I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1790

To provide for the equitable treatment of rural communities in the distribution 

of Federal disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mrs. CUBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To provide for the equitable treatment of rural communities 

in the distribution of Federal disaster assistance, and 

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Disaster Assist5 ance Fairness Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF RURAL ADVOCACY. 

7 Section 320 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

8 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5163) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 320. EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF GEOGRAPHIC 

2 AREAS. 

3 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON USE OF SLIDING SCALES.—No 

4 geographic area shall be precluded from receiving assist5 ance under this Act solely by virtue of an arithmetic for6 mula or sliding scale based on income or population. 

7 ‘‘(b) OFFICE OF RURAL ADVOCACY.—

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall es9 tablish in the Federal Emergency Management 

10 Agency an Office of Rural Advocacy. 

11 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by 

12 a Director, who shall report to the Director of the 

13 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

14 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Director of the Office shall 

15 be an advocate for the fair treatment of rural com16 munities in the provision of assistance under this 

17 Act. In carrying out the Director’s responsibilities, 

18 the Director shall—

19 ‘‘(A) participate in the disaster declaration 

20 process under section 401, and the emergency 

21 declaration process under section 501, to ensure 

22 that the needs of rural communities are being 

23 addressed; 

24 ‘‘(B) assist small population States in the 

25 preparation of requests for major disaster or 

26 emergency declarations; 
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1 ‘‘(C) review all rules and regulations relat2 ing to the provision of assistance under this Act 

3 to ensure that rural communities receive fair 

4 and equitable treatment; and 

5 ‘‘(D) conduct such other activities as the 

6 Director of the Federal Emergency Manage7 ment Agency considers appropriate.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal 

10 Emergency Management Agency shall promulgate a rule 

11 to ensure that the factors used to review a Governor’s re12 quest for a major disaster declaration under section 401 

13 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

14 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), or an emergency dec15 laration under section 501 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5191), 

16 adequately address the needs of States with a population 

17 of less than 1,000,000 individuals and the rural commu18 nities in those States. 

19 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating a rule under 

20 this section, the Director shall ensure that the following 

21 factors are considered in determining whether an event 

22 constitutes a major disaster or emergency: 

23 (1) Loss of access to critical services in a com24 munity and proximity to similar services. 
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1 (2) Availability of medical and veterinary serv2 ices. 

3 (3) Percentage of damage to residential and 

4 commercial buildings. 

5 (c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

6 section may be construed to authorize major disaster or 

7 emergency assistance that is not authorized as of the date 

8 of enactment of this Act.

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