I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10134 

To establish a Commission on Federal Natural Disaster Resilience and Recovery to examine and recommend reforms to improve the efficiency and 

effectiveness of the Federal Government’s approach to natural disaster 

resilience and recovery, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2024 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To establish a Commission on Federal Natural Disaster Resilience and Recovery to examine and recommend reforms 

to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal 

Government’s approach to natural disaster resilience and 

recovery, 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 ‘‘Natural Disaster Resil5 ience and Recovery Accountability Act’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 10134 IH

1 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON FEDERAL NATURAL DISASTER RE2 SILIENCE AND RECOVERY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

4 the Office of Management and Budget a Commission on 

5 Federal Natural Disaster Resilience and Recovery. 

6 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the Commission shall be 

7 to examine and recommend administrative and legislative 

8 reforms to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and budg9 et funding of Federal agency programs and activities sup10 porting natural disaster resilience and recovery. 

11 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

13 composed of 15 members, appointed by the Director 

14 of the Office. One such member shall be an employee 

15 of the Office. Each other member shall, to the extent 

16 practicable, be an official, emergency manager, or 

17 emergency response provider from State, local, and 

18 Tribal governments, the private sector, and non19 governmental organizations, representing multiple 

20 geographic (including urban and rural) areas, in21 cluding— 

22 (A) individuals from the emergency man23 agement field and emergency response pro24 viders, including fire service, law enforcement, 

25 hazardous materials response, emergency med26 ical services, and emergency management perVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10134.IH H10134

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 10134 IH

1 sonnel, or organizations representing such indi2 viduals; 

3 (B) health scientists, emergency and inpa4 tient medical providers, and public health pro5 fessionals; 

6 (C) experts from Federal, State, local, and 

7 Tribal governments, and the private sector, rep8 resenting standards-setting and accrediting or9 ganizations, including representatives from the 

10 voluntary consensus codes and standards devel11 opment community, particularly those with ex12 pertise in the emergency preparedness and re13 sponse field; 

14 (D) State, local, and Tribal government of15 ficials with expertise in preparedness, protec16 tion, response, recovery, and mitigation, includ17 ing Adjutants General; 

18 (E) elected State, local, and Tribal govern19 ment executives; 

20 (F) experts in public and private sector in21 frastructure protection, cybersecurity, and com22 munications; 

23 (G) representatives of individuals with dis24 abilities and other populations with special 

25 needs; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 10134 IH

1 (H) such other individuals as the Director 

2 determines to be appropriate. 

3 (2) EXPERTISE.—In making appointments 

4 under paragraph (1), the Director shall give consid5 eration to individuals with expertise in— 

6 (A) natural disaster resilience and recov7 ery; 

8 (B) emergency management at the Fed9 eral, State, local, territorial or Tribal level; 

10 (C) critical infrastructure; 

11 (D) transportation; 

12 (E) housing; and 

13 (F) intergovernmental relations. 

14 (3) APPOINTMENT DEADLINE.—All appoint15 ments to the Commission shall be made not later 

16 than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (4) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission 

19 shall have a chair and vice-chair. The chair shall be 

20 a member of the Commission elected by an affirma21 tive vote of at least eight members of the Commis22 sion and the vice chair shall be the Commission 

23 member who is an employee of the Office. 

24 (5) COMPENSATION.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 10134 IH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Com2 mission who is not an officer or employee of the 

3 Federal Government— 

4 (i) shall not be considered a Federal 

5 employee for any purpose other than for 

6 purposes of chapter 81 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, (relating to compensation for 

8 injury) and sections 2671 through 2680 of 

9 title 28, United States Code, (relating to 

10 tort claims); and 

11 (ii) shall be allowed travel expenses, 

12 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

13 at rates authorized for employees of agen14 cies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

15 such title 5 while away from their homes 

16 or regular places of business in the per17 formance of services for the Commission. 

18 (B) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of 

19 the Commission who is an officer or employee 

20 of the Federal Government shall not receive any 

21 additional compensation for service as such a 

22 member. 

23 (d) ADMINISTRATION.— 

24 (1) MEETINGS.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 10134 IH

1 (A) FIRST MEETING.—The Commission 

2 shall first meet not later than 240 days after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (B) OTHER MATTERS.—The Commission 

5 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, 

6 meet virtually or in-person to hold hearings, sit 

7 and act at times and places, take testimony, 

8 and receive evidence as the Commission con9 siders appropriate. 

10 (2) EXECUTIVE BRANCH ASSISTANCE.—The 

11 heads of the following agencies shall advise and con12 sult with the Commission on matters within their re13 spective areas of responsibility: 

14 (A) The Small Business Administration. 

15 (B) The Department of Agriculture. 

16 (C) The Department of Homeland Secu17 rity. 

18 (D) The Department of Labor. 

19 (E) The Department of the Interior. 

20 (F) The Department of Energy. 

21 (G) The Department of Transportation. 

22 (H) The Department of Housing and 

23 Urban Development. 

24 (I) The Environmental Protection Agency. 

25 (J) The Department of Justice. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 10134 IH

1 (K) The Federal Emergency Management 

2 Agency. 

3 (L) The United States Army Corps of En4 gineers. 

