Description:
As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 4, 2015
S. 546 would establish the Railroad Emergency Services subcommittee under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Advisory Council (NAC). The bill would direct the subcommittee to evaluate several aspects of the ability of emergency personnel to respond to hazardous materials incidents involving trains. S. 546 would require the subcommittee to provide recommendations to the NAC within one year of organizing the subcommittee and quarterly reports on the implementation of those recommendations. Under the legislation, the subcommittee would terminate after four years unless FEMA extends it.
Based on information provided by FEMA, CBO estimates that implementing S. 546 would cost $1 million, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, over the next five years—primarily for new staff to serve the subcommittee. Enacting S. 546 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
S. 546 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
