I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1878 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by 

encouraging States to adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2013 

Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Mr. SIRES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. DENHAM, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. GIBSON, and Mr. 

PALAZZO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by encouraging States to 

adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 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 ‘‘Safe Building Code 

5 Incentive Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) mitigation planning is the foundation for 

4 saving lives, protecting residential and commercial 

5 properties, and developing disaster resistant commu6 nities; 

7 (2) recent studies of the performance of build8 ing structures during disasters have demonstrated 

9 that the adoption and active enforcement of State 

10 building codes have greatly reduced residential and 

11 commercial property damage and personal injury re12 sulting from major disasters; 

13 (3) modern building codes govern all aspects of 

14 construction and are designed to ensure that single15 family residential dwellings and commercial struc16 tures are protected from natural disasters; 

17 (4) the people of the United States rely on ac18 tive enforcement of modern building codes for assur19 ance that minimum standards for reducing personal 

20 injuries and property damages have been met in the 

21 buildings they live in, work in, and visit every day; 

22 (5) active enforcement of building codes plays 

23 an increasingly important role in public safety and 

24 loss prevention of residential and commercial prop25 erty; 


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1 (6) active enforcement of building codes based 

2 on nationally recognized models reduces the need for 

3 public disaster aid, creates sustainable communities, 

4 promotes a level and consistent playing field for de5 sign professionals, suppliers, and builders, and can 

6 contribute to the durability of residential and com7 mercial structures; 

8 (7) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re9 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

10 et seq.), the Federal Emergency Management Agen11 cy provides Federal assistance to States for mitiga12 tion efforts; 

13 (8) it is beneficial and appropriate to expand 

14 Federal mitigation assistance to encourage States to 

15 take a comprehensive and integrated approach to 

16 disaster loss reduction; and 

17 (9) it is beneficial to the Federal Government 

18 and appropriate that Federal mitigation assistance 

19 be used to encourage the adoption and active en20 forcement of State building codes as a disaster miti21 gation strategy under the auspices of a comprehen22 sive disaster loss reduction plan. 

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

24 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) substantially mitigate the occurrence of loss 

2 to residential and commercial property, reduce and 

3 minimize damage when losses to residential and 

4 commercial property occur, improve the quality and 

5 value of residential and commercial property, and re6 duce the need for public disaster aid; 

7 (2) provide incentives for the adoption and ac8 tive enforcement of State building codes; 

9 (3) encourage States to continue their key re10 sponsibility to coordinate all State and local activi11 ties relating to hazard evaluation and mitigation, as 

12 specified in section 201.3(c) of title 44, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations, through the adoption and active 

14 enforcement of State building codes; and 

15 (4) encourage States to require that local gov16 ernments use a current version of a nationally appli17 cable model building code that address natural haz18 ards as a basis for design and construction of State19 sponsored mitigation projects described in section 

20 201.5(b)(4)(iv) of title 44, Code of Federal Regula21 tions. 

22 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of the Robert T. 

24 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara5 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 

6 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

7 a State building code that satisfies the conditions in 

8 paragraph (2), the President may increase the max9 imum total of contributions under this section for 

10 the major disaster, as specified in subsection (a) and 

11 section 322(e), by an amount equal to 4 percent of 

12 the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be 

13 made (less any associated administrative costs) 

14 under this Act with respect to the major disaster. 

15 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in16 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State 

17 shall certify to the President that the State has a 

18 building code that— 

19 ‘‘(A) is consistent with the most recent 

20 version of a nationally recognized model build21 ing code; 

22 ‘‘(B) has been adopted by the State within 

23 6 years of the most recent version of the na24 tionally recognized model building code; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

2 building code as a minimum standard. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The President shall approve 

4 the additional assistance under this section, if the 

5 President determines that the certification of the 

6 State provided under paragraph (2) is sufficient and 

7 is submitted not later than 90 days after the date 

8 of a declared disaster. 

9 ‘‘(4) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The President, act10 ing through the Administrator, shall set appropriate 

11 standards, by regulation, for the periodic update, re12 submittal, and approval of a State building code ap13 proved by the President in accordance with para14 graph (3) that are consistent with similar require15 ments related to mitigation planning under section 

16 322. 

17 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol18 lowing definitions apply: 

19 ‘‘(A) ACTIVELY ENFORCING.—The term 

20 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic21 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

22 code in the process of examination and approval 

23 of construction plans, specifications, and tech24 nical data and the inspection of new construc25 tion or renovation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

2 BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog3 nized model building code’ means a building 

4 code for residential and commercial construc5 tion and construction materials that— 

6 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

7 by a code organization in an open con8 sensus type forum with input from na9 tional experts; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

11 design standards that establish minimum 

12 acceptable criteria for the design, construc13 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

14 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

15 protecting the health, safety, and general 

16 welfare of the building’s users against nat17 ural disasters. 

18 ‘‘(C) STATE BUILDING CODE.—The term 

19 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

20 associated standards for residential and com21 mercial construction and construction materials 

22 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

23 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

24 code, or zoning ordinance. At a minimum, such 


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1 requirements and associated standards shall 

2 apply— 

3 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

4 of residential building contractors applica5 ble to single-family and 2-family residential 

6 structures; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

8 of engineers, architects, designers, and 

9 commercial building contractors applicable 

10 to the structural safety, design, and con11 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

12 multifamily structures. 

13 ‘‘(6) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

15 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

16 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 

17 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

18 this subsection.’’. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 404(d) of the Robert T. 

20 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 

21 as added by this section, shall apply to major disasters 

22 declared on or after October 24, 2012. Major disasters 

23 declared during the period beginning on October 24, 2012, 

24 and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, shall 

25 have 90 days from date of enactment of this Act to submit 


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1 the certification required under 404(d)(2) of the Robert 

2 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

3 Act, as added by this Act. 

Æ 


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