By: Watson, Ellis S.B. No. 1572
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2011; March 23, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland
Security; May 9, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
May 9, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1572 By: Watson
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operations and monitoring of fusion centers in this
state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 421.001, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivisions (2-a), (4), and (5) to read as follows:
(2-a) "Fusion center" means a state or regional
multidisciplinary collaborative effort of two or more agencies that
combine resources, expertise, and intelligence and other
information with the goal of maximizing the ability of those
agencies to detect, prevent, and respond to criminal activities or
to otherwise engage in homeland security activities.
(4) "Intelligence" means the product of systematic
gathering, evaluation, and synthesis of raw data on individuals or
activities suspected of being, or known to be, criminal in nature.
(5) "Recognized fusion center" means a fusion center
operating in this state that has been recognized by the homeland
security director as meeting the fusion center mission identified
in the governor's homeland security strategy and in the Department
of Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center
Initiative established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 421.002, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The governor's homeland security strategy shall
coordinate homeland security activities among and between local,
state, and federal agencies and the private sector and must include
specific plans for:
(1) intelligence gathering and analysis;
(2) information sharing;
(3) reducing the state's vulnerability to homeland
security emergencies;
(4) protecting critical infrastructure;
(5) protecting the state's international border,
ports, and airports;
(6) detecting, deterring, and defending against
terrorism, including cyber-terrorism and biological, chemical, and
nuclear terrorism;
(7) positioning equipment, technology, and personnel
to improve the state's ability to respond to a homeland security
emergency;
(8) directing the Texas Fusion [Infrastructure
Protection Communications] Center and giving the center certain
forms of authority to implement the governor's homeland security
strategy; and
(9) using technological resources to:
(A) facilitate the interoperability of
government technological resources, including data, networks, and
applications;
(B) coordinate the warning and alert systems of
state and local agencies;
(C) incorporate multidisciplinary approaches to
homeland security; and
(D) improve the security of governmental and
private sector information technology and information resources.
SECTION 3. Section 421.003, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 421.003. COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND DISSEMINATION OF
[CRIMINAL] INTELLIGENCE [INFORMATION]. The Department of Public
Safety of the State of Texas is[:
[(1)] the repository in this state for the collection
of multijurisdictional [criminal] intelligence [information that
is about terrorist activities or otherwise related to homeland
security activities;] and
[(2)] the state agency that has primary responsibility
to analyze and disseminate that intelligence [information].
SECTION 4. Section 421.071, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 421.071. COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE. A state or local
agency that performs a homeland security activity or a
nongovernmental entity that contracts with a state or local agency
to perform a homeland security activity shall cooperate with and
assist the office of the governor, the Homeland Security Council,
the Texas Fusion [Infrastructure Protection Communications]
Center, and the National Infrastructure Protection Center in the
performance of their duties under this chapter and other state or
federal law.
SECTION 5. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 421,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. TEXAS FUSION CENTER AND OTHER FUSION CENTERS
OPERATING IN THIS STATE
SECTION 6. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 421.082,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas Fusion Center [center] shall serve as the
state's primary entity for the planning, coordination, and
integration of government communications capabilities to help
implement the governor's homeland security strategy and ensure an
effective response in the event of a homeland security emergency.
(b) The center's duties include:
(1) promotion of emergency preparedness;
(2) receipt and analysis of information, assessment of
threats, and issuance of public warnings related to homeland
security emergencies; [and]
(3) authorization and facilitation of cooperative
efforts related to emergency response and recovery efforts in the
event of a homeland security emergency; and
(4) making recommendations to the Department of Public
Safety regarding the monitoring of fusion centers operating in this
state and regarding the functions of the Texas Fusion Center Policy
Council created under Section 421.083.
SECTION 7. Subchapter E, Chapter 421, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 421.083, 421.084, and 421.085 to read as
follows:
Sec. 421.083. TEXAS FUSION CENTER POLICY COUNCIL. (a) The
Department of Public Safety shall create the Texas Fusion Center
Policy Council and the bylaws for the council to assist the
department in monitoring fusion center activities in this state.
(b) The policy council is composed of one executive
representative from each recognized fusion center operating in this
state.
(c) The policy council shall:
(1) develop and disseminate strategies to:
(A) facilitate the implementation of applicable
federal standards and programs on a statewide basis by each fusion
center operating in this state;
(B) expand and enhance the statewide
intelligence capacity to reduce the threat of terrorism and
criminal enterprises; and
(C) continuously review critical issues
pertaining to homeland security activities;
(2) establish a privacy advisory group, with at least
one member who is a privacy advocate, to advise the policy council
and to meet at the direction of the policy council; and
(3) recommend best practices for each fusion center
operating in this state, including:
(A) best practices to ensure that the center
adheres to 28 C.F.R. Part 23 and any other state or federal law
designed to protect privacy and the other legal rights of
individuals; and
(B) best practices for the smooth exchange of
information among all fusion centers operating in this state.
Sec. 421.084. FUSION CENTERS OPERATING IN THIS STATE:
RULES AND MONITORING. (a) After considering the recommendations
of the Texas Fusion Center under Section 421.082(b)(4) and the
Texas Fusion Center Policy Council under Section 421.083(c)(3), the
Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules to govern the
operations of fusion centers in this state, including guidelines
to:
(1) for any fusion center operating in this state,
establish a common concept of operations to provide clear baseline
standards for each aspect of the center's activities;
(2) inform and define the monitoring of those
activities by the Texas Fusion Center Policy Council; and
(3) ensure that any fusion center operating in this
state adheres to state and federal laws designed to protect privacy
and the other legal rights of individuals, including 28 C.F.R. Part
23 and any other law that provides clear standards for the treatment
of intelligence or for the collection and storage of noncriminal
information, personally identifiable information, or protected
health information.
(b) The Department of Public Safety may require that a
fusion center audited under applicable department rules pay any
costs incurred by the policy council in relation to the audit.
(c) A member of the policy council may not receive
compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the member's
travel expenses as provided by Chapter 660 and the General
Appropriations Act.
(d) A fusion center may not receive state grant money if the
center adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or policy under which the
center fails or refuses to comply with rules adopted by the
Department of Public Safety under Subsection (a), beginning with
the first state fiscal year occurring after the center adopts the
rule, order, ordinance, or policy.
Sec. 421.085. REPORT. The Texas Fusion Center Policy
Council annually shall submit to the governor and to each house of
the legislature a report that contains, with respect to the
preceding year:
(1) the council's progress in developing and
coordinating the statewide fusion effort and intelligence network
described by the governor's homeland security strategy;
(2) the progress made by fusion centers operating in
this state in meeting the fusion center guidelines developed under
the Department of Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional
Fusion Center Initiative established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h;
and
(3) a summary of fusion center audits or reviews
conducted under applicable rules adopted by the Department of
Public Safety.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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