ID 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2109 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2016 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

AN ACT 

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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S 2109 RFH 

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’’— 

7 (A) means a cost incurred by the Agency 

8 in support of the delivery of disaster assistance 

9 for a major disaster; and 

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

11 grantee or subgrantee; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad13 ministrator of the Agency; 

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

15 Emergency Management Agency; 

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

17 a cost incurred by a grantee or subgrantee of a pro18 gram authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

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

20 5121 et seq.) that can be identified separately and 

21 assigned to a specific project; 

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

23 means the hazard mitigation grant program author24 ized under section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford 

25 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

26 U.S.C. 5170c); 


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

2 means the individual assistance grant program au3 thorized under sections 408, 410, 415, 416, 426, 

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

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

6 5177, 5182, 5183, 5189d, and 5192(a)); 

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

8 disaster declared by the President under section 401 

9 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer10 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

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

12 meaning given the term in section 641 of the Post13 Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 

14 2006 (6 U.S.C. 741); and 

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

16 means the public assistance grant program author17 ized under sections 403(a)(3), 406, 418, 419, 428, 

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

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

20 5170b(a)(3), 5172, 5185, 5186, 5189f, and 

21 5192(a)). 

22 SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COST RE23 DUCTION. 

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

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


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1 (1) develop and implement an integrated plan 

2 to control and reduce administrative costs for major 

3 disasters, which shall include— 

4 (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce 

5 administrative costs; 

6 (B) milestones needed for accomplishing 

7 the reduction of administrative costs; 

8 (C) strategic goals for the average annual 

9 percentage of administrative costs of major dis10 asters for each fiscal year; 

11 (D) the assignment of clear roles and re12 sponsibilities, including the designation of offi13 cials responsible for monitoring and measuring 

14 performance; and 

15 (E) a timetable for implementation; 

16 (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking 

17 the administrative cost data for major disasters by 

18 the public assistance, individual assistance, hazard 

19 mitigation, and mission assignment programs, and if 

20 feasible, track this information; and 

21 (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum docu22 mentation requirements for a direct administrative 

23 cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public 

24 assistance grant program. 


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

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com5 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

6 of Representatives on the plan required to be developed 

7 under subsection (a)(1). 

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

9 plan or the timetable under subsection (a), the Adminis10 trator shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu11 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com12 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

13 of Representatives a report notifying Congress of the 

14 modification, which shall include the details of the modi15 fication. 

16 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

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

18 of each year for 7 years beginning on the date of enact19 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Com20 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

21 of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 

22 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report 

23 on the development and implementation of the integrated 

24 plan required under section 3 for the previous fiscal year. 

25 (b) REPORT UPDATES.— 


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

2 years after the date on which the Administrator sub3 mits a report under subsection (a), the Adminis4 trator shall submit an updated report for the pre5 vious 3-fiscal-year period. 

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

7 years after the date on which the Administrator sub8 mits a report under subsection (a), the Adminis9 trator shall submit an updated report for the pre10 vious 5-fiscal-year period. 

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

12 under subsections (a) and (b) shall contain, at a min13 imum— 

14 (1) the total amount spent on administrative 

15 costs for the fiscal year period for which the report 

16 is being submitted; 

17 (2) the average annual percentage of adminis18 trative costs for the fiscal year period for which the 

19 report is being submitted; 

20 (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

21 plan developed under section 3(a)(1); 

22 (4) an analysis of— 

23 (A) whether the Agency is achieving the 

24 strategic goals established under section 

25 3(a)(1)(C); and 


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

2 such strategic goals, what is preventing the 

3 Agency from doing so; 

4 (5) any actions the Agency has identified as 

5 useful in improving upon and reaching the goals for 

6 administrative costs established under section 

7 3(a)(1)(C); and 

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

9 Agency determines it is feasible to track such data. 

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

11 after the date on which the Administrator submits a re12 port to Congress under this section, the Administrator 

13 shall make the report publicly available on the website of 

14 the Agency. 

Passed the Senate February 9, 2016. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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