II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3694 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by 

encouraging States to adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19, 2012 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by encouraging States to 

adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 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 ‘‘Safe Building Code 

5 Incentive Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) mitigation planning is the foundation for 

2 saving lives, protecting residential and commercial 

3 properties, and developing disaster resistant commu4 nities; 

5 (2) recent studies of the performance of build6 ing structures during disasters have demonstrated 

7 that the adoption and active enforcement of State 

8 building codes have greatly reduced residential and 

9 commercial property damage and personal injury re10 sulting from major disasters; 

11 (3) modern building codes govern all aspects of 

12 construction and are designed to ensure that single13 family residential dwellings and commercial struc14 tures are protected from natural disasters; 

15 (4) the people of the United States rely on ac16 tive enforcement of modern building codes for assur17 ance that minimum standards for reducing personal 

18 injuries and property damages have been met in the 

19 buildings they live in, work in, and visit everyday; 

20 (5) active enforcement of building codes plays 

21 an increasingly important role in public safety and 

22 loss prevention of residential and commercial prop23 erty; 

24 (6) active enforcement of building codes based 

25 on nationally recognized models reduces the need for 


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1 public disaster aid, creates sustainable communities, 

2 promotes a level and consistent playing field for de3 sign professionals, suppliers, and builders, and can 

4 contribute to the durability of residential and com5 mercial structures; 

6 (7) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re7 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

8 et seq.), the Federal Emergency Management Agen9 cy provides Federal assistance to States for mitiga10 tion efforts; 

11 (8) it is beneficial and appropriate to expand 

12 Federal mitigation assistance to encourage States to 

13 take a comprehensive and integrated approach to 

14 disaster loss reduction; and 

15 (9) it is beneficial to the Federal Government 

16 and appropriate that Federal mitigation assistance 

17 be used to encourage the adoption and active en18 forcement of State building codes as a disaster miti19 gation strategy under the auspices of a comprehen20 sive disaster loss reduction plan. 

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

22 The purposes of this Act are to— 

23 (1) substantially mitigate the occurrence of loss 

24 to residential and commercial property, reduce and 

25 minimize damage when losses to residential and 


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1 commercial property occur, improve the quality and 

2 value of residential and commercial property, and re3 duce the need for public disaster aid; 

4 (2) provide incentives for the adoption and ac5 tive enforcement of State building codes; 

6 (3) encourage States to continue their key re7 sponsibility to coordinate all State and local activi8 ties relating to hazard evaluation and mitigation, as 

9 specified in section 201.3(c) of title 44, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations, through the adoption and active 

11 enforcement of State building codes; and 

12 (4) encourage States to require that local gov13 ernments use a current version of a nationally appli14 cable model building code that address natural haz15 ards as a basis for design and construction of State16 sponsored mitigation projects described in section 

17 201.5(b)(4)(iv) of title 44, Code of Federal Regula18 tions. 

19 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of the Robert T. 

21 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara2 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 

3 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

4 a State building code that satisfies the conditions in 

5 paragraph (2), the President may increase the max6 imum total of contributions under this section for 

7 the major disaster, as specified in subsection (a) and 

8 section 322(e), by an amount equal to 4 percent of 

9 the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be 

10 made (less any associated administrative costs) 

11 under this Act with respect to the major disaster. 

12 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in13 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State 

14 shall certify to the President that the State has a 

15 building code that— 

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

17 version of a nationally recognized model build18 ing code; 

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

20 6 years of the most recent version of the na21 tionally recognized model building code; and 

22 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

23 building code as a minimum standard. 

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

25 the additional assistance under this section, if the 


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1 President determines that the certification of the 

2 State provided under paragraph (2) is sufficient and 

3 is submitted not later than 90 days after the date 

4 of a declared disaster. 

5 ‘‘(4) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The President, act6 ing through the Administrator, shall set appropriate 

7 standards, by regulation, for the periodic update, re8 submittal, and approval of a State building code ap9 proved by the President in accordance with para10 graph (3) that are consistent with similar require11 ments related to mitigation planning under section 

12 322. 

13 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol14 lowing definitions apply: 

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

16 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic17 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

18 code in the process of examination and approval 

19 of construction plans, specifications, and tech20 nical data and the inspection of new construc21 tion or renovation. 

22 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

23 BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog24 nized model building code’ means a building 


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1 code for residential and commercial construc2 tion and construction materials that— 

3 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

4 by a code organization in an open con5 sensus type forum with input from na6 tional experts; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

8 design standards that establish minimum 

9 acceptable criteria for the design, construc10 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

11 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

12 protecting the health, safety, and general 

13 welfare of the building’s users against nat14 ural disasters. 

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

16 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

17 associated standards for residential and com18 mercial construction and construction materials 

19 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

20 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

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

22 requirements and associated standards shall 

23 apply— 

24 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

25 of residential building contractors applicaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:46 Dec 27, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3694.IS S3694

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1 ble to single-family and 2-family residential 

2 structures; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

4 of engineers, architects, designers, and 

5 commercial building contractors applicable 

6 to the structural safety, design, and con7 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

8 multifamily structures. 

9 ‘‘(6) 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 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 404(d) of the Robert T. 

16 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 

17 as added by this section, shall apply to major disasters 

18 declared on or after October 24, 2012. Major disasters 

19 declared during the period beginning on October 24, 2012 

20 and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, shall 

21 have 90 days from date of enactment of this Act to submit 

22 the certification required under 404(d)(2) of the Robert 

23 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

24 Act, as added by this Act. 

Æ 


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