H.R. 3626 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3626 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 24, 2023Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. Carter of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to set training requirements on eligibility for certain emergency management performance grants, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Emergency Management Support Act or the EMS Act. 2. Emergency management performance grants program (a) In general Section 661 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 762) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ; and and inserting a semicolon; (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (3) the term local emergency management director means an official designated at the local level to coordinate local disaster response, emergency planning, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, disaster mitigation, and related activities on a full-time or part-time basis. ; (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: (f) Eligibility requirement To be eligible to receive a grant under this section— (1) a State shall— (A) require local emergency management directors to successfully complete Federal Emergency Management Agency provided baseline emergency management training developed in accordance with the National Incident Management System— (i) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection; and (ii) recurrently at an interval determined by the Administrator to strengthen local emergency management capacity; and (B) submit certifications to the Administrator annually as directed by the Administrator regarding compliance with the requirements in paragraph (1); or (2) with respect to a State that cannot certify that all local emergency management directors have completed training required under paragraph (1)(A), a State shall submit a certification that includes— (A) an identification of all barriers to achieving the baseline emergency management training requirement; and (B) an approach to overcoming barriers identified under subparagraph (A) with an anticipated timeline for full compliance with the baseline emergency management training requirement. ; and (4) in subsection (g), as so redesignated— (A) by striking There is and inserting the following: (1) In general There is ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (2) Additional authorization There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out subsection (f). . (b) Report to Congress Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with the amendments made by this Act.