I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 855 

To minimize the economic and social costs resulting from losses of life, 

property, well-being, business activity, and economic growth associated 

with extreme weather events by ensuring that the United States is 

more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather events in the shortand long-term, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 

STEFANIK, and Mr. QUIGLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To minimize the economic and social costs resulting from 

losses of life, property, well-being, business activity, and 

economic growth associated with extreme weather events 

by ensuring that the United States is more resilient 

to the impacts of extreme weather events in the shortand long-term, 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 ‘‘Strengthening The Re3 siliency of Our Nation on the Ground Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘STRONG Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Extreme weather has serious economic costs 

9 for Americans, American businesses, and State and 

10 local governments. Hurricanes, droughts, floods, tor11 nadoes, extreme heat, and extreme cold cause death, 

12 result in loss of property and well-being, especially 

13 among the most vulnerable populations, and nega14 tively impact business activity and economic growth. 

15 (2) In the past 10 years, there have been more 

16 than 109 weather-related disasters in the United 

17 States, generating $715.8 billion in total losses. 

18 (3) According to NOAA, in 2018 there were 11 

19 weather and climate disaster events that each caused 

20 $1 billion in damage across the United States. 

21 (4) These events and natural disaster trends, 

22 when combined with the volatility of weather, ongo23 ing demographic changes, and development in high 

24 risk areas, indicate that the negative impacts of ex25 treme weather events and natural disasters have the 

26 potential to increase over time. The fact that a sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855

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1 nificant number of people and assets continue to be 

2 located in areas prone to volatile and extreme weath3 er indicates that these events will continue to be ex4 pensive and deadly if the United States fails to en5 hance its resiliency to such events. Recent studies 

6 show that the intensity and frequency of some types 

7 of, but not all, extreme weather events will likely in8 crease in the future. 

9 (5) Economic savings can be achieved by con10 sidering the impacts of extreme weather over the 

11 short- and long-term in the planning process. For 

12 example, a 2017 review of the Federal Emergency 

13 Management Agency’s hazard mitigation programs, 

14 conducted by the National Institute of Building 

15 Sciences’ Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council, found 

16 that on average, society saves $6 for every $1 spent 

17 on mitigation projects, such as elevating floodprone 

18 buildings, improving stormwater management sys19 tems, following practices to reduce fire hazards, and 

20 building earthquake-resistant structures. 

21 (6) There are several efforts currently under22 way at the Federal, regional, tribal, State, and local 

23 levels that have helped lay the foundation for a fed24 erally coordinated effort to increase the Nation’s re25 siliency to extreme weather events, such as the HurVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855

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1 ricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, the Presi2 dential Policy Directive on National Preparedness 

3 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘PPD–8’’), the National 

4 Preparedness System, the whole community ap5 proach led by the Department of Homeland Secu6 rity, and the Silver Jackets Program by the Army 

7 Corps of Engineers. Other recent reports on this 

8 subject include the National Academies of Sciences’ 

9 reports ‘‘Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative’’ 

10 and ‘‘Building Community Disaster Resilience 

11 through Public-Private Collaboration’’. 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to mini13 mize the economic and social costs and future losses of 

14 life, property, well-being, business activity, and economic 

15 growth by making the United States more resilient to the 

16 impacts of extreme weather events over the short- and 

17 long-term, thereby creating business and job growth op18 portunities by— 

19 (1) ensuring that the Federal Government is 

20 optimizing its use of existing resources and funding 

21 to support State and local officials, businesses, tribal 

22 nations, and the public to become more resilient, in23 cluding— 

24 (A) encouraging the consideration of, and 

25 ways to incorporate, extreme weather resilience 


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1 across Federal operations, programs, policies, 

2 and initiatives; 

3 (B) promoting improved coordination of 

4 existing and planned Federal extreme weather 

5 resilience and adaptation efforts that impact ex6 treme weather resilience and ensuring their co7 ordination with, and support of, State, local, re8 gional, and tribal efforts; 

9 (C) minimizing Federal policies that may 

10 unintentionally hinder or reduce resilience, such 

11 as damaging wetlands or other critical green in12 frastructure, or lead Federal agencies to oper13 ate at cross-purposes in achieving extreme 

