Alert Grant Program.—(1) Assistance for local emergency response training.—The Secretary shall establish a grant program to make grants to eligible entities described in paragraph (2)—(A) to develop a hazardous materials response training curriculum for emergency responders, including response activities for the transportation of crude oil, ethanol, and other flammable liquids by rail, consistent with the standards of the National Fire Protection Association; and (B) to make the training described in subparagraph (A) available in an electronic format. (2) Eligible entities.—An eligible entity referred to in paragraph (1) is a nonprofit organization that—(A) represents first responders or public officials responsible for coordinating disaster response; and (B) is able to provide direct or web-based training to individuals responsible for responding to accidents and incidents involving hazardous materials. (3) Funding.—(A) In general.—To carry out the grant program under paragraph (1), the Secretary may use, for each fiscal year, any amounts recovered during such fiscal year from grants awarded under this section during a prior fiscal year. (B) Other hazardous material training activities.—For each fiscal year, after providing grants under paragraph (1), if funds remain available, the Secretary may use the amounts described in subparagraph (A)—(i) to make grants under—(I) subsection (a)(1)(C); (II) subsection (i); and (III) section 5107(e); (ii) to conduct monitoring and provide technical assistance under subsection (e); (iii) to publish and distribute the emergency response guide referred to in subsection (h)(3); and (iv) to pay administrative costs in accordance with subsection (h)(4). (C) Obligation limitation.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for each fiscal year, amounts described in subparagraph (A) shall not be included in the obligation limitation for the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant program for that fiscal year. (k) Reports.—The Secretary shall submit an annual report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and make available the report to the public. The report submitted under this subsection shall include information on the allocation and uses of the planning and training grants under subsection (a) and grants under subsections (i) and (j) of this section and under subsections (e) and (i) of section 5107. The report submitted under this subsection shall identify the ultimate recipients of such grants and include—(1) a detailed accounting and description of each grant expenditure by each grant recipient, including the amount of, and purpose for, each expenditure; (2) the number of persons trained under the grant program, by training level; (3) an evaluation of the efficacy of such planning and training programs; and (4) any recommendations the Secretary may have for improving such grant programs.

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