,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ceeb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,november #bj1 #bjac 
,mr4 ,andrews introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,transportation and       
,infrastructure  ,a ,,bill  ,to improve 
emergency response activities in the    
,united ,states1 and for other purposes4
  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,emergency ,response       
,improvement ,act4  #b4 ,state offices  
of emergency management  7a7 ,in general
 ,to be eligible for assistance under   
the ,robert ,t4 ,stafford ,disaster     
,relief and ,emergency ,assistance ,act 
7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #eaba et seq47 on or     
after ,october #a1 #bjad1 the chief     
executive officer of a ,state shall be  
required to maintain a ,state ,office of
 ,emergency ,management4  7b7 ,duties   
,the ,state ,office of ,emergency       
,management referred to in subsection   
7a7--  7#a7 shall coordinate the ,state 
response to an emergency2 and  7#b7 may 

request ,federal assistance with respect
 to an emergency4  #c4 ,emergency       
response  7a7 ,federal incident         
commander ,if one or more ,federal      
departments or agencies provides        
assistance to a ,state in response to an
 emergency1 the ,president shall        
designate an individual from one such   
department or agency to serve as the    
,federal incident commander for that    
emergency4  7b7 ,functions ,as soon as  
practicable after designation under     
subsection 7a71 a ,federal incident     
commander shall--  7#a7 meet with       
representatives of ,federal1 ,state1 and
 local entities involved in the response
 to the emergency2 and  7#b7 assist such
 representatives in--  7,a7 creating a  
plan to respond to the emergency that   
specifies the responsibilities of each  
entity involved in the response2  7,b7  
designating an individual to lead the   
response2 and  7,c7 drafting and        
executing a memorandum of understanding 
with respect to the plan described in   

subparagraph 7,a7 that describes the    
responsibilities of each entity involved
 in the response4  7c7 ,failure ,to     
agree ,in the absence of a memorandum of
 understanding described in subsection  
7b77#b77;,c71 the ,federal incident     
commander shall report to the ,president
 or the ,president's designee and       
recommend if1 and to what extent1 the   
relevant ,federal departments or        
agencies should be involved in the      
response to the emergency4  #d4 ,effect 
,nothing in this ,act shall be construed
 to limit1 expand1 or change any        
authority granted to a ,federal1 ,state1
 or local entity to respond to an       
emergency under ,federal1 ,state1 or    
local law4  #e4 ,definitions  7a7 ,in   
general ,in this ,act1 the terms        
emergency1 ,indian tribal government1   
and ,state have the meanings given such 
terms in section #ajb of the ,robert ,t4
 ,stafford ,disaster ,relief and        
,emergency ,assistance ,act 7#db        
,u4,s4,c4 #eabb74  7b7 ,treatment of    

,indian tribal governments ,for the     
purposes of this ,act1 any reference to 
,state shall be treated as a reference  
also to ,indian tribal government4