I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1131 

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

Act to improve Federal response efforts after a terrorist strike or other 

major disaster affecting homeland security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2009 

Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to improve Federal response efforts 

after a terrorist strike or other major disaster affecting 

homeland security, 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 ‘‘Community Protection 

5 and Response Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Robert T. Stafford Relief and Emer4 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) was 

5 established to provide aid and coordinate Federal 

6 disaster relief in response to a major disaster. 

7 (2) The effect of the terrorist attack on Sep8 tember 11, 2001, on New York City, New York, was 

9 declared a major disaster as defined by the Act. 

10 (3) The terrorist attacks on September 11, 

11 2001, brought forth new challenges never dealt with 

12 before in a major disaster. 

13 (4) These new challenges and lack of com14 prehensive authority to deal with them, as defined 

15 by current law, slowed down and complicated Fed16 eral disaster relief for the New York and Wash17 ington Metropolitan Areas, and exposed weaknesses 

18 in the authorities Federal agencies have to respond 

19 to a homeland security event. 

20 (5) Officials throughout the Administration and 

21 intelligence community assert that another attack is 

22 inevitable so it is imperative to establish new author23 ity to address the inadequacies in the existing sys24 tem of response. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF MAJOR DISASTER. 

2 Section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

3 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)) 

4 is amended by striking ‘‘or explosion’’ and inserting ‘‘ex5 plosion, terrorist attack (including a biological, nuclear, 

6 chemical, or small arms attack and a cyber-attack on com7 puter systems), dispersion of radioactive or other contami8 nants, dispersion of hazardous substances, or other cata9 strophic event’’. 

10 SEC. 4. CERTAIN DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC FACILITY. 

11 Section 102(9) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

12 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(9)) 

13 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(9) PUBLIC FACILITY.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B), the term ‘public facility’ 

17 means the following facilities owned by a State 

18 or local government: 

19 ‘‘(i) Any flood control, navigation, ir20 rigation, reclamation, public power, sewage 

21 treatment and collection, water supply and 

22 distribution, watershed development, or 

23 airport facility. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Any non-Federal-aid street, road, 

25 or highway. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Any other public building, struc2 ture, or system, including those used for 

3 educational, recreational, or cultural pur4 poses. 

5 ‘‘(iv) Any park. 

6 ‘‘(B) HOMELAND SECURITY EVENT.—In 

7 the case of a homeland security event as de8 scribed in section 425, the term ‘public facility’ 

9 also includes private for-profit telecommuni10 cations and phone services and private for-prof11 it utilities (including power, water (including 

12 water provided by an irrigation organization or 

13 facility), sewer, and wastewater treatment) ex14 cept that for-profit utilities shall be covered 

15 only for structures and property losses that 

16 occur during a homeland security event if such 

17 losses are not covered by such utility’s insur18 ance policies.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. HOMELAND SECURITY EVENTS. 

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

21 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 425. HOMELAND SECURITY EVENTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the Governor 

25 of the affected State, the President may declare that a 


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1 major disaster constitutes a homeland security event for 

2 the purposes of this section. Such a request shall be based 

3 on a finding that Federal assistance is necessary because 

4 the event poses a significant risk to the security of the 

5 people and property of the Nation and is of such severity 

6 and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capa7 bility of the affected State and local government. 

8 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—In any homeland secu9 rity event, in addition to providing other assistance made 

10 available under this title in a major disaster, the President 

11 may— 

12 ‘‘(1) establish a coordinating office and appoint 

13 a disaster recovery director— 

14 ‘‘(A) to work with and coordinate efforts 

15 with the Federal coordinating officer appointed 

16 under section 302; 

17 ‘‘(B) to oversee and coordinate the timely 

18 distribution of Federal assistance to persons in19 jured in such disaster; 

20 ‘‘(C) to develop methods to expedite claims 

21 for relief and assistance by individuals and 

22 businesses; 

23 ‘‘(D) coordinate long-term recovery efforts 

24 with State and local authorities; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) work with Federal agencies to de2 velop more effective methods to assist affected 

3 parties; 

4 ‘‘(2) require that if an office described in para5 graph (1) is established, the disaster recovery direc6 tor— 

7 ‘‘(A) shall consult with local officials in de8 veloping a recovery plan; and 

9 ‘‘(B) may appoint an independent claims 

10 manager to assist in providing assistance; 

11 ‘‘(3) in any case in which a Federal official 

12 issues a high security alert after a homeland security 

13 event, provide technical assistance and reimburse14 ment to State and local governments in the disaster 

15 area for expenses incurred related to such alert, in16 cluding overtime for law enforcement officers for a 

