HR-5643 : Still Just a Bill

Active Shooter Preparedness Enhancement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop and make available to state, local, tribal, territorial, and nongovernmental partners guidance to assist in the development of emergency action and response plans for active shooter and mass casualty incidents.

Such guidance may relate to the development of:

• a strategy for properly responding to such incidents,
• a plan for establishing a unified command,
• a schedule for regular testing of equipment used to receive communications during such incidents,
• a practiced method and plan to communicate with occupants of locations of such incidents and with the surrounding community,
• a plan for coordinating with volunteer organizations to expedite assistance for victims,
• a schedule for joint exercises and training, and
• a plan for outreach to facilities that have been identified by DHS as potentially vulnerable targets.

The bill permits funds under homeland security grants to states and high-risk urban areas to be used for training exercises to enhance preparedness for and response to mass casualty and active shooter incidents and security events at private locations (current law permits such funds to be used for such exercises at public locations). In allocating grant funds among states and high-risk urban areas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall consider the threat from active shooters to critical infrastructure and U.S. populations.