II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1059 

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

Act to specify procedures for the conduct of preliminary damage assessments, to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to vigorously investigate and prosecute instances of fraud, including fraud in the handling 

and approval of claims for Federal emergency assistance, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2005 

Mr. NELSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to specify procedures for the conduct of preliminary damage assessments, to direct the 

Secretary of Homeland Security to vigorously investigate 

and prosecute instances of fraud, including fraud in the 

handling and approval of claims for Federal emergency 

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. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) in the aftermath of the 4 hurricanes that 

2 occurred within 6 weeks in the southeast United 

3 States during 2004, many of the inspectors and 

4 managers employed to inspect and document dis5 aster-related damage in that area had criminal 

6 records; 

7 (2) preliminary damage assessments provide 

8 important information about the impact and mag9 nitude of damage and the needs of individuals, busi10 nesses, the public sector, and the community as a 

11 whole; and 

12 (3) the failure to conduct a preliminary damage 

13 assessment can result in Federal funds being pro14 vided to areas that have not suffered the level of 

15 damage that would qualify an area for Federal dis16 aster assistance. 

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

18 (1) to ensure the appropriate use of public 

19 funds; 

20 (2) to protect disaster victims; and 

21 (3) to require more stringent background 

22 checks for contractors of the Federal Emergency 

23 Management Agency. 
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1 SEC. 2. PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS. 

2 Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

3 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘All requests for’’ and inserting 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—All requests for’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(b) PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

11 ‘‘(A) ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘assess12 ment’ means a preliminary damage assessment 

13 described in paragraph (2)(A). 

14 ‘‘(B) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ 

15 means the Director of FEMA. 

16 ‘‘(C) FEMA.—The term ‘FEMA’ means 

17 the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

18 ‘‘(D) INCIDENT.—The term ‘incident’ 

19 means a condition or occurrence that causes 

20 such damage or hardship as may result in a 

21 Presidential declaration of a major disaster or 

22 emergency. 

23 ‘‘(E) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

24 means the Secretary of Homeland Security, act25 ing through the Director. 

26 ‘‘(2) PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) PREASSESSMENT BY THE STATE.— 

2 Except as provided in subparagraph (E), on oc3 currence of an incident, or if a State determines 

4 that the occurrence of an incident is imminent, 

5 and the State official responsible for disaster 

6 operations determines that the State and local 

7 governments may lack the capability to ade8 quately respond to the incident, the State 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) verify the information of the 

11 State used to make the determination; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) request the Regional Director to 

13 perform a joint FEMA-State preliminary 

14 damage assessment of the type, extent, 

15 and location of any damage caused by the 

16 incident. 

17 ‘‘(B) DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TEAMS.—Each 

18 State shall appoint a damage assessment team 

19 to carry out assessments described in subpara20 graph (A) that is composed of— 

21 ‘‘(i) at least 1 representative of the 

22 Federal Government; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a least 1 representative of the 

24 State; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) if practicable, a local govern2 ment representative who is familiar with 

3 the extent and location of damage or po4 tential damage in any applicable commu5 nities; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) such additional representatives 

7 from Federal and State agencies and vol8 untary relief organizations as are nec9 essary, as determined by the State. 

10 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITY OF STATE.—A State 

11 shall assume responsibility for— 

12 ‘‘(i) coordination of State and local 

13 participation in an assessment conducted 

14 under this paragraph; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that participants in the 

16 assessment receive timely notification con17 cerning the schedule of activities for the 

18 assessment. 

19 ‘‘(D) RESPONSIBILITY OF FEMA.—The 

20 Secretary shall designate an official of 

21 FEMA— 

22 ‘‘(i) to brief members of the assess23 ment team on— 

24 ‘‘(I) damage criteria; 
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1 ‘‘(II) the kind of information to 

2 be collected for the particular incident 

3 that is the subject of the assessment; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(III) applicable reporting re6 quirements; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) on completion of the assessment, 

8 to consult with State officials to discuss 

9 findings and reconcile any differences. 

10 ‘‘(E) WAIVER.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State, in con12 sultation with the Regional Director or 

13 FEMA, may elect not to carry out an as14 sessment— 

15 ‘‘(I) in the case of an incident of 

16 unusual severity and magnitude that 

17 does not require any field damage as18 sessments to determine the need for 

19 supplemental Federal assistance 

20 under this Act; or 

21 ‘‘(II) in other appropriate cases, 

22 as determined by the State, in con23 sultation with the Regional Director 

24 of FEMA. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) MANAGERIAL RESPONSE.—Noth2 ing in this subparagraph prevents the con3 duct of an assessment to determine unmet 

4 needs for managerial response purposes.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. FRAUD. 

