I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5177 

To improve disaster mitigation programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2016 

Mr. CURBELO of Florida (for himself and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To improve disaster mitigation programs, 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 ‘‘National Mitigation 

5 Investment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) mitigation planning is the foundation for 

9 saving lives, protecting residential and commercial 


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1 properties, and developing disaster resistant commu2 nities; 

3 (2) recent studies of the performance of build4 ing structures during disasters have demonstrated 

5 that the adoption and active enforcement of State 

6 building codes have greatly reduced residential and 

7 commercial property damage and personal injury re8 sulting from major disasters; 

9 (3) modern building codes govern all aspects of 

10 construction and are designed to ensure that single11 family residential dwellings and commercial struc12 tures are protected from natural disasters; 

13 (4) the people of the United States rely on ac14 tive enforcement of modern building codes for assur15 ance that minimum standards for reducing personal 

16 injuries and property damages have been met in the 

17 buildings they live in, work in, and visit every day; 

18 (5) active enforcement of building codes plays 

19 an increasingly important role in public safety and 

20 loss prevention of residential and commercial prop21 erty; 

22 (6) active enforcement of building codes based 

23 on nationally recognized models reduces the need for 

24 public disaster aid, creates sustainable communities, 

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1 sign professionals, suppliers, and builders, and can 

2 contribute to the durability of residential and com3 mercial structures; 

4 (7) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re5 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

6 et seq.), the Federal Emergency Management Agen7 cy provides Federal assistance to States for mitiga8 tion efforts; 

9 (8) it is beneficial and appropriate to expand 

10 Federal mitigation assistance to encourage States to 

11 take a comprehensive and integrated approach to 

12 disaster loss reduction; and 

13 (9) it is beneficial to the Federal Government 

14 and appropriate that Federal mitigation assistance 

15 be used to encourage the adoption and active en16 forcement of State building codes as a disaster miti17 gation strategy under the auspices of a comprehen18 sive disaster loss reduction plan. 

19 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

20 The purposes of this Act are to— 

21 (1) substantially mitigate the occurrence of loss 

22 to residential and commercial property, reduce and 

23 minimize damage when losses to residential and 

24 commercial property occur, improve the quality and 


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1 value of residential and commercial property, and re2 duce the need for public disaster aid; 

3 (2) provide incentives for the adoption and ac4 tive enforcement of State building codes; 

5 (3) encourage States to continue their key re6 sponsibility to coordinate all State and local activi7 ties relating to hazard evaluation and mitigation, as 

8 specified in section 201.3(c) of title 44, Code of Fed9 eral Regulations, through the adoption and active 

10 enforcement of State building codes; and 

11 (4) encourage States to require that local gov12 ernments use a current version of a nationally appli13 cable model building code that address natural haz14 ards as a basis for design and construction of State15 sponsored mitigation projects described in section 

16 201.5(b)(4)(iv) of title 44, Code of Federal Regula17 tions. 

18 SEC. 4. ENHANCED MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

19 (a) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.—Section 

20 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer21 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara25 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 


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1 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

2 an approved State building code, the President may 

3 increase the maximum total of contributions under 

4 this section for the major disaster, as specified in 

5 subsection (a) and section 322(e), by an amount 

6 equal to 4 percent of the estimated aggregate 

7 amount of grants to be made (less any associated 

8 administrative costs) under this Act with respect to 

9 the major disaster. 

10 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in11 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State 

12 shall submit its State building code to the President 

13 for approval. 

14 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The President shall approve 

15 a State building code submitted under paragraph (2) 

16 if the President determines that the building code— 

17 ‘‘(A) is consistent with the most recent 

18 version of a nationally recognized model build19 ing code; 

20 ‘‘(B) has been adopted by the State within 

21 6 years of the most recent version of the na22 tionally recognized model building code; and 

23 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

24 building code as a minimum standard. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The President, act2 ing through the Administrator, shall set appropriate 

3 standards, by regulation, for the periodic update, re4 submittal, and approval of a State building code ap5 proved by the President in accordance with para6 graph (3) that are consistent with similar require7 ments related to mitigation planning under section 

8 322. 

9 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

11 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

12 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 

13 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

14 this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub16 section, the following definitions apply: 

17 ‘‘(A) ACTIVELY ENFORCING.—The term 

18 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic19 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

20 code in the process of examination and approval 

21 of construction plans, specifications, and tech22 nical data and the inspection of new construc23 tion or renovation. 

