II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2779 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish an Office of Disaster 

Recovery and Resilience, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to 

establish an Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, 

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 ‘‘Office of Disaster Re5 covery and Resilience Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Public Works and 

3 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3191 et 

4 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 508. OFFICE OF DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESIL6 IENCE. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish an Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience— 

9 ‘‘(1) to direct and implement the post-disaster 

10 economic recovery responsibilities of the Economic 

11 Development Administration pursuant to subsections 

12 (c)(2) and (e) of section 209; 

13 ‘‘(2) to direct and implement economic recovery 

14 support function activities as directed under the Na15 tional Disaster Recovery Framework; and 

16 ‘‘(3) to administer disaster appropriations made 

17 available to carry out activities described in para18 graphs (1) and (2). 

19 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION AUTHORI20 TIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary is author22 ized to appoint such temporary personnel as may be 

23 necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the Of24 fice of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, without re25 gard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 

26 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2779.IS S2779

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1 ments in the competitive service and compensation 

2 of personnel. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION OF EMPLOYEES.—Notwith4 standing chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, 

5 or any other provision of law relating to the exam6 ination, certification, and appointment of individuals 

7 in the competitive service, the Secretary is author8 ized to convert a temporary employee appointed 

9 under this subsection to a permanent appointment 

10 in the competitive service in the Economic Develop11 ment Administration under merit promotion proce12 dures if— 

13 ‘‘(A) the employee has served continuously 

14 for at least 2 years under one or more appoint15 ments under this subsection; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the employee’s performance has been 

17 at an acceptable level of performance through18 out the period or periods referred to in sub19 paragraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(3) COMPENSATION.—An individual converted 

21 under this subsection shall become a career-condi22 tional employee, unless the employee has already 

23 completed the service requirements for career ten24 ure. 

25 ‘‘(c) DISASTER TEAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—As soon as practicable 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec3 retary shall establish a disaster team (referred to in 

4 this section as the ‘disaster team’) for the deploy5 ment of individuals to carry out responsibilities of 

6 the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience after 

7 a major disaster or emergency has been declared 

8 under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

9 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 

10 and the Department has been activated by the Fed11 eral Emergency Management Agency. 

12 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION OF STAFF.—As soon 

14 as practicable after the date of enactment of 

15 this section, the Secretary shall designate to 

16 serve on the disaster team— 

17 ‘‘(i) employees of the Office of Dis18 aster Recovery and Resilience; 

19 ‘‘(ii) employees of the Department 

20 who are not employees of the Economic 

21 Development Administration; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) in consultation with the heads of 

23 other Federal agencies, employees of those 

24 agencies, as appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CAPABILITIES.—In designating indi2 viduals under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

3 shall ensure that the disaster team includes a 

4 sufficient quantity of— 

5 ‘‘(i) individuals who are capable of de6 ploying rapidly and efficiently to respond 

7 to major disasters and emergencies; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) highly trained full-time employ9 ees who will lead and manage the disaster 

10 team. 

11 ‘‘(3) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall ensure 

12 that appropriate and ongoing training is provided to 

13 members of the disaster team to ensure that the 

14 members are adequately trained regarding the pro15 grams and policies of the Economic Development 

16 Administration relating to post-disaster economic re17 covery efforts. 

18 ‘‘(4) EXPENSES.—In carrying out this section, 

19 the Secretary may— 

20 ‘‘(A) use, with or without reimbursement, 

21 any service, equipment, personnel, or facility of 

22 any Federal agency with the explicit support of 

23 that agency, to the extent such use does not im24 pair or conflict with the authority of the Presi25 dent or the Administrator of the Federal EmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2779.IS S2779

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1 gency Management Agency under the Robert T. 

2 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist3 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) to direct 

4 Federal agencies in any major disaster or emer5 gency declared under that Act; and 

6 ‘‘(B) provide members of the disaster team 

7 with travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 

8 of subsistence, at rates authorized for an em9 ployee of an agency under subchapter I of chap10 ter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

11 away from the home or regular place of busi12 ness of the member in the performance of serv13 ices for, or relating to, the disaster team.’’. 

14 (b) COST-SHARE.—Section 204(c) of the Public 

15 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

16 U.S.C. 3144(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(4) DISASTER RECOVERY.—In the case of a 

19 grant provided under section 209 for a project for 

20 economic recovery in response to a major disaster or 

21 emergency declared under the Robert T. Stafford 

22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the Federal share of the cost 

24 of the project shall be 100 percent.’’. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR DIS2 ASTER ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACTIVITIES.—Section 703 

3 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 

4 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3233) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 703. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

6 POST-DISASTER ECONOMIC RECOVERY AC7 TIVITIES. 

8 ‘‘In addition to amounts made available under section 

9 701, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as are necessary to carry out subsections (c)(2) and (e) 

11 of section 209 and for other activities of the Office of Dis12 aster Recovery and Resilience established under section 

13 508(a), to remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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