14 weather resilience; and 

15 (D) building upon existing related efforts, 

16 such as the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task 

17 Force, the PPD–8, the National Preparedness 

18 System, and the whole community approach; 

19 (2) communicating the latest understanding 

20 and likely short- and long-term human and economic 

21 impacts and risks of extreme weather to businesses 

22 and the public; 

23 (3) supporting decisionmaking that improves 

24 resilience by providing forecasts and projections, 


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1 data decision-support tools, and other information 

2 and mechanisms; and 

3 (4) establishing a consistent vision and strategic 

4 plan for extreme weather resilience across the Fed5 eral Government. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

10 Policy. 

11 (2) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 

12 weather’’ includes severe and unseasonable weather, 

13 heavy precipitation, hurricanes, storm surges, torna14 does, other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 

15 heat, extreme cold, and other qualifying weather 

16 events as determined by the interagency group es17 tablished under section 4(a)(1). 

18 (3) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ means 

19 the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover 

20 from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events 

21 in a timely manner. 

22 SEC. 4. EXTREME WEATHER RESILIENCE GAP AND OVER23 LAP ANALYSIS. 

24 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director, with 

2 input from the Department of Homeland Secu3 rity, shall establish and chair an interagency 

4 working group with Cabinet-level representation 

5 from all relevant Federal agencies. 

6 (B) DUTIES.—The working group shall— 

7 (i) come together to provide a stra8 tegic vision of extreme weather resilience; 

9 (ii) conduct a gap and overlap anal10 ysis of Federal agencies’ current and 

11 planned activities related to achieving 

12 short- and long-term resilience to extreme 

13 weather and its impacts on the Nation, 

14 such as storm surge, flooding, drought, 

15 and wildfires; and 

16 (iii) develop a National Extreme 

17 Weather Resilience Plan in accordance 

18 with section 5(a). 

19 (2) ADDITIONAL REPRESENTATION FROM EXEC20 UTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.—The inter21 agency working group established under paragraph 

22 (1) shall include representatives of the relevant of23 fices and councils within the Executive Office of the 

24 President, including— 

25 (A) the Office of Management and Budget; 


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1 (B) the National Security Staff; 

2 (C) the Council of Economic Advisors; 

3 (D) the Council on Environmental Quality; 

4 and 

5 (E) the Domestic Policy Council. 

6 (3) CONSULTATION WITH TRIBAL, STATE, AND

7 LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal inter9 agency working group established under para10 graph (1) shall work closely with an advisory 

11 group to take into account the needs of State 

12 and local entities across all regions of the 

13 United States. The advisory group shall consist 

14 of— 

15 (i) 1 representative from the National 

16 Emergency Management Association; 

17 (ii) 7 representatives from States and 

18 State associations; and 

19 (iii) 8 representatives from local enti20 ties and associations, including representa21 tion from a tribal nation and at least 1 

22 major metropolitan area. 

23 (B) KEY SECTORS.—The representatives 

24 described in subparagraph (A) shall, in the agVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855

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1 gregate, represent all of the key sectors set 

2 forth in subsection (b)(1). 

3 (C) MEETINGS.—The Director shall meet 

4 with the representatives described in subpara5 graph (A) not fewer than 9 times during the 

6 development of— 

7 (i) the gap and overlap analysis under 

8 this section; and 

9 (ii) the National Extreme Weather 

10 Resilience Action Plan under section 5. 

11 (4) COOPERATION BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In 

12 carrying out the activities described in subsection 

13 (b), Federal agency representatives participating in 

14 the working group shall be forthright and shall fully 

15 cooperate with the Office of Science and Technology 

16 Policy. 

17 (5) DETAILEES.—Upon the request of the Di18 rector, each agency or entity referred to in para19 graph (1) shall provide the working group with a 

20 detailee, without reimbursement from the working 

21 group, to support the activities described in sub22 section (b), section 5, and section 7(a). Such detailee 

23 shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his 

24 or her regular employment without interruption. 


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1 (6) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding 

2 section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the 

3 working group may investigate and use such vol4 untary services as the working group determines to 

5 be necessary. 

