I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1860 

To ensure fairness in the recoupment of certain Federal disaster assistance, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To ensure fairness in the recoupment of certain Federal 

disaster assistance, 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 ‘‘Disaster Assistance 

5 Recoupment Fairness Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF CERTAIN DEBTS. 

7 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding section 

8 3716(e) of title 31, United States Code, the Administrator 

9 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may waive 


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1 a debt owed to the United States related to covered assist2 ance provided to an individual or household if— 

3 (1) the covered assistance was distributed based 

4 on an error by the Federal Emergency Management 

5 Agency; 

6 (2) there was no fault on behalf of the debtor, 

7 including that there was no fraud, presentation of a 

8 false claim, or misrepresentation by the debtor or 

9 any party having an interest in the applicable claim; 

10 and 

11 (3) the collection of the debt would be against 

12 equity and good conscience. 

13 (b) MONITORING OF COVERED ASSISTANCE DISTRIB14 UTED BASED ON ERROR.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of 

16 the Department of Homeland Security shall monitor, 

17 on an ongoing basis, the distribution of covered as18 sistance to determine the percentage of such assist19 ance that is distributed based on an error by the 

20 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

21 (2) REMOVAL OF WAIVER AUTHORITY DUE TO

22 EXCESSIVE ERROR RATE.—If the Inspector General 

23 determines, with respect to any 12-month period, 

24 that the percentage of covered assistance that is dis25 tributed based on an error by the Federal EmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1860.IH H1860

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1 gency Management Agency exceeds 4 percent of the 

2 total amount of covered assistance distributed— 

3 (A) the Inspector General shall— 

4 (i) notify the Administrator of the 

5 Federal Emergency Management Agency 

6 of the determination; and 

7 (ii) publish the determination in the 

8 Federal Register; and 

9 (B) with respect to debts owed in relation 

10 to covered assistance provided for a major dis11 aster or emergency declared after the date on 

12 which the determination is published under sub13 paragraph (A)(ii), the waiver authority under 

14 subsection (a) of this section shall not apply. 

15 (c) COVERED ASSISTANCE DEFINED.—In this sec16 tion, the term ‘‘covered assistance’’ means assistance pro17 vided— 

18 (1) under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford 

19 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 5174); and 

21 (2) in relation to a major disaster or emergency 

22 declared by the President under such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 5121 et seq.) on or after October 30, 2012. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON RECOVERY. 

2 Notwithstanding section 3716(e) of title 31, United 

3 States Code, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

4 Management Agency, unless there is evidence of fraud, 

5 shall not initiate any action, in any forum, to recover— 

6 (1) assistance provided to an individual or 

7 household under section 408 of the Robert T. Staf8 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 5174) more than 3 years after the last 

10 date on which the assistance was provided; or 

11 (2) amounts owed by an individual or household 

12 in relation to assistance provided under such section 

13 more than 3 years after the date on which the 

14 amounts were determined to be owed. 

Æ 


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