5 (M) The Corporation for National and 

6 Community Service. 

7 (N) The Department of Commerce. 

8 (O) The Department of the Treasury. 

9 (P) The Office of Management and Budg10 et. 

11 (Q) Any other agency, as determined by 

12 the Commission. 

13 (3) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

14 The Commission may request from any Federal 

15 agency such information as the Commission con16 siders necessary to carry out its duties. Upon re17 quest of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

18 head of a Federal agency shall furnish such informa19 tion to the Commission. 

20 (4) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may 

21 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

22 under the same conditions as other departments and 

23 agencies of the Federal Government. 

24 (5) RULES OF PROCEDURE.—The chair and 

25 vice chair shall, with an affirmative vote of at least 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 10134 IH

1 eight members of the Commission, establish written 

2 rules of procedure for the Commission, which shall 

3 include a quorum requirement to conduct official 

4 business. 

5 (6) STAFF.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The chair of the Com7 mission may, without regard to the civil service 

8 laws and regulations, appoint and terminate 

9 support personnel as may be necessary to en10 able the Commission to perform its duties. 

11 (B) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commis12 sion, by an affirmative vote of at least eight 

13 members of the Commission, shall appoint an 

14 executive director of the Commission. 

15 (C) COMPENSATION.—The chair of the 

16 Commission may fix the compensation of the 

17 executive director and other personnel without 

18 regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

19 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relat20 ing to classification of positions and General 

21 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 

22 for the executive director and other personnel 

23 may not exceed the rate payable for level V of 

24 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

25 such title. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 10134 IH

1 (D) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOY2 EES.—A Federal Government employee may be 

3 detailed to the Commission, without reimburse4 ment, and such detail shall be without interrup5 tion or loss of civil service status or privilege. 

6 (e) REPORTS.— 

7 (1) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

8 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis9 sion, the Commission shall submit, to the Committee 

10 on Oversight and Accountability of the House of 

11 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 

12 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a 

13 report describing recommendations to improve the 

14 Federal Government’s approach to natural disaster 

15 resilience and recovery. Such report shall include the 

16 following: 

17 (A) Specific and actionable policy rec18 ommendations, including legislative rec19 ommendations, as applicable, to improve the ef20 fectiveness of the Federal approach to natural 

21 disaster resilience and recovery, including con22 sideration of the 11 options presented in the 

23 Government Accountability Office report titled 

24 ‘‘Disaster Recovery: Actions Needed to Improve 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 10134 IH

1 the Federal Approach’’, issued on November 

2 15, 2022 (GAO–23–104956). 

3 (B) A comprehensive review all federally 

4 funded activities, Federal financial assistance 

5 and grant, and agency programs related to nat6 ural disaster resilience and recovery using, to 

7 the extent practical, data systems and metrics 

8 consistently across the Federal agencies, includ9 ing budget information and the Federal Pro10 gram Inventory established under section 9601 

11 of Public Law 116–283 and section 1122 of 

12 title 31, United States Code, in order to evalu13 ate the effectiveness of such activities and pro14 grams to meet established goals and statutory 

15 requirements. 

16 (C) A complete list of all federally funded 

17 natural disaster resilience and recovery pro18 grams and activities along with prior funding 

19 information, program goals, statutory authority 

20 of such programs and activities with relevant 

21 law citations, and reference to related financial 

22 assistance and grant programs. 

23 (D) Consideration of potential administra24 tive changes to the roles and responsibilities of 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 10134 IH

1 the various Federal agencies involved in natural 

2 disaster resilience and recovery. 

3 (E) Policies that aim to improve the effi4 ciency and effectiveness of the Federal Govern5 ment’s approach to natural disaster resilience 

6 and recovery, to increase the access and efficacy 

7 of respective Federal programs to all impacted 

8 individuals and entities, and to recommend ap9 propriate investments in natural disaster resil10 ience to reduce duplication and inefficiency. 

11 (F) Other areas of natural disaster resil12 ience and recovery that are not outlined in this 

13 Act, as determined by the Commission. 

14 (2) SPECIFIC POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—To 

15 the maximum extent practicable, the report under 

16 paragraph (1) shall include specific short- and long17 term legislative and administrative policy rec18 ommendations. 

19 (3) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not later than 6 

20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act 

21 and every 6 months thereafter, the Commission shall 

22 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Account23 ability of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 10134 IH

1 Affairs of the Senate interim reports relating to any 

2 matter described in paragraph (1). 

3 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

4 on the date that is 60 days after the date on which the 

5 Commission submits its final report to Congress pursuant 

6 to subsection (e)(1). 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 Amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

9 Act shall be derived solely from amounts otherwise appro10 priated for the Office, and no additional funds are author11 ized to be appropriated to carry out this Act. 

12 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Commis14 sion on Federal Natural Disaster Resilience and Re15 covery established under subsection (a); 

16 (2) the term ‘‘natural disaster’’ means a weath17 er event (relating to cold or hot weather), flood, 

18 earthquake, tornado, hurricane, or ice storm, or an 

19 event meeting such other criteria as the Commission 

20 may determine to be appropriate; and 

21 (3) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Man22 agement and Budget. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS