II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1007

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

Act to reduce the costs of disaster relief and emergency assistance,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 10, 1997

Mr. CHAFEE (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to reduce the costs of disaster

relief and emergency assistance, 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 ‘‘Disaster Streamlining

5 and Costs Reduction Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 (a) Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster

8 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42
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1 U.S.C. 5122, is amended by striking paragraphs (8) and

2 (9) and inserting new paragraphs (8) and (9) as follows:

3 ‘‘(8) ‘Public facility’ means the following facili4 ties owned by a State or local government:

5 ‘‘(a)(1) Any sewage treatment and collec6 tion, water supply and distribution, or airport

7 facility;

8 ‘‘(2) Any non-Federal-aid street, road, or

9 highway;

10 ‘‘(3) Any other public building, structure,

11 or system that is essential to life, health, edu12 cation or safety; or

13 ‘‘(4) Parks other than those defined in

14 paragraph (b)(5) of this section.

15 ‘‘(b) The term ‘public facility’ does not in16 clude the following facilities owned by a State

17 or local government:

18 ‘‘(1) Flood control, navigation, irriga19 tion, reclamation, or watershed develop20 ment structure or systems;

21 ‘‘(2) Electric utilities;

22 ‘‘(3) Building contents;

23 ‘‘(4) Cultural objects;

24 ‘‘(5) Trees and other natural features

25 that are located within parks and rec-
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1 reational areas, as well as on the grounds

2 of other publicly-owned property;

3 ‘‘(6) Parks, recreational areas, mari4 nas, golf courses, stadiums, arenas or

5 other similar facilities, which generate any

6 portion of their operational revenue

7 through user fees, rents, admission

8 charges, or similar fees; and

9 ‘‘(7) Beaches.

10 ‘‘(9)(a) ‘Private nonprofit facility’ means pri11 vate nonprofit educational, emergency, medical,

12 rehabilitational, utilities other than electric utilities,

13 and custodial care facilities.

14 ‘‘(b) The term ‘private nonprofit facility’ does

15 not include the following facilities owned by a pri16 vate nonprofit entity:

17 ‘‘(1) Building contents;

18 ‘‘(2) Cultural objects;

19 ‘‘(3) Trees and other natural features that

20 are located within parks and recreational areas,

21 as well as on the grounds of other private non22 profit property; and

23 ‘‘(4) Beaches.’’

24 (b) Section 102 is amended further by adding the fol25 lowing definitions at the end of the section:
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1 ‘‘(10) ‘Director’ means the Director of the Fed2 eral Emergency Management Agency.

3 ‘‘(11) ‘Hazard mitigation’ or ‘mitigation’ mean

4 programs and actions to reduce the risk or impact

5 of hazards in order to reduce loss of life and injury,

6 damage or destruction of property from a disaster.

7 ‘‘(12) ‘Incentives’ means measures to induce ac8 tion by State and local governments, individuals and

9 other private interests to minimize or reduce the loss

10 of life and property from disasters, including in11 creased or reduced disaster assistance cost sharing,

12 and such other measures as the President or Direc13 tor may establish by regulation.’’

14 SEC. 3. PRE-DISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.

15 Title II of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and

16 Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5121

17 et seq., is amended by inserting new section 203 as fol18 lows:

19 ‘‘§ 203. Pre-disaster hazard mitigation

20 ‘‘(a) The Director is authorized to establish a pre21 disaster mitigation program to assist State and local gov22 ernments to reduce injuries and loss of life, and to reduce

23 damage or destruction of property from disasters before

24 disasters occur; and is authorized to use incentives, dis25 incentives, and other mitigation measures to reduce the
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1 cost of disasters to Federal, State and local governments,

2 particularly damages to public facilities, and to the private

3 sector.

4 ‘‘(b) The Director is authorized to make pre-disaster

5 mitigation grants of not less than 75 percent of the cost

6 of hazard mitigation measures to States and local govern7 ments and to eligible private nonprofit organizations to

8 carry out the purposes of this section. The pre-disaster

9 mitigation program established by this section shall not

10 duplicate or replace assistance available to States and

11 local governments and eligible nonprofit organizations

12 under authorities and programs administered by other

13 Federal departments or agencies.

14 ‘‘(c) The Director shall establish by rules and regula15 tions the standards, incentives and criteria applicable to

16 grants made under the authority of this section, including:

