CLARIFICATION OF PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS UNDER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAMS.

SEC. 1164. CLARIFICATION OF PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS UNDER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAMS. (a) Persons Eligible for Death Benefits.—Section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b), as most recently amended by section 2(a) of the Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–196; 116 Stat. 719), is amended—(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph: “(7) ‘member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew’ means an officially recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;”; and (3) in paragraph (4) by striking “and” and all that follows through the end and inserting a semicolon. (4) in paragraph (6) by striking “enforcement of the laws” and inserting “enforcement of the criminal laws (including juvenile delinquency).”. (b) Clarification of Limitation on Payments in Non-Civilian Cases.—Section 1202(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3796a(5)) is amended by inserting “with respect” before “to any individual”. (c) Waiver of Collection in Certain Cases.—Section 1201 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3796) is amended by adding at the end the following: 119 STAT. 3121 “(m) The Bureau may suspend or end collection action on an amount disbursed pursuant to a statute enacted retroactively or otherwise disbursed in error under subsection (a) or (c), where such collection would be impractical, or would cause undue hardship to a debtor who acted in good faith.”. (d) Designation of Beneficiary.—Section 1201(a)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3796(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: “(4) if there is no surviving spouse or surviving child—“(A) in the case of a claim made on or after the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, to the individual designated by such officer as beneficiary under this section in such officer’s most recently executed designation of beneficiary on file at the time of death with such officer’s public safety agency, organization, or unit, provided that such individual survived such officer; or “(B) if there is no individual qualifying under subparagraph (A), to the individual designated by such officer as beneficiary under such officer’s most recently executed life insurance policy on file at the time of death with such officer’s public safety agency, organization, or unit, provided that such individual survived such officer; or”. (e) Confidentiality.—Section 1201(1)(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3796(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(6) The public safety agency, organization, or unit responsible for maintaining on file an executed designation of beneficiary or recently executed life insurance policy pursuant to paragraph (4) shall maintain the confidentiality of such designation or policy in the same manner as it maintains personnel or other similar records of the officer.”.