Title 6 — Domestic SecurityRelease 119-73

§1183 Over-the-road bus exercises

Title 6 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - TRANSPORTATION SECURITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY › Part Part C— - Over-the-Road Bus and Trucking Security › § 1183

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must create a program of security drills for over-the-road bus travel. The goal is to test and improve how agencies and bus companies prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks. The program will check federal, state, local, and tribal governments; over-the-road bus companies and terminal owners; emergency responders and law enforcement; and any other groups the Secretary chooses. It should combine existing drills run by the Department and the Department of Transportation unless the Secretary waives that. Drills must be sized to the needs of each operator and terminal, include the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, and be live for the highest-risk sites. They must be coordinated with officials, based on current threats and risks, include frontline bus workers when appropriate, and follow national plans like the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, and the National Preparedness Goal. Exercises must be judged by clear measures. The Secretary will find and share best practices with operators, employee groups, officials, responders, and law enforcement, and will give recommendations for fixes. Communities should get proper advance notice when drills are held. The program must also match the National Exercise Program under section 748.

Full Legal Text

Title 6, §1183

Domestic Security — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall establish a program for conducting security exercises for over-the-road bus transportation for the purpose of assessing and improving the capabilities of entities described in subsection (b) to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism.

(b)Entities to be assessed under the program shall include—

(1)Federal, State, and local agencies and tribal governments;

(2)over-the-road bus operators and over-the-road bus terminal owners and operators;

(3)governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers and law enforcement agencies; and

(4)any other organization or entity that the Secretary determines appropriate.

(c)The Secretary shall ensure that the program—

(1)consolidates existing security exercises for over-the-road bus operators and terminals administered by the Department and the Department of Transportation, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation, unless the Secretary waives this consolidation requirement, as appropriate;

(2)consists of exercises that are—

(A)scaled and tailored to the needs of the over-the-road bus operators and terminals, including addressing the needs of the elderly and individuals with disabilities;

(B)live, in the case of the most at-risk facilities to a terrorist attack;

(C)coordinated with appropriate officials;

(D)as realistic as practicable and based on current risk assessments, including credible threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences;

(E)inclusive, as appropriate, of over-the-road bus frontline employees; and

(F)consistent with the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, the National Preparedness Goal, and other such national initiatives;

(3)provides that exercises described in paragraph (2) will be—

(A)evaluated by the Secretary against clear and consistent performance measures;

(B)assessed by the Secretary to identify best practices, which shall be shared, as appropriate, with operators providing over-the-road bus transportation, nonprofit employee organizations that represent over-the-road bus employees, Federal, State, local, and tribal officials, governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers, and law enforcement personnel; and

(C)used to develop recommendations, as appropriate, provided to over-the-road bus operators and terminal owners and operators on remedial action to be taken in response to lessons learned;

(4)allows for proper advanced notification of communities and local governments in which exercises are held, as appropriate; and

(5)assists State, local, and tribal governments and over-the-road bus operators and terminal owners and operators in designing, implementing, and evaluating additional exercises that conform to the requirements of paragraph (2).

(d)The Secretary shall ensure that the exercise program developed under subsection (c) is consistent with the National Exercise Program established under section 748 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

6 U.S.C. § 1183

Title 6 — Domestic Security

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73