119-HR5154

Bill is currently in: House
Path to Law
House Senate President

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 5154

1. Short title
2. Support for emergency alerting systems

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "Resilient Emergency Alert Communications and Training Act" or the "REACT Act".

2. Support for emergency alerting systems

(a) In general - The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall carry out a program to provide technical and financial assistance to State, local, and Tribal authorities to conduct periodic field training, end-to-end testing, and community-based exercises of emergency alert and warning systems, which shall be in addition to support provided under any existing program.

(b) Requirements - The technical and financial assistance provided under subsection (a) shall include—

(1) - funding and training for community-based exercises, including organized live testing at the local level;

(2) - assistance with establishing a clear delineation of roles, responsibilities, and standard operating procedures within the emergency alert and warning chain of authorization, including across local, Tribal, State, and Federal authorities;

(3) - developing and publishing templates for emergency alert and warning messages, in accordance with evidence-based scientific research, that—

(A) - may include message completeness requirements; and

(B) - build upon existing training materials;

(4) - training on best practices for crafting, disseminating, and assessing the effectiveness of emergency alert and warning messages, provided across different platforms and jurisdictions;

(5) - development of standardized metrics to assess the effectiveness of emergency alert and warning systems;

(6) - testing of technology and infrastructure for emergency alert and warning systems, including multimodal capabilities, to ensure such systems are working effectively and in coordination with one another;

(7) - technical assistance for the development of public education campaigns that explain how emergency alert and warning systems work, actions by individuals required to ensure they receive alerts and warnings, and how individuals and communities should respond; and

(8) - review of, and recommendations for, local policy and standard operating procedures regarding the use of emergency alert and warning systems.

(c) Operational plan - Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with State, local, and Tribal authorities, shall develop and submit to Congress a plan for carrying out the program under this section. Such plan shall contain anticipated costs and metrics to assess the effectiveness of such training, testing, and exercises.

(d) Report - Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the field training, end-to-end testing, community-based exercises, and public education supported under this section and such report shall contain—

(1) - for each Alerting Authority under the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System and for each State, local, or Tribal authority receiving assistance under this section that is not an established Alerting Authority—

(A) - whether the authority has conducted field training, end-to-end testing, community-based exercises, and public education relating to the emergency alert and warning systems of such authority;

(B) - the frequency and scope of the activities described in subparagraph (A);

(C) - whether the authority has established sufficient standard operating procedures regarding the use of its emergency alert and warning systems;

(D) - a description of the percentage of individuals or regions covered by its emergency alert and warning systems;

(E) - a description of the methods used to obtain public participation and feedback, and their results, during and after such activities; and

(F) - a description of opt-out rates for emergency alert and warning systems during and after such activities;

(2) - an assessment of the effectiveness of such field training, end-to-end testing, and community-based exercises as measured by the metrics contained in the plan required under subsection (c); and

(3) - any recommendations for updating such plan.

(e) Sunset - The authority provided under this section shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

(f) Authorization of appropriations - There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this section $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2035.

(g) Rule of construction - Nothing in this section may be construed to require State, local and Tribal authorities to be mandated to use any particular emergency alert and warning system.

(h) Emergency alert and warning system defined - In this section, the term "emergency alert and warning system" means any system used by a State, local, or Tribal authority to warn the public about emergencies or natural hazards, including such systems that operate through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.