6 (b) GAP AND OVERLAP ANALYSIS.—In conducting 

7 the gap and overlap analysis required under subsection 

8 (a)(1), Federal agency representatives shall— 

9 (1) develop a Federal Government-wide working 

10 vision for resilience to the impacts of extreme weath11 er events in the short- and long-term, in accordance 

12 with the purpose set forth in section 2(b), through 

13 an effort led by the Director and the interagency 

14 working group, which includes goals and objectives 

15 for key sectors. Key sectors shall include— 

16 (A) agriculture; 

17 (B) forestry and natural resources man18 agement; 

19 (C) water management, including supply 

20 and treatment; 

21 (D) energy supply and transmission; 

22 (E) infrastructure, including natural and 

23 built forms of water and wastewater, transpor24 tation, coastal infrastructure, and other land25 scapes and ecosystems services; 


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1 (F) public health and healthcare delivery, 

2 including mental health and hazardous mate3 rials management; 

4 (G) communications, including wireless 

5 communications; 

6 (H) housing and other buildings; 

7 (I) national security; 

8 (J) emergency preparedness; 

9 (K) insurance; and 

10 (L) other sectors that the Director con11 siders appropriate; 

12 (2) consider and identify the interdependencies 

13 among the key sectors when developing the vision re14 ferred to in paragraph (1); 

15 (3) create summaries of the existing and 

16 planned efforts and programmatic work underway or 

17 relevant to supporting State and local stakeholders 

18 in achieving greater extreme weather resilience in 

19 the short- and long-term for each sector identified 

20 under paragraph (1) and across the sectors, specifi21 cally including summaries of— 

22 (A) individual Federal agency programs, 

23 policies, regulations, and initiatives, and re24 search and data collection and dissemination ef25 forts; 


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1 (B) areas of collaboration and coordination 

2 across Federal agencies; and 

3 (C) areas of coordination with State and 

4 local agencies, private entities, and regional co5 operation; 

6 (4) identify specific Federal programs, statutes, 

7 regulations, policies, and initiatives which may unin8 tentionally hinder resilience efforts, including an 

9 analysis of disincentives, barriers, and incompatible 

10 programs, policies, or initiatives across agencies and 

11 sectors; 

12 (5) examine how the severity and frequency of 

13 extreme weather events at the local and regional 

14 level may change in the future and communicate 

15 these potential risks to stakeholders; 

16 (6) work together to identify and evaluate exist17 ing Federal tools and data to describe, analyze, fore18 cast, and model the potential impacts identified 

19 under paragraph (5) and develop recommendations 

20 to strengthen their ability to provide reliable and ac21 curate forecasts at the national, regional, State, and 

22 local levels; 

23 (7) identify gaps and overlaps in Federal agen24 cy work, resources, and authorities that impair the 

25 ability of the United States to meet the vision for 


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1 short- and long-term extreme weather resilience, by 

2 comparing the goals and objectives identified for 

3 each sector and across sectors with the summaries 

4 identified in paragraph (3), specifically identifying 

5 gaps relating to— 

6 (A) individual Federal agency programs, 

7 policies, and initiatives, and research data col8 lection and dissemination efforts; 

9 (B) areas of collaboration and coordination 

10 across Federal agencies; and 

11 (C) areas of coordination with State and 

12 local agencies and private entities, and regional 

13 cooperation; 

14 (8) determine potential measures to address the 

15 issues referred to in paragraph (4) and to address 

16 the gaps and overlaps referred to in paragraph (7) 

17 by— 

18 (A) designating individual or multiple Fed19 eral agencies to address these gaps; 

20 (B) building upon existing delivery mecha21 nisms; 

22 (C) evaluating options for programs, poli23 cies, and initiatives that may particularly ben24 efit extreme weather resilience efforts, including 

25 the role of ecosystem-based approaches; 


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1 (D) recommending modifications to exist2 ing Federal agency programs, statutes, regula3 tions, policies, and initiatives to better support 

4 extreme weather resiliency; 

5 (E) requesting new authorities and re6 source requirements, if needed; and 

7 (F) identifying existing Federal Govern8 ment processes that can be built upon to ad9 dress the purpose of this Act; and 

10 (9) establish, with the assistance of the General 

11 Services Administration or such other Federal agen12 cy as the Director may designate, a Federal advisory 

13 working group to provide ongoing collective input to 

14 the process. 

