This act directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Stevens was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya at the time, Smith was an officer in the Foreign Service, and Doherty and Woods were both government contractors and former Navy SEALs.) After the medal has been awarded, it shall be given to the Central Intelligence Agency Museum.
Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022 This act requires the President to continue to maintain a natural hazard assessment program that develops and maintains publicly available products to show the risk of natural hazards across the United States. Such products shall show the risk of natural hazards and include ratings and data for loss exposure, social vulnerability, community resilience, and any other element determined by the President. The President shall (1) review the underlying methodology of any product that is a natural hazard risk assessment and receive public input on the methodology and data used for the product, and (2) consider including additional data in any product that is a natural disaster hazard risk assessment. Additionally, the President must conduct such reviews to evaluate and update the assessments at least every five years. Using the reviewed assessments, the President must periodically identify and designate community disaster resilience zones (CDRZs), which shall be (1) the 50 census tracts assigned the highest individual hazard risk ratings; and (2) in each state, not less than 1% of census tracts that are assigned a high individual risk rating, taking into consideration specified geographic balance. The President may provide financial, technical, or other assistance to an eligible entity (a state, Indian tribal government, or local government) that plans to perform a resilience or mitigation project within, or that primarily benefits, a CDRZ.
Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act This act temporarily allows the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to cover 100% of the costs for airports to purchase and deploy equipment to test fire suppression systems that contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) without discharging such substances. (PFAS are manmade substances and may have adverse human health effects.) The FAA must also (1) conduct outreach to inform airports of the availability of the increased cost-sharing; and (2) brief Congress on options to reimburse airports that acquired equipment without, or with reduced, federal funding and other matters.
This act repeals a provision of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 that requires the Department of Homeland Security to promulgate regulations to minimize the excessive use by contractors of subcontractors or tiers of subcontractors to perform the principal work of any contract for facilitating response to or recovery from a natural or man-made disaster.
Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances Act or the PFAS Act This act requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop guidance for firefighters and other emergency response personnel on training, education programs, and best practices to protect them from exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFASs, from firefighting foam and to prevent the release of PFASs into the environment. These substances are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. A variety of products contain the compounds, such as nonstick cookware or weatherproof clothing. DHS shall make available a curriculum designed to reduce and eliminate exposure to PFAS from firefighting foam and personal protective equipment (PPE); prevent the release of PFAS from firefighting foam into the environment; and educate firefighters and other emergency response personnel on foams and non-foam alternatives, PPE, and other firefighting tools and equipment that do not contain PFAS. The U.S. Fire Administration shall make recommendations to DHS as to the content of the curriculum. DHS must create an online public repository on tools and best practices to reduce, limit, and prevent the release of and exposure to PFASs.
Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act This act directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to include data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in its broadband health mapping tool. This is an online platform that allows users to visualize, overlay, and analyze broadband and health data at national, state, and county levels. The FCC must consult with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the data to incorporate into the tool.
This act designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Canton, Michigan, as the Major General Oliver W. Dillard VA Clinic.
Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act This act authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to conduct on-site fire safety investigations of major fires and other fires under other specified circumstances. In the case of a major fire, the USFA may send incident investigators (e.g., safety specialists, fire protection engineers, codes and standards experts, researchers, and fire training specialists) to the site. Any such investigation shall (1) be conducted in coordination and cooperation with appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities; and (2) examine the previously determined cause and origin of the fire and assess broader systematic matters. Upon concluding any such investigation, the USFA must issue a public report to federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities on the findings of such investigation or collaborate with another investigating federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial agency on that agency's report. The act makes an exception where issuing a report would have a negative impact on a potential or ongoing criminal investigation. Additionally, the USFA may send fire investigators to conduct fire safety investigations at the site of any fire with unusual or remarkable context that results in losses less severe than those occurring as a result of a major fire, in coordination and cooperation with the appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities.
Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act This act addresses research, education, and awareness concerning valvular heart disease and its treatment. This disease is caused by damage to or disease affecting any valve that controls blood flow in the heart. The National Institutes of Health may conduct or support research on the disease in consultation with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The NHLBI must also conduct a workshop on mitral valve prolapse, which occurs when the valve between the chambers of the left side of the heart seals improperly. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must develop best practices to treat valvular heart disease. HHS may also carry out other projects to increase education and awareness of the disease.
Big Cat Public Safety Act This act revises requirements governing the trade of big cats (i.e., species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species) under the Lacey Act to limit the possession, breeding, and exhibition of big cats. The Lacey Act prohibits any person from importing, exporting, buying, selling, transporting, receiving, or acquiring big cats across state lines or the U.S. border. However, some exemptions are provided for certain entities, such as universities and wildlife sanctuaries. (Sec. 3) The act expands the Lacey Act prohibitions to include a prohibition on possessing or breeding big cats. Breeding means facilitating propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or failing to prevent propagation or reproduction. Owners of big cats that were born before this act's enactment may keep their big cats, but the owners must register them with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The act modifies the list of entities that are exempt from prohibitions to export, buy, sell, transport, receive, acquire, possess, or breed big cats. The modified list includes exemptions for entities or facilities exhibiting animals to the public if they (1) hold a Class C license in good standing under the Animal Welfare Act, and (2) do not allow individuals to come into direct physical contact with big cats. However, direct contact is allowed if the individual is a trained professional, a veterinarian, or directly supporting conservation programs that do not involve commercial activities and meet other specified restrictions. (Sec. 4) A person who knowingly violates the act must be fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for no more than five years, or both. The act considers each violation to be a separate offense. The offense must be deemed to have been committed not only in the district where the violation first occurred, but also in any district in which the defendant may have taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife species. (Sec. 5) The act extends forfeiture provisions to fish, wildlife, or plants that are bred or possessed; thus, big cats bred or possessed in violation of the act are subject to forfeiture. (Sec. 6) The Department of the Interior must issue regulations to implement this act.
This act designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4744 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, as the Rosa Louise McCauley Parks Post Office Building.
This act designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Forest City, North Carolina, as the Master Sergeant Jerry K. Crump VA Clinic.