17 period of time that the President determines is nec18 essary; 

19 ‘‘(4) provide grants to a local government which 

20 may suffer a substantial loss of tax and other reve21 nues; 

22 ‘‘(5) authorize reimbursement to a school sys23 tem for— 

24 ‘‘(A) providing additional classroom in25 struction time and related activities to students 


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1 who lost instructional time as a result of the 

2 homeland security event; 

3 ‘‘(B) providing mental health and trauma 

4 counseling and other appropriate support serv5 ices to students suffering from trauma-related 

6 disorders resulting from the homeland security 

7 event; 

8 ‘‘(C) providing guidance and grief coun9 seling and mental health services, including 

10 overtime payment for counselors and mental 

11 health professionals, for students and school 

12 staff; 

13 ‘‘(D) clean up and structural inspections 

14 and repairs of school facilities; 

15 ‘‘(E) textbooks and other school supplies 

16 and equipment used to support the relocation of 

17 students from schools in the disaster area; 

18 ‘‘(F) the cost of relocating students, in19 cluding transportation of students to temporary 

20 school facilities; and 

21 ‘‘(G) loss of perishable food stock and rev22 enue lost from food services; and 

23 ‘‘(6) provide grants, equipment, supplies, and 

24 personnel, to any non-profit medical facility that 

25 has— 


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1 ‘‘(A) lost equipment or revenue due to a 

2 major disaster; 

3 ‘‘(B) incurred additional costs for security 

4 enhancements in anticipation of a homeland se5 curity event; 

6 ‘‘(C) purchased emergency supplies, medi7 cine, or equipment, or contracted with medical 

8 specialists, in order to respond to casualties ex9 pected to be treated as a result of a major dis10 aster; or 

11 ‘‘(D) complied with Federal and State re12 quirements concerning maintenance of health 

13 service treatment procedures (such as dialysis 

14 facilities) that may not be used as a result of 

15 a major disaster; and 

16 ‘‘(7) authorize and direct the Administrator of 

17 the Environmental Protection Agency to perform all 

18 testing of indoor air quality deemed necessary by the 

19 Administrator and to undertake such remedial ac20 tions as may be necessary, in the discretion of the 

21 Administrator, to protect human health and safety 

22 from the contamination of indoor air quality fol23 lowing any such event.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. CRITICAL SERVICES. 

2 Section 406(a)(3)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis3 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 5172(a)(3)(B)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘emergency’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting before the period the following: 

7 ‘‘, education systems, providers of counseling assist8 ance, and providers of assistance to the homeless’’. 

9 SEC. 7. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS AND 

10 HOUSEHOLDS. 

11 Section 408(a)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

12 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 5174(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘direct’’ each place 

14 it appears. 

15 SEC. 8. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS. 

16 (a) AMOUNT.—Section 417(b) of the Robert T. Staf17 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 5184(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘, and shall not 

19 exceed $5,000,000’’. 

20 (b) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT21 TACKS.—Section 417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) INTEREST FORGIVENESS IN CERTAIN CASES.— 

24 The President shall not require the payment of any inter25 est on a loan made under this section to a local governVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:58 Feb 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1131.IH H1131

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1 ment which may suffer a substantial loss of tax and other 

2 revenues as a result of a homeland security event.’’. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

4 section shall apply with respect to any major disaster oc5 curring on or after October 30, 2000. 

6 SEC. 9. STANDARDS AND REPORTING. 

7 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg8 et shall— 

9 (1) establish standards for reporting informa10 tion regarding disaster efforts made by each agency 

11 that assists in providing relief in a disaster that the 

12 President has determined constitutes a homeland se13 curity event under section 425 of the Robert T. 

14 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); 

16 (2) collect data from each such agency regard17 ing the efforts of such agency for each major dis18 aster described in paragraph (1) not less than once 

19 each year; and 

20 (3) report such data to the appropriate commit21 tees of Congress annually. 

22 SEC. 10. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION TO REVIEW 

23 AIR QUALITY. 

24 The President shall appoint a special commission to 

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1 ronmental Protection Agency following a major disaster 

2 that the President determines constitutes a homeland se3 curity event under title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Dis4 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 5170 and following), particularly a terrorist attack using 

6 chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. The Commission 

7 shall examine the agency’s authorities to— 

8 (1) monitor the environment; 

9 (2) evaluate health risks associated with air pol10 lutants that may be released into the environment as 

11 result of such a disaster; and 

12 (3) communicate with affected communities and 

13 first responders. 