15 (c) WORKING GROUP.—The Federal advisory work16 ing group established pursuant to subsection (b)(9) shall 

17 consist of relevant private sector, academic, State and 

18 local government, tribal nation, regional organization, vul19 nerable population, and nongovernmental representatives, 

20 with representation from each sector described in para21 graph (1). The Director may designate an existing Federal 

22 advisory committee under which the working group would 

23 operate independently, with the same rights and privileges 

24 held by members of the advisory committee. The members 

25 of the working group established pursuant to subsection 


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1 (b)(9) may not simultaneously serve as members of the 

2 advisory committee designated pursuant to this sub3 section. The activities of the working group should com4 plement and not duplicate the stakeholder process con5 ducted under PPD–8. 

6 SEC. 5. NATIONAL EXTREME WEATHER RESILIENCE AC7 TION PLAN. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Based on the results of the gap 

9 and overlap analysis conducted under section 4, the Direc10 tor, working with the interagency working group estab11 lished under such section, and considering the efforts de12 scribed in section 2(a)(9), shall develop a National Ex13 treme Weather Resilience Action Plan (referred to in this 

14 section as the ‘‘Plan’’)— 

15 (1) to build upon existing Federal Government 

16 processes referred to in section 4(b)(8)(F)— 

17 (A) to address the results of the gap and 

18 overlap analysis under section 4; and 

19 (B) to incorporate the activities required 

20 under subsection (c); 

21 (2) to best utilize existing resources and pro22 grams through improved interagency coordination 

23 and collaboration; 


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1 (3) to improve Federal coordination with exist2 ing regional entities, State and local governments, 

3 networks, and private stakeholders; 

4 (4) to make data and tools accessible and un5 derstandable and to help facilitate information ex6 change for tribal, State, and local officials, busi7 nesses, and other stakeholders in a manner that ad8 dresses the needs expressed by these stakeholders; 

9 (5) to facilitate public-private partnerships; 

10 (6) to improve Federal agencies’ economic ana11 lytical capacity to assess— 

12 (A) the likelihood and potential costs of ex13 treme weather impacts by region and nation14 ally; and 

15 (B) the relative benefits of potential resil16 ience measures to multiple stakeholders; 

17 (7) to provide tools to stakeholders— 

18 (A) to conduct analyses similar to those 

19 described in paragraph (6); and 

20 (B) to support decisionmaking; 

21 (8) to support resiliency plans developed by 

22 State and local governments, regional entities, and 

23 tribal nations, to the extent possible; and 

24 (9) to request further resources, if necessary, to 

25 fill in gaps to enable national resilience to extreme 


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1 weather, including resilience of tribal nations, and 

2 particularly vulnerable populations, and the use of 

3 green infrastructure and ecosystem-based solutions. 

4 (b) COOPERATION.—Any Federal agency representa5 tive contacted by the Director, in the course of developing 

6 the Plan, shall be forthright and shall fully cooperate with 

7 the Office of Science and Technology Policy, as requested. 

8 (c) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.— 

9 (1) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Plan shall include 

10 specific Federal agency and interagency responsibil11 ities, identify potential new authorities, if necessary, 

12 and employ risk analysis— 

13 (A) to address the gaps identified through 

14 the gap and overlap analysis; and 

15 (B) to improve Federal interagency coordi16 nation and Federal coordination with State, re17 gional, local, and tribal partners. 

18 (2) AVAILABLE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.— 

19 (A) IDENTIFICATION.—The Director shall 

20 identify— 

21 (i) existing Federal grant programs 

22 and other funding opportunities available 

23 to support State and local government ex24 treme weather resiliency planning efforts; 

25 or 


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1 (ii) projects to advance extreme 

2 weather resiliency. 

3 (B) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall 

4 publish the information described in subpara5 graph (A) in the information portal identified in 

6 paragraph (3). 