17 ‘‘(1) incentives for measures that reduce the

18 risk of injuries and loss of life and reduce damages

19 and destruction of property from disasters and that

20 exceed the minimum standards, and criteria estab21 lished by the Director under this section;

22 ‘‘(2) incentives for establishing disaster assist23 ance programs, trust funds, or other measures that

24 enhance the ability of individuals, property owners,

25 and States and local governments to finance, reim-
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1 burse, or compensate for losses suffered from disas2 ters;

3 ‘‘(3) procedures for the identification and eval4 uation of natural hazards that threaten the State or

5 community;

6 ‘‘(4) measures to reduce injuries and loss of life

7 and to reduce damages and destruction of property

8 from disasters;

9 ‘‘(5) adoption and enforcement of laws, con10 struction codes and other codes, community-wide

11 land-use and other ordinances and bylaws, and regu12 lations to minimize or mitigate the effects of disas13 ters; and

14 ‘‘(6) such other mitigation measures as the

15 President or the Director may adopt by regulation.

16 ‘‘(d) To carry out the pre-disaster mitigation pro17 gram authorized in subsection (a), the Director shall es18 tablish a National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund (Fund)

19 which shall be an account separate from any other ac20 counts or funds and shall be available, without fiscal year

21 limitation, for grants and other incentives to States and

22 local governments and to nonprofit organizations to imple23 ment mitigation measures under standards and criteria es24 tablished by the Director.
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1 ‘‘(e) There are authorized to be appropriated to the

2 Fund established by subsection (d) of this section such

3 sums as may be necessary to implement this section.

4 ‘‘(f) The Director shall take into account the follow5 ing when establishing priorities for pre-disaster mitigation

6 grant applications:

7 ‘‘(1) the level and repetitive nature of the risks

8 to be mitigated;

9 ‘‘(2) demonstrated State or local government

10 commitment to reduce damages from future disas11 ters;

12 ‘‘(3) official commitment by the State or local

13 government that non-Federal financial commitments

14 are available for the mitigation measures to be un15 dertaken;

16 ‘‘(4) certification that mitigation projects in17 volving public facilities will meet or exceed the miti18 gation criteria and standards established by the Di19 rector in this section;

20 ‘‘(5) assurances that the mitigation projects are

21 not then the subject matter of litigation before any

22 Federal, State or local court or administrative agen23 cy; and
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1 ‘‘(6) assurances that the mitigation projects will

2 be completed expeditiously, in a time period mutu3 ally agreed by the Director and the applicant.’’

4 ‘‘(g) The Director shall review periodically the stand5 ards, criteria, and incentives established for mitigation

6 under this chapter, shall evaluate performance results of

7 those standards, criteria, and incentives, and shall make

8 appropriate changes, as necessary, to enhance the effec9 tiveness of pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation meas10 ures.’’

11 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT EXPENSES.

12 The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer13 gency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.,

14 is amended by adding a new section 322, as follows:

15 ‘‘SEC. 322. MANAGEMENT EXPENSES.—Notwith16 standing the provisions of any other law or administrative

17 rule or guidance, for purposes of this chapter, the Presi18 dent shall establish management cost rates for grantees

19 and subgrantees by rule. The President shall review the

20 management cost rates every three years. All payments

21 for management costs shall be in lieu of any indirect costs,

22 administrative expenses, or any other expense not directly

23 chargeable to a specific project under a major disaster

24 (subchapter IV), emergency (subchapter V), or an emer-
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1 gency preparedness activity or measure (subchapters II

2 and VI).’’

3 SEC. 5. HAZARD MITIGATION.

4 Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief

5 and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

6 5170c, is amended as follows—

7 (a) In subsection (a), insert ‘‘(1)’’ between

8 ‘‘(a)’’ and ‘‘IN GENERAL.’’;

9 (b) In the first sentence of subsection (a),

10 strike ‘‘up to’’ after ‘‘contribute’’, and insert ‘‘not

11 less than’’;

12 (c) Insert new subsection (a)(2) as follows:

13 ‘‘(2) INCENTIVES.—The President may provide by

14 regulation incentives for Federal shares of assistance up

15 to 90 percent for mitigation measures under this section

16 for applicants that, at a minimum, have implemented the

17 standards, incentives and criteria established by the Direc18 tor under section 203(c) in advance of major disasters de19 clared by the President under this Act.’’