6 (a) PENALTIES.—Section 314(d) of the Robert T. 

7 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 5157(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

10 (b) FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 318 of the 

11 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist12 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5161) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) vigorously investigate allegations and 

17 instances of fraud under this Act, including 

18 fraud relating to the handling and approval of 

19 claims for Federal emergency assistance; and 

20 ‘‘(B) refer to the Attorney General of the 

21 United States, in accordance with section 

22 314(c), such allegations, instances, and results 

23 of investigations described in subparagraph (A) 

24 as the President determines to be appropriate. 
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1 ‘‘(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen2 eral of the United States shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) give serious consideration to any alle4 gations or instances of fraud referred under 

5 paragraph (1)(B); 

6 ‘‘(B) not later than 10 days after the date 

7 of receipt of such a referral, begin an investiga8 tion into the allegation; and 

9 ‘‘(C) not later than 45 days after the date 

10 of receipt of the referral, submit to the Sec11 retary of Homeland Security a report describing 

12 the progress and results of the investigation. 

13 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

14 AGENCY.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES.— 

16 Not later than 120 days after the date of enact17 ment of this subsection, the Director of the 

18 Federal Emergency Management Agency (re19 ferred to in this paragraph as the ‘Director’) 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) propose new inspection proce22 dures that more accurately identify dis23 aster-related losses of household items for 

24 which applicants should be compensated; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) modify guidelines relating to in2 dividual and housing inspections to require 

3 inspectors to specify any item that was not 

4 available for inspection; 

5 ‘‘(iii) develop eligibility criteria for 

6 funding vehicle damage, taking into consid7 eration damage to a vehicle sustained as a 

8 result of a disaster; 

9 ‘‘(iv) propose new inspection guide10 lines that prohibit inspectors from entering 

11 into a contract with any individual or enti12 ty for whom the inspector performs an in13 spection for purposes of determining eligi14 bility for assistance from the Federal 

15 Emergency Management Agency; 

16 ‘‘(v) modify guidelines to require con17 tract inspectors to— 

18 ‘‘(I) document vehicle damage to 

19 allow the Director to justify an award 

20 based on disaster-related need; and 

21 ‘‘(II) base any funding rec22 ommendation of the contract inspector 

23 for miscellaneous items on disaster-re24 lated need; 
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1 ‘‘(vi) modify guidelines to establish a 

2 reasonable replacement value for destroyed 

3 vehicles, as determined by the Director, 

4 taking into consideration the cost of ac5 quiring a comparable vehicle; 

6 ‘‘(vii) develop criteria and guidelines 

7 for defining the term ‘disaster-related 

8 death’, including a requirement that an 

9 employee of the Federal Emergency Man10 agement Agency document each request 

11 for funeral expenses assistance in order to 

12 support the approval or disapproval of the 

13 assistance; 

14 ‘‘(viii) modify home inspection proce15 dures to require contract inspectors to doc16 ument— 

17 ‘‘(I) any reason why the con18 tractor determined a home was un19 safe; and 

20 ‘‘(II) any instance of deferred 

21 maintenance, including an evaluation 

22 of the severity of housing conditions; 

23 ‘‘(ix) modify inspection guidelines for 

24 repair and replacement of homes to require 

25 inspectors to justify a determination that a 
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1 home is destroyed by identifying and docu2 menting each type of damage sustained by 

3 the home; and 

4 ‘‘(x) review and modify each inspec5 tion contract to require contractors to— 

6 ‘‘(I) review the quality of work of 

7 an inspector before submitting inspec8 tion data to the Director; 

9 ‘‘(II) certify the independence of 

10 the contractor during each inspection; 

11 ‘‘(III) recuse themselves from 

12 any inspections that present a possible 

13 conflict of interest; and 

14 ‘‘(IV) consent to a criminal back15 ground check in accordance with sub16 paragraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the Director develops procedures and 

19 guidelines under subparagraph (A), the Direc20 tor shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

21 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen22 ate and the Committee on Transportation and 

23 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

24 a report that describes any change to the proce-
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1 dures and guidelines of the Federal Emergency 

2 Management Agency. 

3 ‘‘(C) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—The Direc4 tor shall include in any contract with an inspec5 tor the requirements that— 

6 ‘‘(i) a background check shall be per7 formed on the inspector; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the results of the background 

9 check shall be submitted to the Director 

10 not later than 7 days after the date on 

11 which the inspector is hired by the Direc12 tor; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) an inspector who has been con14 victed of criminal misconduct (including 

15 fraud, robbery, burglary, forgery, and fel16 ony drug possession) shall not be employed 

17 by the Federal Emergency Management 

18 Agency as an inspector.’’. 

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