7 (C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each partici8 pating agency shall— 

9 (i) consider incorporating criteria or 

10 guidance into existing relevant Federal 

11 grant and other funding opportunities to 

12 better support State and local efforts to 

13 improve extreme weather resiliency; and 

14 (ii) evaluate and modify existing Fed15 eral funding opportunities, as appropriate, 

16 to maximize the return on investment for 

17 pre-disaster mitigation activities. 

18 (3) INFORMATION PORTAL.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Plan shall— 

20 (i) include the establishment of an on21 line, publicly available information portal 

22 for use by Federal agencies, their partners, 

23 and stakeholders, that directs users to key 

24 data and tools to inform resilience-enhanc25 ing efforts; and 


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1 (ii) build off and be complementary to 

2 existing Federal efforts, including 

3 data.gov. 

4 (B) MAINTENANCE.—The coordinating en5 tity identified under paragraph (4) shall be re6 sponsible for establishing and maintaining the 

7 information portal. 

8 (C) INFORMATION SUPPLIED.—Informa9 tion shall be supplied as requested by Federal 

10 agencies, their partners, academia, and private 

11 stakeholders, in coordination with regional, 

12 State, local, and tribal agencies. 

13 (D) CONTENTS.—The information portal 

14 established under this paragraph shall direct 

15 users to coordinated and systematic information 

16 on— 

17 (i) best or model practices; 

18 (ii) data; 

19 (iii) case studies; 

20 (iv) indicators; 

21 (v) scientific reports; 

22 (vi) resilience and vulnerability assess23 ments; 

24 (vii) guidance documents and design 

25 standards; 


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1 (viii) incentives; 

2 (ix) education and communication ini3 tiatives; 

4 (x) decision support tools, including 

5 risk management, short- and long-term 

6 economic analysis, and predictive models; 

7 (xi) planning tools; 

8 (xii) public and private sources of as9 sistance; and 

10 (xiii) such other information as the 

11 coordinating entity considers appropriate. 

12 (4) COORDINATING ENTITY.—The Plan shall 

13 include the identification of a Federal agency, inter14 agency council, office, or program, which partici15 pated in the gap and overlap analysis and Plan de16 velopment. Such entity shall— 

17 (A) coordinate the implementation of the 

18 Plan; 

19 (B) track the progress of such implementa20 tion; and 

21 (C) transfer responsibilities to another 

22 Federal agency, interagency council, office, or 

23 program to serve as the coordinating entity if 

24 the entities participating in the working group 


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1 agree that circumstances necessitate such a 

2 change. 

3 (5) RESILIENCY OFFICER.—Each Federal agen4 cy that assists with the gap and overlap analysis re5 quired under section 4 shall designate, from among 

6 the agency’s senior management, a Senior Resiliency 

7 Officer, who shall— 

8 (A) facilitate the implementation of the 

9 agency’s responsibilities under paragraph (1); 

10 (B) monitor the agency’s progress and per11 formance in implementing its responsibilities 

12 under paragraph (1); 

13 (C) report the agency’s progress and per14 formance to the head of the agency and the co15 ordinating entity identified under paragraph 

16 (4); and 

17 (D) serve as the agency lead in ongoing co18 ordination efforts within the Federal agency 

19 and between the coordinating entity, other Fed20 eral agencies, public and private partners, and 

21 stakeholders. 

22 (d) PUBLICATION.— 

23 (1) DRAFT PLAN.—Not later than 420 days 

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1 rector shall publish a draft of the Plan developed 

2 under this section in the Federal Register. 

3 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—During the 

4 60-day period beginning on the date on which the 

5 draft Plan is published under paragraph (1), the Di6 rector shall— 

7 (A) solicit comment from the public; and 

8 (B) conduct a briefing for Congress to ex9 plain the provisions contained in the draft Plan. 

10 (3) FINAL PLAN.—Not later than 120 days 

11 after the end of the public comment period described 

12 in paragraph (2), the Director shall publish the final 

13 Plan in the Federal Register. 

14 (e) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 630 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

16 shall begin implementing the final Plan published under 

17 subsection (d)(3). 

