49 U.S.C. § 5116 : US Code - Section 5116: Planning and training grants, monitoring, and review

Search 49 U.S.C. § 5116 : US Code - Section 5116: Planning and training grants, monitoring, and review

(a) Planning 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;
and
(B) to decide on the need for a regional hazardous material
emergency response team.
(2) The Secretary may make a grant to a State or Indian tribe
under paragraph (1) of this subsection in a fiscal year only if -
(A) the State or Indian tribe certifies that the total amount
the State or Indian tribe expends (except amounts of the United
States Government) to develop, improve, and carry out emergency
plans under the Act will at least equal the average level of
expenditure for the last 5 fiscal years; and
(B) the State agrees to make available at least 75 percent of
the amount of the grant under paragraph (1) of this subsection in
the fiscal year to local emergency planning committees
established under section 301(c) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 11001(c))
to develop emergency plans under the Act.
(3) A State or Indian tribe receiving a grant under this
subsection shall ensure that planning under the grant is
coordinated with emergency planning conducted by adjacent States
and Indian tribes.
(b) Training Grants. - (1) The Secretary shall make grants to
States and Indian tribes to train public sector employees to
respond to accidents and incidents involving hazardous material.
(2) The Secretary may make a grant under paragraph (1) of this
subsection in a fiscal year -
(A) to a State or Indian tribe only if the State or tribe
certifies that the total amount the State or tribe expends
(except amounts of the Government) to train public sector
employees to respond to an accident or incident involving
hazardous material will at least equal the average level of
expenditure for the last 5 fiscal years;
(B) to a State or Indian tribe only if the State or tribe makes
an agreement with the Secretary that the State or tribe will use
in that fiscal year, for training public sector employees to
respond to an accident or incident involving hazardous material -

(i) a course developed or identified under section 5115 of
this title; or
(ii) another course the Secretary decides is consistent with
the objectives of this section; and
(C) to a State only if the State agrees to make available at
least 75 percent of the amount of the grant under paragraph (1)
of this subsection in the fiscal year for training public sector
employees a political subdivision of the State employs or uses.
(3) A grant under this subsection 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 the Secretary approves authorizing a
person (including an authority of a State or political
subdivision of a State or Indian tribe) to provide the training -

(i) if the agreement allows the Secretary and the State or
tribe to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits
of the training without prior notice; and
(ii) if the State or tribe conducts at least one on-site
observation of the training each year.
(4) The Secretary shall allocate amounts made available for
grants under this subsection for a fiscal year among eligible
States and Indian tribes based on the needs of the States and
tribes for emergency response 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 tribe;
(B) the types and amounts of hazardous material transported in
the State or on that land;
(C) whether the State or tribe imposes and collects a fee on
transporting hazardous material;
(D) whether the fee is used only to carry out a purpose related
to transporting hazardous material; and
(E) other factors the Secretary decides are appropriate to
carry out this subsection.
(c) 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).
(d) 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.
(e) 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 subsections (a)(2)(A) and
(b)(2)(A) of this section are not part of the non-Government share
under this subsection.
(f) 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 Director 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, Administrator, and Directors 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.
(g) 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
Directors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 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.
(h) Minimizing Duplication of Effort and Expenses. - The
Secretaries of Transportation, Labor, and Energy, Directors of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency and 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.
(i) 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;
(2) to monitor and provide technical assistance under
subsection (f) 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 5108(g)(2) and 5115 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.
(j) Supplemental Training Grants. -
(1) In order to further the purposes of subsection (b), the
Secretary shall, subject to the availability of funds, make
grants to national nonprofit employee organizations engaged
solely in fighting fires 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 train 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 train 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 be open
to all such individuals on a nondiscriminatory basis.
(5) 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.
(k) Reports. - The Secretary shall submit annually 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 to the public
information on the allocation and uses of the planning grants
allocated under subsection (a), training grants under subsection
(b), and grants under subsection (j) of this section and under
section 5107. The report shall identify the ultimate recipients of
training grants and include a detailed accounting of all grant
expenditures by grant recipients, the number of persons trained
under the grant programs, and an evaluation of the efficacy of
training programs carried out.