S 1180 Reported in Senate – IPAWS Modernization Act

Last week the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee published their report on S 1180, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act. The report contains some interesting supporting information from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as well as some background material on the existing IPAWS program.

Background

The existing IPAWS system which this bill is trying to codify and update was initiated in response to the 2006 EO 13407 signed by President Bush. The Report identifies two GAO reports (GAO-09-834 and GAO-13-375) that identified some of the problems that this bill attempts to resolve. The Committee Report does explain that improvements have been made at FEMA in response to those reports, but notes:

“This legislation will further this progress and help address many of the other problems stakeholders, Congress, and GAO previously identified, including helping to ensure sufficient training for emergency alerting officials, increasing collaboration at all levels of government, and ensuring Congress’s important role of oversight.”

CBO Information

The CBO is required to evaluate the costs of proposed legislation. For this bill they expect that the costs of the IPAWS upgrades would increase the funding needs over the next three years from the current spending level of $12 Million to $13 Million per year.

The CBO letter report explains that many of the requirement of this bill are currently being pursued by FEMA, but there are some new requirements for the system. Those new requirements include (pg 6):

∙ Training state and local governments and other stakeholders to use the system;

∙ Conducting nationwide testing of the system every three years: and

∙ Ensuring that IPAWS can withstand terrorist attacks.

Moving Forward

This bill was introduced by Sen. Johnson (R,WI) the Chair of the HSGAC. He has moved it expeditiously through his committee and I expect that it will make it to the floor, perhaps before the summer recess. It will almost certainly be passed under the unanimous consent provisions.

Two similar bills in the House, HR 1472 and HR 1738, are still pending publication of their respective Committee Reports. There is still the jurisdictional controversy that will have to be resolved by the House leadership before one of these bills makes it to the floor in the House. S 1180 would tend to support the House Homeland Security Committee’s claim to jurisdiction over the IPAWS oversight.

HR 1738 Introduced – Public Alert System Modernization

As I mentioned in an earlier post Rep. Bilirakis (R,FL) introduced HR 1738, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015. The bill is virtually identical to HR 3283 from last session; which cleared the House Homeland Security Committee but was never considered on the floor. It is also very similar to HR 1472 which was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier this week.

The Two Bills

Both HR 1738 and HR 1472 attempt to do pretty much the same thing; modernize the national public alert system. Both would establish an inter-agency Advisory Committee to figure out the best way to accomplish this objective. They would also add upgrading State and local alert systems to the allowable uses of Homeland Security Grants without increasing the funding for that program.

There are two major differences in these bills. First, HR 1738 would go about implementing this program by amending the Homeland Security Act of 2002; a more formalized approach than HR 1472. Second, HR 1738 would authorize spending $13.4 million per year on the program where HR 1472 would only authorize $12.8 million.

On a minor note; HR 1738 does include a cybersecurity provision not seen in HR 1472. It would require that one of the design parameters for the modernized system is that is should be “to the greatest extent practicable, hardened against cyber attacks” {§526(c)(4)}.

Committee Politics

There is one other important difference between these two bills. HR 1738 has been assigned to two committees (Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure) for consideration before it can get to the floor of the House. HR 1472 only has to (and already has) clear the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The reason is that since HR 1738 amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Homeland Security Committee has jurisdiction. Public alert systems fall under the purview of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Apparently though, the House leadership failed to realize (or ignored) the fact that HR 1472 also amend the Homeland Security Act in changing the grant use wording.

For HR 1738 to make it to the floor it would have to be considered by the Transportation and Infrastructure which fast tracked consideration of HR 1472 the competing bill. Either that or the Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would have to waive his right to consider the bill. Again, that is unlikely to happen given the approval of HR 1472.

Unless, of course, there is some horse trading going on between the two Chairmen on consideration of some other bill that is important to the Transportation and Infrastructure. This may be why Rep Barletta (R,PA and Chair of the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee) introduced HR 1472 in the first place.

Bills Introduced – 3-19-15

Yesterday as the House and Senate prepared to leave town on a three-day weekend a total of 106 bills were introduced. Of those, three may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 1461 - To repeal certain provisions of titles 23 and 49, United States Code, and for other purposes. Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4]

HR 1472 - To establish a modernized national Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, and for other purposes. Rep. Barletta, Lou [R-PA-11]

S 797 - A bill to amend the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, and for other purposes. Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]

HR 1461 may be similar to HR 1483, to amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to repeal wage requirements applicable to laborers and mechanics employed on Federal-aid highway and public transportation construction projects. If so, I will not mention it again.

HR 1472 may be similar to HR 3283 from last session. That bill was ordered reported by the Homeland Security Committee, but was never taken up by the Whole House.

The title to S 797 is so vague that there is no telling what it covers. If it addresses hazmat shipping issues, then it will receive future mention here.