14 The Commission shall submit a report to the President 

15 and to the Congress containing the results of such study 

16 and including any recommendations of the special commis17 sion regarding the clarification and recommendation of 

18 Environmental Protection Agency authorities in such situ19 ations. 

20 SEC. 11. ACUTELY AND SUB-ACUTELY TOXIC CHEMICAL, BI21 OLOGICAL, AND RADIOACTIVE EXPOSURE 

22 GUIDELINES. 

23 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

24 Agency shall promulgate guidelines regarding the health 

25 risks of short-, medium-, or long-term exposure to acutely 


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1 or sub-actuely toxic chemical, biological, and radioactive 

2 materials that may be released into the environment as 

3 a consequence of a major disaster that the President de4 termines constitutes a homeland security event under title 

5 IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer6 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and following). The 

7 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven8 tion shall provide the Administrator with such information 

9 and analysis as may be necessary for the Administrator 

10 to promulgate guidelines under this section in the case of 

11 biological materials. 

12 SEC. 12. AUTHORITIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING 

13 AND ANALYSIS. 

14 In order to provide for standardized and rapid data 

15 collection and analysis and communication regarding envi16 ronmental risks following any major disaster that the 

17 President determines constitutes a homeland security 

18 event under title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

19 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 

20 and following), the President shall designate the Adminis21 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Di22 rector of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

23 (in the case of a release of biological agents) to coordinate 

24 all data collection and monitoring and dissemination of 

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1 nants (including biological agents) into the environment 

2 by reason of any such disaster. 

3 SEC. 13. DATA COLLECTION DURING PUBLIC HEALTH 

4 EMERGENCIES; RESEARCH ON ASSISTING 

5 VICTIMS; ADVANCED PREPARATION. 

6 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec8 tion 319M the following section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 319N. DATA COLLECTION DURING PUBLIC HEALTH 

10 EMERGENCIES; RESEARCH ON ASSISTING 

11 VICTIMS; ADVANCED PREPARATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make awards 

13 of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to public 

14 and nonprofit private entities for the purpose of collecting 

15 public health data during and in the aftermath of public 

16 health emergencies, and conducting research with respect 

17 to such data, in order to develop medical therapies and 

18 other public health strategies for assisting victims of such 

19 emergencies in recovering from the emergencies. 

20 ‘‘(b) ADVANCE PREPARATION FOR EMERGENCY

21 EVENTS.—The Secretary shall provide for the approval of 

22 applications for awards under subsection (a) in advance 

23 of public health emergencies in order that, upon the occur24 rence of such an emergency, the Secretary can promptly 

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1 ents of the awards can promptly begin carrying out the 

2 purpose described in subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

4 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

5 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 

6 each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2013, in addition 

7 to other authorizations of appropriations that are available 

8 for such purpose. Amounts appropriated under the pre9 ceding sentence shall remain available until expended.’’. 

10 SEC. 14. DISASTER RELIEF GRANTS FOR LOCAL EDU11 CATIONAL AGENCIES. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Education 

13 may make grants for disaster relief to local educational 

14 agencies located in any area for which the President has 

15 declared a major disaster pursuant to the Robert T. Staf16 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

18 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 

19 a grant under this section unless the applicant involved 

20 agrees to use the grant as reimbursement or payment for 

21 expenses resulting from a major disaster described in sub22 section (a) that occurred after September 10, 2001. Such 

23 expenses may include any of the following: 


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1 (1) Additional classroom instruction time and 

2 related activities for students who lost instructional 

3 time as a result of the disaster. 

4 (2) Mental health and trauma counseling and 

5 other appropriate support services to students suf6 fering from long-term or short-term trauma-related 

7 disorders resulting from the disaster. 

8 (3) Guidance and grief counseling and mental 

9 health services, including overtime payment for 

10 counselors and mental health professionals, for stu11 dents and school staff. 

12 (4) Textbooks and other school supplies and 

13 equipment damaged or destroyed as a result of the 

14 disaster, or used to support the relocation of stu15 dents from schools in the disaster area. 

16 (5) Relocating students, including transpor17 tation of students to temporary school facilities. 

18 (6) Loss of perishable food stock and revenue 

19 lost from food services. 

20 (7) Renting or leasing alternate temporary fa21 cilities or transportation. 

22 (c) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec23 tion, a local educational agency shall submit an application 

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1 taining such information as the Secretary reasonably re2 quires. 

3 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

4 shall be construed as prohibiting or exempting the Federal 

5 Emergency Management Agency from its obligation to 

6 provide assistance to local educational agencies in connec7 tion with a major disaster, including debris removal and 

8 cleanup, and restoration of facilities to their predisaster 

9 condition. 

10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has 

12 the meaning given to that term in section 9101 of 

13 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

16 of Education. 

Æ 


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