24 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

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1 nized model building code’ means a building 

2 code for residential and commercial construc3 tion and construction materials that— 

4 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

5 by a code organization in an open con6 sensus type forum with input from na7 tional experts; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

9 design standards that establish minimum 

10 acceptable criteria for the design, construc11 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

12 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

13 protecting the health, safety, and general 

14 welfare of the building’s users against nat15 ural disasters. 

16 ‘‘(C) STATE BUILDING CODE.—The term 

17 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

18 associated standards for residential and com19 mercial construction and construction materials 

20 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

21 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

22 code, or zoning ordinance. At a minimum, such 

23 requirements and associated standards shall 

24 apply— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

2 of residential building contractors applica3 ble to single-family and 2-family residential 

4 structures; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

6 of engineers, architects, designers, and 

7 commercial building contractors applicable 

8 to the structural safety, design, and con9 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

10 multifamily structures. 

11 ‘‘(g) USE OF ASSISTANCE.—Recipients of hazard 

12 mitigation assistance provided under this section and sec13 tion 203 may use the assistance to conduct activities to 

14 help reduce the risk of future damage, hardship, loss, or 

15 suffering in any area affected by a flood, including— 

16 ‘‘(1) adaptation of existing infrastructures, in17 cluding enhancements to both built and natural envi18 ronments based on future flood probabilities; 

19 ‘‘(2) maintenance of existing surge protection 

20 infrastructure; 

21 ‘‘(3) waterfront resilience, including creation of 

22 bulkheads, dune enhancement, beach re-nourish23 ment, living seawalls and seashores and levees; 

24 ‘‘(4) voluntary acquisition of repeatedly flooded 

25 properties; 


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1 ‘‘(5) flood water diversion, removal, treatment, 

2 and storage infrastructure projects; 

3 ‘‘(6) flood water distribution along street infra4 structure systems, including canal streets, absorbent 

5 streets, floodable parks, and underground cisterns; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(7) enhanced infrastructure for increasing re8 silience of the freshwater supply to salt water intru9 sion.’’. 

10 (b) PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.— 

11 (1) USES OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL AS12 SISTANCE.—Section 203(e)(1)(B) of the Robert T. 

13 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(e)(1)(B)) is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause 

16 (ii); 

17 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

18 clause (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iv) to establish and operate a build21 ing department and carry out enforcement 

22 activities to implement a State building 

23 code approved under section 404(f).’’. 


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1 (2) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE AWARDS.—Sec2 tion 203(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(g)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para5 graph (9); 

6 (B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

7 paragraph (11); and 

8 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(10) the extent to which the State or local 

11 government is carrying out activities to implement a 

12 State building code approved under section 404(f); 

13 and’’. 

14 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF DISASTER COSTS AND 

15 LOSSES. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

18 the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall com19 mence, through the National Advisory Council, a com20 prehensive study related to disaster costs and losses (re21 ferred to in the subsection as the ‘‘Study’’). 

22 (b) ADDITIONAL MEMBERSHIP.—For the purposes of 

23 the study, as soon as practicable after the date of enact24 ment of this section, the Administrator shall appoint addiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 May 12, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5177.IH H5177

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1 tional qualified members to the National Advisory Council 

2 from the following: 

3 (1) Individuals that have the requisite technical 

4 knowledge and expertise on issues related to disaster 

5 costs and losses. 

6 (2) Representatives of the insurance industry. 

7 (3) Experts in and representatives of the con8 struction and building industry. 

9 (4) Individuals nominated by national organiza10 tions representing local governments and personnel. 

11 (5) Academic experts. 

12 (6) Vendors, developers, and manufacturers of 

13 systems, facilities, equipment, and capabilities for 

14 emergency management services. 

15 (7) Representatives of such other stakeholders 

16 and interested and affected parties as the Adminis17 trator considers appropriate. 

18 (c) CONSULTATION WITH NONMEMBERS.—The Na19 tional Advisory Council shall consult with other relevant 

20 agencies and groups that are not represented on the Na21 tional Advisory Council to consider research, data, find22 ings, recommendations, innovative technologies and devel23 opments, including— 

24 (1) entities engaged in federally funded re25 search; and 


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1 (2) academic institutions engaged in relevant 

2 work and research. 

