II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2109 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to develop an integrated plan to reduce administrative costs under the 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 

Mr. JOHNSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop an integrated plan to reduce 

administrative costs under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 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 ‘‘Directing Dollars to 

5 Disaster Relief Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘administrative cost’’ means a cost 

2 incurred by the Agency in support of the delivery of 

3 disaster assistance for a major disaster; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad5 ministrator of the Agency; 

6 (3) the term ‘‘Agency’’ means the Federal 

7 Emergency Management Agency; 

8 (4) the term ‘‘direct administrative cost’’ means 

9 a cost incurred by a grantee or subgrantee of a pro10 gram authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

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

12 5121 et seq.) that can be identified separately and 

13 assigned to a specific project; 

14 (5) the term ‘‘hazard mitigation program’’ 

15 means the hazard mitigation grant program author16 ized under section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford 

17 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 5170c); 

19 (6) the term ‘‘individual assistance program’’ 

20 means the individual assistance grant program au21 thorized under sections 408, 410, 415, 416, 426, 

22 and 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

23 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174, 

24 5177, 5182, 5183, 5189d, and 5192(a)); 


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1 (7) the term ‘‘major disaster’’ means a major 

2 disaster declared by the President under section 401 

3 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer4 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

5 (8) the term ‘‘mission assignment’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 641 of the Post7 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 

8 2006 (6 U.S.C. 741); and 

9 (9) the term ‘‘public assistance program’’ 

10 means the public assistance grant program author11 ized under sections 403(a)(3), 406, 418, 419, 428, 

12 and 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

13 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 5170b(a)(3), 5172, 5185, 5186, 5189f, and 

15 5192(a)). 

16 SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COST RE17 DUCTION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 365 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— 

20 (1) develop and implement an integrated plan 

21 to control and reduce administrative costs for major 

22 disasters, which shall include— 

23 (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce 

24 administrative costs; 


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1 (B) milestones needed for accomplishing 

2 the reduction of administrative costs; 

3 (C) the assignment of clear roles and re4 sponsibilities, including the designation of offi5 cials responsible for monitoring and measuring 

6 performance; and 

7 (D) a timetable for implementation; 

8 (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking 

9 the administrative cost data for major disasters by 

10 the public assistance, individual assistance, hazard 

11 mitigation, and mission assignment programs, and if 

12 feasible, track this information; and 

13 (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum docu14 mentation requirements for a direct administrative 

15 cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public 

16 assistance grant program. 

17 (b) CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE.—Not later than 90 

18 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis19 trator shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security 

20 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com21 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

22 of Representatives on the plan required to be developed 

23 under subsection (a)(1). 

24 (c) UPDATES.—If the Administrator modifies the 

25 plan or the timetable under subsection (a), the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Oct 02, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2109.IS S2109

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1 trator shall submit to Congress a report notifying Con2 gress of the modification, which shall include the details 

3 of the modification. 

4 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b), of the total amount obligated for major disasters by 

7 the Agency from the Disaster Relief Fund for a fiscal 

8 year, the amount obligated for administrative costs shall 

9 not exceed the milestones set by the Agency in the plan 

10 developed under section 3(a)(1). 

11 (b) WAIVER.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

13 waive a requirement described in subsection (a) if 

14 the Administrator— 

15 (A) has completed an assessment described 

16 in paragraph (3); and 

17 (B) submits to the appropriate committees 

18 of Congress a written explanation as to why the 

19 Agency exceeded the milestones set by the 

20 Agency in the plan developed under section 

21 3(a)(1) for administrative costs of major disas22 ters for the specified fiscal year. 

23 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 

24 days after the date on which the Administrator sub25 mits the written explanation to Congress under 


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1 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall make the ex2 planation publicly available on the website of the 

3 Agency. 

4 (3) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 60 days 

5 after the last day of a fiscal year, the Administrator 

6 shall conduct an assessment of the administrative 

7 costs of major disasters for the fiscal year in order 

8 to determine whether a waiver is needed under this 

9 subsection. 

Æ 


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