18 (f) FINANCING.—To the extent possible— 

19 (1) Federal funding should be used to leverage 

20 private sector financing for resilience building activi21 ties, consistent with the implementation of the Plan, 

22 through public-private partnerships; and 

23 (2) Federal grant and loan programs of the 

24 Federal agencies participating in the interagency 

25 working group for this effort shall consider extreme 


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1 weather resilience as a key factor when awarding 

2 funding, including the projected extreme weather 

3 risk to a project over the course of its expected life. 

4 (g) TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.—The Plan may not place new unfunded require6 ments on State or local governments. 

7 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF OTHER ACTIVITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal agencies are authorized 

9 to develop tools and disseminate information to improve 

10 extreme weather resilience in the key sectors set forth in 

11 section 4(b)(1). 

12 (b) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POL13 ICY.—In conducting the gap and overlap analysis under 

14 section 4 and developing the National Extreme Weather 

15 Resilience Action Plan under section 5, the Director may 

16 carry out additional activities in support of the purpose 

17 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

19 (a) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE20 PORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall submit a report to Congress that— 

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1 sponse, and recovery that impede improving short2 and long-term extreme weather resilience; and 

3 (2) make recommendations for how the pro4 grams or policies could be structured differently to 

5 better support short- and long-term resilience after 

6 an extreme weather event. 

7 (b) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

9 submit a report to Congress that contains— 

10 (1) the results of the gap and overlap analysis; 

11 (2) the final National Extreme Weather Resil12 ience Action Plan; 

13 (3) an update on the implementation of the 

14 plan; and 

15 (4) available resources for the sustained imple16 mentation of the plan. 

17 (c) TRIENNIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years 

18 after the submission of the report under subsection (a), 

19 and every 3 years thereafter, the coordinating entity iden20 tified under section 5(c)(4), in cooperation with the inter21 agency working group established under section 4(a), shall 

22 submit a report to Congress that— 

23 (1) contains an update of the National Extreme 

24 Weather Resilience Action Plan; 


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1 (2) describes the progress of the plan’s imple2 mentation; 

3 (3) improves upon the original analysis as more 

4 information and understanding about extreme 

5 weather events becomes available; 

6 (4) establishes criteria for prioritization of ac7 tivities described in the plan; 

8 (5) reconsiders and makes changes to the plan 

9 based on the availability of new information de10 scribed in paragraph (3); and 

11 (6) identifies cost-effective changes to laws, 

12 policies, or regulations that could advance the pur13 pose of this Act. 

14 (d) FEMA REPORTS ON FUNDING.— 

15 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

16 (A) The Federal Emergency Management 

17 Agency grant programs are a key vehicle that 

18 exists to fund activities related to resiliency 

19 planning and projects. 

20 (B) In order to ensure that the United 

21 States becomes more resilient to extreme weath22 er, it is important to ensure that sufficient re23 sources are available to support resiliency ac24 tivities. 


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1 (2) REPORTS.—At the end of each fiscal year, 

2 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man3 agement Agency (in this paragraph referred to as 

4 ‘‘FEMA’’) shall submit a report to Congress that— 

5 (A) identifies the amounts that were made 

6 available to FEMA during such fiscal year for 

7 State and local entities to use for activities that 

8 support the purposes of this Act; 

9 (B) identifies the amounts disbursed by 

10 FEMA to State and local entities during such 

11 fiscal year for such activities; 

12 (C) describes the resources requested by 

13 State and local entities for activities that sup14 port the purposes of this Act; and 

15 (D) identifies the difference between the 

16 amounts disbursed by FEMA and the amounts 

17 requested from FEMA by State and local enti18 ties. 

19 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 (a) AMOUNTS FOR ANALYSIS, PLAN DEVELOPMENT

21 AND IMPLEMENTATION, AND REPORTS.—There are au22 thorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec23 essary for fiscal years 2020 through 2022— 

24 (1) to conduct the gap and overlap analysis re25 quired under section 4; 


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27 

•HR 855 IH

1 (2) to conduct the activities required under sec2 tion 5, including the creation and maintenance of 

3 the information portal; and 

4 (3) to prepare the reports to Congress required 

5 under subsections (b) and (c) of section 7. 

6 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro7 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available 

8 for the purposes set forth in such subsection through De9 cember 31, 2022. 

Æ 


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