DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor Act

The procurement requirement in Section 3(a) was changed from applying only to 'individuals whose body shapes are most closely associated with female agents and officers' to applying to all 'agents and officers.' The design requirement in subsection (a)(1) was similarly broadened from protecting 'body shapes most closely associated with female agents and officers' to 'the body shapes of agents and officers.'

The effective date provision in Section 4 was changed from requiring that all agents/officers 'who have a body shape most closely associated with female agents and officers' receive compliant armor, to requiring that all agents/officers 'whose duties require body armor' receive compliant armor within 3 years.

A new subsection (a)(5)(F) was added requiring that ballistic resistant body armor also pass 'any additional testing criteria recommended by the NIJ after the date of the enactment of this Act,' creating an open-ended obligation to comply with future standards without a fixed deadline.

The annual reporting requirement in Section 3(b)(1)(D) was changed from requiring agencies to report the percentage of female agents/officers who 'have been issued and are regularly using' compliant armor, to only requiring they report the percentage who 'have been issued' compliant armor. This removes accountability for actual use.

Section 3(a)(4) changed the term 'skipping off the chest' to 'redirecting off the chest,' and Section 3(a)(5)(A) removed the word 'gender-specific' before 'clay or gelatin molds' while adding 'as required by the body shapes of agents and officers.'

The definition of ballistic resistant body armor in Section 2(a) added the word 'either' before 'soft ballistic panels, hard ballistic panels, or a combination of both,' a minor grammatical clarification.