Title 50War and National DefenseRelease 119-73

§2315 Testing of preparedness for emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological weapons

Title 50 › Chapter CHAPTER 40— - DEFENSE AGAINST WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS › § 2315

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Homeland Security must create and run a program to test and improve how Federal, State, and local agencies respond to emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons and related materials. The program must include exercises carried out under sections 112(c) and 238(c)(1) of title 6, and the Secretary must work with the Secretary of Defense, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Energy, and other relevant agencies. The Secretary must update the program by June 1 of each fiscal year covered by it. Updates must include changes based on lessons from that year’s exercises, including fixes for coordination problems and equipment deficiencies.

Full Legal Text

Title 50, §2315

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop and carry out a program for testing and improving the responses of Federal, State, and local agencies to emergencies involving nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical weapons and related materials.
(2)The program shall include exercises to be carried out in accordance with section 112(c) and 238(c)(1) of title 6.
(3)In developing and carrying out the program, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of any other Federal, State, and local government agencies that have an expertise or responsibilities relevant to emergencies described in paragraph (1).
(b)The Secretary of Homeland Security shall revise the program developed under subsection (a) not later than June 1 in each fiscal year covered by the program. The revisions shall include adjustments that the Secretary determines necessary or appropriate on the basis of the lessons learned from the exercise or exercises carried out under the program in the fiscal year, including lessons learned regarding coordination problems and equipment deficiencies.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(1), substituted “nuclear, radiological, chemical, or” for “chemical or” in heading. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(2), substituted “Secretary of Homeland Security” for “Secretary of Defense” and “nuclear, radiological, biological, and” for “biological weapons and related materials and emergencies involving”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(3), substituted “in accordance with section 112(c) and 238(c)(1) of title 6” for “during each of fiscal years 1997 through 2013”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(a)(4), inserted “the Secretary of Defense,” before “the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation” and struck out “the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” before “the Secretary of Energy,”. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(b), (c), redesignated subsec. (c) as (b), substituted “The Secretary of Homeland Security shall revise the program developed under subsection (a)” for “The official responsible for carrying out a program developed under subsection (a) or (b) shall revise the program” in first sentence and “the Secretary” for “the official” in second sentence, and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (b) which related to emergencies involving nuclear and radiological weapons. Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1032(d), struck out heading and text of subsecs. (d) and (e) which related to option to transfer responsibility for programs under this section and to funding, respectively. 2002—Subsecs. (a)(2), (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–314 substituted “of fiscal years 1997 through 2013” for “of five successive fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1997”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Construction

of Extension With Designation of Attorney General as Lead Official Pub. L. 107–314, div. C, title XXXI, § 3154(b), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2738, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection (a) [amending this section] may not be construed as modifying the designation of the President titled ‘Designation of the Attorney General as the Lead Official for the Emergency Response Assistance Program Under section 1412 and 1415 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997’, dated April 6, 2000, designating the Attorney General to assume programmatic and funding responsibilities for the Emergency Response Assistance Program under section 1412 [former 50 U.S.C. 2312] and 1415 [50 U.S.C. 2315] of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 (title XIV of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997).”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

50 U.S.C. § 2315

Title 50War and National Defense

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73