§3796b. Definitions

As used in this subchapter-

(1) "catastrophic injury" means consequences of an injury that permanently prevent an individual from performing any gainful work;

(2) "child" means any natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild of a deceased public safety officer who, at the time of the public safety officer's death, is-

(i) 18 years of age or under;

(ii) over 18 years of age and a student as defined in section 8101 of title 5; or

(iii) over 18 years of age and incapable of self-support because of physical or mental disability;

(3) "firefighter" includes an individual serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department and an officially recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;

(4) "intoxication" means a disturbance of mental or physical faculties resulting from the introduction of alcohol into the body as evidenced by-

(i) a post-mortem blood alcohol level of .20 per centum or greater; or

(ii) a post-mortem blood alcohol level of at least .10 per centum but less than .20 per centum unless the Bureau receives convincing evidence that the public safety officer was not acting in an intoxicated manner immediately prior to his death;

or resulting from drugs or other substances in the body;

(5) "law enforcement officer" means an individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of the laws, including, but not limited to, police, corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers;

(6) "public agency" means the United States, any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any territory or possession of the United States, or any unit of local government, department, agency, or instrumentality of any of the foregoing; and

(7) "public safety officer" means an individual serving a public agency in an official capacity, with or without compensation, as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or rescue squad or ambulance crew ¹

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, §1204, formerly §1203, as added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §609F, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2099 ; amended Pub. L. 99–500, §101(b) [title II, §207], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–39 , 1783-56, and Pub. L. 99–591, §101(b) [title II, §207], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–39 , 3341-56; renumbered §1204 and amended Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, §§6105(d), 6106(a)(1), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4341 ; Pub. L. 101–647, title XIII, §§1301(c), 1302, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4834 ; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330001(e)(2), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2139 .)

Codification

Pub. L. 99–591 is a corrected version of Pub. L. 99–500.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 3796b, Pub. L. 90–351, title I, §1203, as added Pub. L. 96–157, §2, Dec. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 1220 ; amended Pub. L. 98–411, title II, §204(a)(3), Aug. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 1561 ; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §609Z, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2107 , contained provisions similar to this section, prior to the general amendment of this subchapter by section 609F of Pub. L. 98–473.

Another prior section 3796b, Pub. L. 90–351, title I, §703, as added Pub. L. 94–430, §2, Sept. 29, 1976, 90 Stat. 1347 , contained provisions similar to this section, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 96–157.

A prior section 1204 of Pub. L. 90–351 was renumbered section 1205 and is classified to section 3796c of this title.

Amendments

1994-Par. (3). Pub. L. 103–322 struck out before semicolon at end "who was responding to a fire, rescue or police emergency".

1990-Par. (1). Pub. L. 101–647, §1301(c), added par. (1). Former par. (1) redesignated (2).

Par. (2). Pub. L. 101–647, §1302, which directed amendment of par. (2) by inserting a period after "ambulance crew" and striking out "who was responding to a fire, rescue or police emergency.", could not be executed because the phrases "ambulance crew" and "who was responding to a fire, rescue or police emergency." did not appear in text of par. (2).

Pub. L. 101–647, §1301(c)(1), redesignated par. (1) as (2). Former par. (2) redesignated (3).

Pars. (3) to (7). Pub. L. 101–647, §1301(c)(1), redesignated pars. (2) to (6) as (3) to (7), respectively.

1988-Pars. (2) to (7). Pub. L. 100–690, §6105(d), redesignated pars. (3) to (7) as (2) to (6), respectively, and struck out former par. (2) defining a "dependent" as any individual substantially reliant for support upon income of deceased public safety officer.

1986-Pub. L. 99–500 and Pub. L. 99–591 inserted "and an officially recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew who was responding to a fire, rescue or police emergency" in par. (3), and substituted ", a firefighter, or rescue squad or ambulance crew" for "or a firefighter." in par. (7).

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 101–647 effective Nov. 29, 1990, and not applicable with respect to injuries occurring before Nov. 29, 1990, see section 1303 of Pub. L. 101–647, set out as a note under section 3796 of this title.

Effective Date of 1988 Amendment

Amendment by section 6105(d) of Pub. L. 100–690 effective June 1, 1988, see section 6105(e) of Pub. L. 100–690, set out as a note under section 3796 of this title.

Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in title 26 section 101; title 28 section 1863.

¹ So in original. Probably should be followed by a period.