I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1311 

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

Act to ensure that unmet needs after a major disaster are met. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 19, 2019 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself and Ms. PLASKETT) 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 ensure that unmet needs after 

a major disaster are met. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. UNMET NEED ASSISTANCE. 

4 Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

5 Emergency Assistance Act is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 431. UNMET NEEDS ASSISTANCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—After the declaration of a major 

9 disaster, the President may direct the Administrator of 


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1 the Emergency Management Agency to provide, subject to 

2 amounts made available from appropriations, assistance 

3 necessary for meeting unmet needs as a result of such dis4 aster. 

5 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF FUNDING.—Subject to appro7 priations and not later than 30 days after a declara8 tion is made under section 401, the President acting 

9 through the Administrator may allocate an amount 

10 that equals up to 10 percent of the estimated aggre11 gate amount of the grants to be made pursuant to 

12 sections 406 and 408 for the major disaster in order 

13 to provide technical and financial assistance under 

14 this section and such set aside shall be deemed to 

15 be related to activities carried out pursuant to major 

16 disasters under this Act. 

17 ‘‘(2) ESTIMATED AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—Not 

18 later than 180 days after each major disaster dec19 laration pursuant to this Act, the estimated aggre20 gate amount of grants for purposes of paragraph (1) 

21 shall be determined by the President and such esti22 mated amount need not be reduced, increased, or 

23 changed due to variations in estimates. 

24 ‘‘(3) NO REDUCTION IN AMOUNTS.—The 

25 amount set aside pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 


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1 not reduce the amounts otherwise made available for 

2 sections 403, 404, 406, 407, 408, 410, 416, and 428 

3 under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(c) UNMET NEEDS.—Financial assistance provided 

5 under this section may be used to provide assistance, in 

6 addition to other amounts made available under this Act, 

7 for the following unmet needs: 

8 ‘‘(1) Disaster-related home repair and rebuild9 ing assistance to families for permanent housing 

10 purposes, including in conjunction with eligible ex11 penditures under section 408. 

12 ‘‘(2) Disaster-related unmet needs of families 

13 who are unable to obtain adequate assistance from 

14 other sources. 

15 ‘‘(3) Other services that alleviate human suf16 fering and promote the well-being of disaster vic17 tims. 

18 ‘‘(4) Economic and business activities (includ19 ing food and agriculture) after a disaster to imple20 ment post-disaster economic recovery measures, in21 cluding planning and technical assistance for long22 term economic recovery plans, infrastructure im23 provements, business or infrastructure financing, 

24 market or industry research, and other activities auVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1311.IH H1311

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1 thorized under a comprehensive economic develop2 ment strategy. 

3 ‘‘(d) ACCOUNTING AND FISCAL CONTROLS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

5 after receipt of funds and every 6 months thereafter 

6 until all such funds are expended, a State shall sub7 mit a report to the Administrator that includes— 

8 ‘‘(A) the criteria established for deter9 mining how the funds are spent; 

10 ‘‘(B) the allocation of those funds; and 

11 ‘‘(C) the process for public notice and com12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—Any individual who re14 ceives assistance pursuant to this section shall com15 ply with section 312(b). 

16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State that re17 ceives funds under this section may expend not more 

18 than 5 percent of the amount of such funds for the 

19 administrative costs of providing financial assistance 

20 to individuals and households in the State.’’. 

21 SEC. 2. REPAIR AND REBUILDING. 

22 Section 408(c) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re23 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)(i) by striking ‘‘to a 

2 safe and sanitary living or functioning condition’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘to ensure that their home is habitable 

4 during longer term recovery. Assistance allowed 

5 under this section may be used in coordination with 

6 other sources for the repair and rebuilding of an 

7 owner-occupied residence.’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘in cases in 

9 which’’ and all that follows through the end of the 

10 paragraph and by inserting ‘‘if the President con11 siders it a cost effective alternative to other housing 

12 solutions, including the costs associated with tem13 porary housing provided under this section, and 

14 long-term rebuilding costs associated with section 

15 431’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REVIEW BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

17 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

19 shall conduct a review on the fiscal controls by States that 

20 receive funds under section 431 of the Robert T. Stafford 

21 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and shall 

22 make recommendations to the Committee on Homeland 

23 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 


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1 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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