I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1870 

To expedite payments of certain Federal emergency assistance authorized 

pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act, and to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to 

exercise certain authority provided under such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2005 

Mr. FOLEY (for himself, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. MACK, 

Ms. HARRIS, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. PAUL, Mr. JINDAL, and Mrs. KELLY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To expedite payments of certain Federal emergency assistance authorized pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and to direct 

the Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise certain 

authority provided under such Act. 

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 ‘‘Disaster Recovery Act 

5 of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED PAYMENTS OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE 

2 FOR DEBRIS REMOVAL AND EMERGENCY 

3 PROTECTIVE MEASURES. 

4 (a) EXPEDITED PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Notwith5 standing the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

6 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) or any 

7 regulation issued pursuant to such Act, the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security, acting through the Director of the 

9 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall pay to an 

10 eligible applicant, in accordance with subsection (b), 50 

11 percent of the Federal share of assistance that the appli12 cant is eligible to receive under section 403(b), 407(d), 

13 or 503 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b(b), 5173(d), 5193). 

14 (b) DATE OF PAYMENT.—A claim described in sub15 section (a) shall be paid not later than 60 days after the 

16 date on which such applicant files an eligible claim for as17 sistance. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 applicant’’ means the following: 

21 (A) A State government. 

22 (B) A local government. 

23 (C) A private non-profit organization or in24 stitution that owns or operates any private non25 profit educational, utility, emergency, medical, 

26 or custodial care facility, including a facility for 
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1 the aged or disabled, or any other facility pro2 viding essential governmental services to the 

3 general public, and such facilities on Indian res4 ervations. 

5 (D) An Indian tribe or authorized tribal 

6 organization, or an Alaska Native village or or7 ganization, but not Alaska Native Corporations, 

8 the ownership of which is vested in a private in9 dividual. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE CLAIM FOR ASSISTANCE.—The 

11 term ‘‘eligible claim for assistance’’ means the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) DEBRIS REMOVAL.—A claim for the 

14 clearance, removal, or disposal of debris such as 

15 trees, sand, gravel, building components, wreck16 age, vehicles, and personal property, if such de17 bris is the result of an emergency or major dis18 aster and such clearance, removal, or disposal is 

19 necessary for any of the following: 

20 (i) To eliminate an immediate threat, 

21 as determined by the Secretary of Home22 land Security, to human life, public health, 

23 or safety. 
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1 (ii) To eliminate an immediate threat, 

2 as determined by the Secretary, of signifi3 cant damage to public or private property. 

4 (iii) To ensure the economic recovery 

5 of the community affected by the emer6 gency or major disaster to the benefit of 

7 such community and any other community, 

8 as determined by the Secretary. 

9 (iv) To ensure the provision of tem10 porary public transportation service in the 

11 community affected by the emergency or 

12 major disaster pursuant to section 419 of 

13 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emer14 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5186). 

15 (B) EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE MEAS16 URES.—An action taken by an applicant before, 

17 during, or after an emergency or major disaster 

18 that is necessary for any of the following: 

19 (i) To eliminate or reduce an imme20 diate threat, as determined by the Sec21 retary of Homeland Security, to human 

22 life, public health, or safety. 

23 (ii) To eliminate or reduce an imme24 diate hazard, as determined by the Sec-
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1 retary, that threatens significant damage 

2 to public or private property. 

3 (C) OTHER CLAIMS.—Any other claim that 

4 the Secretary of Homeland Security determines 

5 to be appropriate. 

6 (3) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ has 

7 the meaning provided by section 102(1) of the Rob8 ert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(1)). 

10 (4) MAJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis11 aster’’ has the meaning provided by section 102(2) 

12 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency 

13 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)). 

14 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ENSURE DEBRIS CLEARANCE, 

15 REMOVAL, AND DISPOSAL FROM EMERGENCY 

16 ACCESS ROADS. 

17 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Any reimbursement authorized 

18 under section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re19 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) for 

20 clearing and removing debris shall include reimbursement 

21 for clearing, removing, and disposing of debris from any 

22 emergency access road. 

23 (b) EMERGENCY ACCESS ROAD DEFINED.—For pur24 poses of subsection (a), the term ‘‘emergency access road’’ 

25 means a road that requires access by emergency per-
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1 sonnel, including firefighters, police, emergency medical 

2 personnel, or any other entity identified by the Secretary 

3 of Homeland Security that provides an emergency service 

4 after a declaration of an emergency or major disaster (as 

5 defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)). 

7 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF DEBRIS REMOVAL FROM PRIVATE 

8 LAND AS ELIGIBLE CLAIM FOR FEDERAL AS9 SISTANCE. 

10 Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis11 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

13 (1) at the end of clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

14 (2) at the end of clause (ii), by striking the pe15 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 

17 new clause: 

18 ‘‘(iii) the removal, clearance, and dis19 posal of debris from private property that 

20 is the result of an emergency or major dis21 aster.’’. 

Æ