As
I
noted earlier Sen. Heitkamp (D,ND) introduced
S
2547, the RESPONSE Act of 2014. The bill would amend
6
USC 318 and establish a new subcommittee of the National Advisory Council,
an independent federal advisory committee that provides emergency response and
planning advise to the NPPD Deputy Administrator for FEMA. The new subcommittee,
the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational Needs, and Safety
Evaluation (RESPONSE) Subcommittee would provide recommendations on emergency responder
training and resources relating to hazardous materials incidents involving railroads.
The RESPONSE
Subcommittee
This is a ‘subcommittee’ in name only as most of its members
would not come from the National Advisory Council (NAC). Statutory members
would include {§318(d)(2)}:
• NPPD Deputy Administrator for
FEMA (Chair);
• Director of the Office of
Emergency Communications, DHS;
• NTSB Director for the Office of
Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations;
• FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad
Safety;
• TSA Assistant Administrator for
Security Policy and Industry Engagement;
• Coast Guard Assistant Commandant
for Response Policy;
• EPA Assistant Administrator for the
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response;
• PHMSA Associate Administrator for
Hazardous Materials Safety;
• FMCSA Chief Safety Officer and
Assistant Administrator;
Appropriate members of the NAC would be appointed to the
RESPONSE sub-committee as would other personnel from the oil, railroad and
communications industries.
RESPONSE
Recommendations
The bill would require the RESPONSE Subcommittee to develop
recommendations to improve emergency responder training and resource allocation.
The following areas are to be specifically addressed {§318(d)(6)}:
• Quality and application of
training for local emergency first responders related to rail hazardous
materials incidents;
• Effectiveness of funding levels
related to training local emergency responders for rail hazardous materials
incidents;
• Strategy for integration of
commodity flow studies, mapping, and access platforms for local emergency
responders;
• The lack of emergency response
plans for rail, similar to existing law related to maritime and stationary
facility emergency response plans;
• Development of a train incident
database;
• Increasing access to relevant,
useful, and timely information for the local emergency responder; and
• Determination of the most
efficient agencies and offices for the implementation of the Subcommittee’s
recommendations.
The problem with this bill is that it brings too many people
to the table. Legitimately, the people listed in the bill all have something to
contribute; but there are too many folks to effectively get anything done. The
tasking probably should have been given to FEMA who then would have been
directed to ‘consult with’ the agencies listed. As it is the Assistant
Administrator for FEMA will have to try to herd all of the cats listed instead
of actually trying to solve the problem.
Moving Forward
I suspect that this bill would have no problems passing in
the Senate or the House; it is after all another pass-the-buck-to-a-committee bill that effectively costs nothing. The problem will be that this late in the session, it
will be difficult for the bill to find its way to the floor for a vote. If it
is considered in the Senate before the election (almost certainly after the
summer recess at best) it will probably be one of those bills brought to the
floor at the end of the day and considered by ‘unanimous consent’. In the House
it will be considered on a Monday or Tuesday under ‘suspension of the rules’
provisions. The key to passage will be convincing the leadership to bring it to
the floor.