H. R. 1746 

One Hundred Eleventh Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten 

An Act 

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

to reauthorize the pre-disaster mitigation program of the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Predisaster Hazard Mitigation 

Act of 2010’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) The predisaster hazard mitigation program has been 

successful and cost-effective. Funding from the predisaster 

hazard mitigation program has successfully reduced loss of 

life, personal injuries, damage to and destruction of property, 

and disruption of communities from disasters. 

(2) The predisaster hazard mitigation program has saved 

Federal taxpayers from spending significant sums on disaster 

recovery and relief that would have been otherwise incurred 

had communities not successfully applied mitigation techniques. 

(3) A 2007 Congressional Budget Office report found that 

the predisaster hazard mitigation program reduced losses by 

roughly $3 (measured in 2007 dollars) for each dollar invested 

in mitigation efforts funded under the predisaster hazard mitigation program. Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office 

found that projects funded under the predisaster hazard mitigation program could lower the need for post-disaster assistance 

from the Federal Government so that the predisaster hazard 

mitigation investment by the Federal Government would actually save taxpayer funds. 

(4) A 2005 report by the Multihazard Mitigation Council 

showed substantial benefits and cost savings from the hazard 

mitigation programs of the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency generally. Looking at a range of hazard mitigation 

programs of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 

study found that, on average, $1 invested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hazard mitigation provided the 

Nation with roughly $4 in benefits. Moreover, the report projected that the mitigation grants awarded between 1993 and 

2003 would save more than 220 lives and prevent nearly 4,700 

injuries over approximately 50 years. 
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(5) Given the substantial savings generated from the 

predisaster hazard mitigation program in the years following 

the provision of assistance under the program, increasing funds 

appropriated for the program would be a wise investment. 

SEC. 3. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 

(a) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Section 203(f) of the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5133(f)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall award financial 

assistance under this section on a competitive basis and in 

accordance with the criteria in subsection (g). 

‘‘(2) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—In providing financial assistance under this section, the President shall ensure 

that the amount of financial assistance made available to a 

State (including amounts made available to local governments 

of the State) for a fiscal year— 

‘‘(A) is not less than the lesser of— 

‘‘(i) $575,000; or 

‘‘(ii) the amount that is equal to 1 percent of the 

total funds appropriated to carry out this section for 

the fiscal year; and 

‘‘(B) does not exceed the amount that is equal to 15 

percent of the total funds appropriated to carry out this 

section for the fiscal year.’’. 

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 203(m) of the 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

(42 U.S.C. 5133(m)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— ‘‘(1) $180,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

‘‘(2) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

‘‘(3) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.’’. 

(c) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO REFERENCES.—The Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5121 et seq.) is amended— 

(1) in section 602(a) (42 U.S.C. 5195a(a)), by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(7) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Administrator’ means the 

Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.’’; 

and 

(2) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears and 

inserting ‘‘Administrator’’, except— 

(A) in section 622 (42 U.S.C. 5197a)— 

(i) in the second and fourth places it appears in 

subsection (c); and 

(ii) in subsection (d); and 

(B) in section 626(b) (42 U.S.C. 5197e(b)). 

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 

Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by adding at 

the end the following: 

‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS.— 

‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘congressionally directed spending’ means a statutory provision or report 

language included primarily at the request of a Senator or 
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a Member, Delegate or Resident Commissioner of the House 

of Representatives providing, authorizing, or recommending a 

specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit 

authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, 

loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure 

with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality, 

or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or 

administrative formula-driven or competitive award process. 

‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out this section may be used 

for congressionally directed spending. 

‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator of 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to 

Congress a certification regarding whether all financial assistance under this section was awarded in accordance with this 

section.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.