II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 924 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2013 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Mr. SCHUMER) 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 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) mitigation planning is the foundation for 

2 saving lives, protecting residential and commercial 

3 properties, and developing disaster resistant commu4 nities; 

5 (2) recent studies of the performance of build6 ing structures during disasters have demonstrated 

7 that the adoption and active enforcement of State 

8 building codes have greatly reduced residential and 

9 commercial property damage and personal injury re10 sulting from major disasters; 

11 (3) modern building codes govern all aspects of 

12 construction and are designed to ensure that single13 family residential dwellings and commercial struc14 tures are protected from natural disasters; 

15 (4) the people of the United States rely on ac16 tive enforcement of modern building codes for assur17 ance that minimum standards for reducing personal 

18 injuries and property damages have been met in the 

19 buildings they live in, work in, and visit everyday; 

20 (5) active enforcement of building codes plays 

21 an increasingly important role in public safety and 

22 loss prevention of residential and commercial prop23 erty; 

24 (6) active enforcement of building codes based 

25 on nationally recognized models reduces the need for 


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1 public disaster aid, creates sustainable communities, 

2 promotes a level and consistent playing field for de3 sign professionals, suppliers, and builders, and can 

4 contribute to the durability of residential and com5 mercial structures; 

6 (7) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re7 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

8 et seq.), the Federal Emergency Management Agen9 cy provides Federal assistance to States for mitiga10 tion efforts; 

11 (8) it is beneficial and appropriate to expand 

12 Federal mitigation assistance to encourage States to 

13 take a comprehensive and integrated approach to 

14 disaster loss reduction; and 

15 (9) it is beneficial to the Federal Government 

16 and appropriate that Federal mitigation assistance 

17 be used to encourage the adoption and active en18 forcement of State building codes as a disaster miti19 gation strategy under the auspices of a comprehen20 sive disaster loss reduction plan. 

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

22 The purposes of this Act are— 

23 (1) to substantially mitigate the occurrence of 

24 loss to residential and commercial property, reduce 

25 and minimize damage when losses to residential and 


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1 commercial property occur, improve the quality and 

2 value of residential and commercial property, and re3 duce the need for public disaster aid; 

4 (2) to provide incentives for the adoption and 

5 active enforcement of State building codes; 

6 (3) to encourage States to continue their key 

7 responsibility to coordinate all State and local activi8 ties relating to hazard evaluation and mitigation, as 

9 specified in section 201.3(c) of title 44, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations, through the adoption and active 

11 enforcement of State building codes; and 

12 (4) to encourage States to require that local 

13 governments use a current version of a nationally 

14 applicable model building code that address natural 

15 hazards as a basis for design and construction of 

16 State-sponsored mitigation projects described in sec17 tion 201.5(b)(4)(iv) of title 44, Code of Federal Reg18 ulations. 

19 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

20 Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

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

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara25 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 


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1 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

2 an approved State building code, the President may 

3 increase the maximum total of contributions under 

4 this section for the major disaster, as specified in 

5 subsection (a) and section 322(e), by an amount 

6 equal to 4 percent of the estimated aggregate 

7 amount of grants to be made (less any associated 

8 administrative costs) under this Act with respect to 

9 the major disaster. 

10 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in11 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State 

12 shall submit its State building code to the President 

13 for approval. 

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

15 a State building code submitted under paragraph (2) 

16 if the President determines that the building code— 

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

18 version of a nationally recognized model build19 ing code; 

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

21 6 years of the most recent version of the na22 tionally recognized model building code; and 

23 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

24 building code as a minimum standard. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The President, act2 ing through the Administrator, shall set appropriate 

3 standards, by regulation, for the periodic update, re4 submittal, and approval of a State building code ap5 proved by the President in accordance with para6 graph (3) that are consistent with similar require7 ments related to mitigation planning under section 

8 322. 

9 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol10 lowing definitions apply: 

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

12 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic13 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

14 code in the process of examination and approval 

15 of construction plans, specifications, and tech16 nical data and the inspection of new construc17 tion or renovation. 

18 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

19 BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog20 nized model building code’ means a building 

21 code for residential and commercial construc22 tion and construction materials that— 

23 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

24 by a code organization in an open conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:29 May 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924

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1 sensus type forum with input from na2 tional experts; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

4 design standards that establish minimum 

5 acceptable criteria for the design, construc6 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

7 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

8 protecting the health, safety, and general 

9 welfare of the building’s users against nat10 ural disasters. 

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

12 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

13 associated standards for residential and com14 mercial construction and construction materials 

15 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

16 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

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

18 requirements and associated standards shall 

19 apply— 

20 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

21 of residential building contractors applica22 ble to single-family and 2-family residential 

23 structures; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

25 of engineers, architects, designers, and 


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1 commercial building contractors applicable 

2 to the structural safety, design, and con3 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

4 multifamily structures. 

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

6 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

7 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

8 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 

9 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

10 this subsection.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 

12 (a) USES OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSIST13 ANCE.—Section 203(e)(1)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford 

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

15 5133(e)(1)(B)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

18 (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iv) to establish and operate a build21 ing department and carry out enforcement 

22 activities to implement a State building 

23 code approved under section 404(f).’’. 

24 (b) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE AWARDS.—Section 

25 203(g) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 


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1 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(g)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

4 (9); 

5 (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para6 graph (11); and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(10) the extent to which the State or local 

10 government is carrying out activities to implement a 

11 State building code approved under section 404(f) 

12 and’’. 

Æ 


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