Securing the Cities Act of 2015

(Securing the Cities Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Director for Domestic Nuclear Detection to establish the Securing the Cities program to enhance the ability of the United States to detect and prevent terrorist attacks and other high consequence events utilizing nuclear or other radiological materials that pose a high risk to homeland security in high-risk urban areas.

Under such program, the Director shall:

• assist state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in designing and implementing, or enhancing existing, architectures for coordinated and integrated detection and interdiction of nuclear or other radiological materials that are out of regulatory control;
• support the development of a region-wide operating capability to detect and report on nuclear and other radioactive materials out of operational control;
• provide resources to enhance detection, analysis, communication, and coordination to better integrate state, local, tribal, and territorial assets into federal operations;
• facilitate alarm adjudication and provide subject matter expertise and technical assistance on concepts of operations, training, exercises, and alarm response protocols;
• communicate with, and promote sharing of information about the presence or detection of nuclear or other radiological materials among, appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in a manner that ensures transparency; and
• designate participating jurisdictions from among high-risk urban areas and other cities and regions, as appropriate, and notify Congress at least three days before designating or changing such jurisdictions.

The Comptroller General is required to submit an assessment evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

(Sec. 3) This section requires the Director to report to Congress on the feasibility of developing model exercises to test the preparedness of jurisdictions participating in the program in meeting the challenges that may be posed by a range of nuclear and radiological threats.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov