II 

Calendar No. 313 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2109 

[Report No. 114–173] 

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 

DECEMBER 7, 2015 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Directing Dollars to 

3 Disaster Relief Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act— 

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

7 incurred by the Agency in support of the delivery of 

8 disaster assistance for a major disaster; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad10 ministrator of the Agency; 

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

12 Emergency Management Agency; 

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

14 a cost incurred by a grantee or subgrantee of a pro15 gram authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

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

17 5121 et seq.) that can be identified separately and 

18 assigned to a specific project; 

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

20 means the hazard mitigation grant program author21 ized under section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford 

22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 5170c); 

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

25 means the individual assistance grant program au26 thorized under sections 408, 410, 415, 416, 426, 


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

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

3 5177, 5182, 5183, 5189d, and 5192(a)); 

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

5 disaster declared by the President under section 401 

6 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer7 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

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

9 meaning given the term in section 641 of the Post10 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 

11 2006 (6 U.S.C. 741); and 

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

13 means the public assistance grant program author14 ized under sections 403(a)(3), 406, 418, 419, 428, 

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

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

17 5170b(a)(3), 5172, 5185, 5186, 5189f, and 

18 5192(a)). 

19 SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COST RE20 DUCTION. 

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

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

23 (1) develop and implement an integrated plan 

24 to control and reduce administrative costs for major 

25 disasters, which shall include— 


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1 (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce 

2 administrative costs; 

3 (B) milestones needed for accomplishing 

4 the reduction of administrative costs; 

5 (C) the assignment of clear roles and re6 sponsibilities, including the designation of offi7 cials responsible for monitoring and measuring 

8 performance; and 

9 (D) a timetable for implementation; 

10 (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking 

11 the administrative cost data for major disasters by 

12 the public assistance, individual assistance, hazard 

13 mitigation, and mission assignment programs, and if 

14 feasible, track this information; and 

15 (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum docu16 mentation requirements for a direct administrative 

17 cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public 

18 assistance grant program. 

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

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis21 trator shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security 

22 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com23 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

24 of Representatives on the plan required to be developed 

25 under subsection (a)(1). 


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

2 plan or the timetable under subsection (a), the Adminis3 trator shall submit to Congress a report notifying Con4 gress of the modification, which shall include the details 

5 of the modification. 

6 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 

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

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

9 the Agency from the Disaster Relief Fund for a fiscal 

10 year, the amount obligated for administrative costs shall 

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

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

13 (b) WAIVER.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

15 waive a requirement described in subsection (a) if 

16 the Administrator— 

17 (A) has completed an assessment described 

18 in paragraph (3); and 

19 (B) submits to the appropriate committees 

20 of Congress a written explanation as to why the 

21 Agency exceeded the milestones set by the 

22 Agency in the plan developed under section 

23 3(a)(1) for administrative costs of major disas24 ters for the specified fiscal year. 


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

2 days after the date on which the Administrator sub3 mits the written explanation to Congress under 

4 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall make the ex5 planation publicly available on the website of the 

6 Agency. 

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

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

9 shall conduct an assessment of the administrative 

10 costs of major disasters for the fiscal year in order 

11 to determine whether a waiver is needed under this 

12 subsection. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Directing Dollars to Dis15 aster Relief Act of 2015’’. 

16 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘administrative cost’’— 

19 (A) means a cost incurred by the Agency in 

20 support of the delivery of disaster assistance for 

21 a major disaster; and 

22 (B) does not include a cost incurred by a 

23 grantee or subgrantee; 

24 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin25 istrator of the Agency; 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘Agency’’ means the Federal Emer2 gency Management Agency; 

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

4 a cost incurred by a grantee or subgrantee of a pro5 gram authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

7 et seq.) that can be identified separately and assigned 

8 to a specific project; 

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

10 means the hazard mitigation grant program author11 ized under section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis12 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 5170c); 

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

15 means the individual assistance grant program au16 thorized under sections 408, 410, 415, 416, 426, and 

17 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

18 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174, 5177, 

19 5182, 5183, 5189d, and 5192(a)); 

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

21 disaster declared by the President under section 401 

22 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer23 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

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

25 meaning given the term in section 641 of the PostVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Dec 07, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2109.RS S2109

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1 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 

2 (6 U.S.C. 741); and 

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

4 the public assistance grant program authorized under 

5 sections 403(a)(3), 406, 418, 419, 428, and 502(a) of 

6 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

7 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b(a)(3), 5172, 5185, 

8 5186, 5189f, and 5192(a)). 

9 SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COST RE10 DUCTION. 

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

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

13 (1) develop and implement an integrated plan to 

14 control and reduce administrative costs for major dis15 asters, which shall include— 

16 (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce ad17 ministrative costs; 

18 (B) milestones needed for accomplishing the 

19 reduction of administrative costs; 

20 (C) strategic goals for the average annual 

21 percentage of administrative costs of major dis22 asters for each fiscal year; 

23 (D) the assignment of clear roles and re24 sponsibilities, including the designation of offiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Dec 07, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2109.RS S2109

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1 cials responsible for monitoring and measuring 

2 performance; and 

3 (E) a timetable for implementation; 

4 (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking the 

5 administrative cost data for major disasters by the 

6 public assistance, individual assistance, hazard miti7 gation, and mission assignment programs, and if fea8 sible, track this information; and 

9 (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum docu10 mentation requirements for a direct administrative 

11 cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public 

12 assistance grant program. 

13 (b) CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE.—Not later than 90 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

15 shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov16 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep18 resentatives on the plan required to be developed under sub19 section (a)(1). 

20 (c) UPDATES.—If the Administrator modifies the plan 

21 or the timetable under subsection (a), the Administrator 

22 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

23 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

24 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Dec 07, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2109.RS S2109

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1 resentatives a report notifying Congress of the modification, 

2 which shall include the details of the modification. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

4 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than November 30 of 

5 each year, the Administrator shall submit to Committee on 

6 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

7 and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

8 of the House of Representatives a report on the development 

9 and implementation of the integrated plan required under 

10 section 3 for the previous fiscal year. 

11 (b) REPORT UPDATES.— 

12 (1) THREE YEAR UPDATE.—Not later than 3 

13 years after the date on which the Administrator sub14 mits a report under subsection (a), the Administrator 

15 shall submit an updated report for the previous 3-fis16 cal-year period. 

17 (2) FIVE YEAR UPDATE.—Not later than 5 years 

18 after the date on which the Administrator submits a 

19 report under subsection (a), the Administrator shall 

20 submit an updated report for the previous 5-fiscal21 year period. 

22 (c) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—Each report required 

23 under subsections (a) and (b) shall contain, at a min24 imum— 


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1 (1) the total amount spent on administrative 

2 costs for the fiscal year period for which the report is 

3 being submitted; 

4 (2) the average annual percentage of administra5 tive costs for the fiscal year period for which the re6 port is being submitted; 

7 (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the plan 

8 developed under section 3(a)(1); 

9 (4) an analysis of— 

10 (A) whether the Agency is achieving the 

11 strategic goals established under section 

12 3(a)(1)(C); and 

13 (B) in the case of the Agency not achieving 

14 such strategic goals, what is preventing the 

15 Agency from doing so; 

16 (5) any actions the Agency has identified as use17 ful in improving upon and reaching the goals for ad18 ministrative costs established under section 

19 3(a)(1)(C); and 

20 (6) any data described in section 3(a)(2), if the 

21 Agency determines it is feasible to track such data. 

22 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 days 

23 after the date on which the Administrator submits a report 

24 to Congress under this section, the Administrator shall 


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1 make the report publicly available on the website of the 

2 Agency. 


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Calendar No. 313 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2109 

[Report No. 114–173] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emerposes. Emergency Assistance Act, and for other pur- the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and grated plan to reduce administrative costs under gency Management Agency to develop an inteDECEMBER 7, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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