3 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 120 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Advi5 sory Council shall convene to evaluate the following topics 

6 and develop recommendations for reducing disaster costs 

7 and losses: 

8 (1) DISASTER LOSSES.— 

9 (A) COST TRENDS.—Trends in disaster 

10 costs including loss of life and injury, property 

11 damage to individuals, the private sector, and 

12 each level of government (State, local and trib13 al) since the enactment of the Robert T. Staf14 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), to the extent data 

16 is available. 

17 (B) CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.—Contrib18 uting factors such as shifting demographics and 

19 aging infrastructure and their impacts on the 

20 trends in disaster losses and costs. 

21 (2) DISASTER COSTS.— 

22 (A) TRENDS IN DECLARATIONS.—Trends 

23 in disaster declarations, including factors con24 tributing to the trends. 


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1 (B) DISASTER ASSISTANCE.—Disaster as2 sistance available from all Federal sources, in3 cluding descriptions of programs, eligibility and 

4 authorities, where assistance has been used geo5 graphically, how quickly the funds are used, 

6 how that assistance is coordinated among the 

7 various agencies and departments, and rec8 ommendations for ways to improve the effec9 tiveness and efficiency of the delivery of such 

10 assistance. 

11 (C) COSTS.—Disaster costs borne by the 

12 private sector and individuals. 

13 (3) DISASTER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY.— 

14 Fundamental principles that should drive national 

15 disaster assistance decisionmaking, including the ap16 propriate roles for each level of government, the pri17 vate sector and individuals. 

18 (4) REDUCTION OF COSTS AND LOSSES.— 

19 (A) MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES.— 

20 Mechanisms and incentives, including tax incen21 tives, to promote disaster cost reduction, miti22 gation, and recovery, including cost data, pro23 jections for the return on investment, and 

24 measures of effectiveness. 


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1 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGES.— 

2 Identify fundamental legal, societal, geographic 

3 and technological challenges to implementation. 

4 (5) LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS.—Legislative pro5 posals for implementing the recommendations in the 

6 report compiled pursuant to the requirement in sec7 tion 1111 of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act 

8 of 2013 (Public Law 113–2). 

9 (e) REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR AND CONGRESS.— 

10 (1) Not later than 1 year after the date of en11 actment of this section, the National Advisory Coun12 cil shall submit a report containing the data, anal13 ysis, and recommendations developed under sub14 section (d) to— 

15 (A) the Administrator of the Federal 

16 Emergency Management Agency; 

17 (B) the Committee on Transportation and 

18 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

19 and 

20 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

22 (2) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Administrator 

23 shall make the data collected pursuant to this sec24 tion publically available on the Agency’s website. 


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1 SEC. 6. ENHANCED MITIGATION INCENTIVES PILOT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) USE OF BUILDING CODES.—The Administrator 

4 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall es5 tablish and conduct a pilot program to award grants to 

6 State, local, and tribal governments to aid and encourage 

7 the adoption and active enforcement of nationally recog8 nized model building codes, State building codes, and re9 lated mitigation measures. 

10 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the grant program are— 

11 (1) reducing disaster response and recovery 

12 costs to Federal, State, local, and tribal governments 

13 by— 

14 (A) increasing the resilience of buildings; 

15 and 

16 (B) reducing the amount of damage and 

17 loss that occurs due to disasters and chronic 

18 flooding; 

19 (2) incentivizing communities and individuals to 

20 adopt smart development and mitigation measures 

21 in advance of disasters. 

22 (c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator 

23 shall— 

24 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act, provide grant awards annu26 ally thereafter; 


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1 (2) establish criteria for awarding grants on a 

2 competitive basis based on the demonstrated need of 

3 the applicants and the project’s ability to accomplish 

4 the goals outline in subsection (b); and 

5 (3) require non-Federal matching funds in an 

6 amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the 

7 total amount of the grant. 

8 (d) REPORTS.— 

9 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—During the period in 

10 which the pilot program is conducted under this sec11 tion, the Administrator shall submit, annually, to 

12 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

14 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

15 the Senate, a report on the grants provided, the 

16 projects undertaken, and the outcomes expected. 

17 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after termination of the pilot program, the Adminis19 trator shall submit a final report to the Committee 

20 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

21 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 

22 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

23 The final report shall include— 

24 (A) a review and evaluation of the grant 

25 awards; 


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1 (B) recommendations on any permanent 

2 changes to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re3 lief and Emergency Assistance Act; and 

4 (C) a progress evaluation in meeting the 

5 goals described in subsection (b). 

6 (e) TERMINATION.—The authorities under this sec7 tion shall terminate on December 31, 2021. 

Æ 


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