20 SEC. 6. FEDERAL COST SHARE.

21 The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer22 gency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.,

23 is amended as follows:

24 (a) in section 201(d), 42 U.S.C. 5131(d), strike

25 ‘‘50 percent’’, and insert ‘‘75 percent’’;
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1 (b) in section 407(d), 42 U.S.C. 5173(d), strike

2 ‘‘shall not be less than’’, and insert ‘‘shall not ex3 ceed’’;

4 (c) in section 611(f)(2), 42 U.S.C. 5196(f)(2),

5 strike ‘‘one-half’’, and insert ‘‘three-quarters’’;

6 (d) in section 611(j)(3), 42 U.S.C. 5196(j)(3),

7 strike paragraph (3) in its entirety and insert ‘‘The

8 Director may contribute up to 75 percent of the cost

9 of organizational equipment.’’;

10 (e) in section 611(j)(5), 42 U.S.C. 5196(j)(5),

11 strike the first sentence of paragraph (5), and insert

12 ‘‘The Director may contribute up to 75 percent of

13 the eligible costs for projects under this section.’’;

14 (f) in section 613(a), 42 U.S.C. 5196b(a),

15 strike ‘‘one-half’’, and insert ‘‘three-quarters’’; and

16 (g) in section 614, 42 U.S.C. 5196c, strike all

17 after ‘‘matches’’, and insert ‘‘provides 25 percent of

18 the cost of such facilities.’’.

19 SEC. 7. REPAIR, RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF

20 DAMAGED FACILITIES.

21 Section 406 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief

22 and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

23 5172, is amended as follows—

24 (a) Paragraph (2) of subsection (a) is amended

25 to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(2) to a person who owns or operates a private

2 nonprofit facility damaged or destroyed by a major

3 disaster for the repair, restoration, reconstruction,

4 or replacement of such facility and for management

5 expenses incurred by such person, Provided, That no

6 contributions shall be made unless the owner or op7 erator of the facility, has applied first for a Small

8 Business Administration disaster loan (15 U.S.C.

9 636(b)) and (A) has been determined to be ineligible

10 for such a loan, or (B) has obtained a loan in the

11 maximum amount that the Small Business Adminis12 tration determines it is eligible.’’

13 (b) Subsection (b) is repealed, and new sub14 section (b) is inserted as follows:

15 ‘‘(b) COST SHARING.—(1) GENERAL RULE.—The

16 President is authorized to provide assistance under this

17 section of not less than 75 percent of the net eligible costs

18 of repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement ac19 tivities which are carried out under this section. The

20 President is authorized to provide assistance under this

21 section up to 90 percent of the net eligible costs of repair,

22 restoration, reconstruction, or replacement activities that

23 are carried out in the aftermath of major disasters which

24 cause catastrophic losses.
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1 ‘‘(2) INCREASED FEDERAL COST SHARE.—The

2 President may provide assistance under this section up to

3 90% of the net eligible costs of repair, restoration, recon4 struction, or replacement activities that are carried out

5 under this section for those State or local governments

6 that have implemented hazard mitigation measures in ad7 vance of major disasters declared by the President under

8 this Act and that, at minimum, have implemented the

9 standards, incentives and criteria established by the Direc10 tor under section 203(c) in advance of major disasters de11 clared by the President under this Act.’’

12 ‘‘(3) DECREASED FEDERAL COST SHARE.—The

13 President may reduce assistance under this section to

14 amounts less than 75%, but not less than 50%, of the

15 net eligible costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction, or

16 replacement activities that are carried out under this sec17 tion for those State and local governments that are unable

18 or unwilling to take appropriate steps promptly and effi19 ciently to complete the processing of claims for assistance

20 under this section.’’

21 (c) Subsection (c) is repealed, and new sub22 section (c) is inserted as follows:

23 ‘‘(c) LARGE IN-LIEU CONTRIBUTIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1)(A) FOR PUBLIC FACILITIES.—In any case

25 where a State or local government determines that
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1 the public welfare would not be served best by re2 pairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing any

3 public facility owned or controlled by such State or

4 local government, it may elect to receive, in lieu of

5 a contribution under subsection (a)(1), a contribu6 tion of 75 percent of the Federal share of the Fed7 eral estimate of the cost of repairing, restoring, re8 constructing, or replacing such facility and of man9 agement expenses.

10 ‘‘(B) Funds contributed under this subsection

11 may be used to repair, restore, or expand other eligi12 ble public facilities, to construct eligible new facili13 ties, or to fund hazard mitigation measures which

14 the State or local government determines to be nec15 essary to meet a need for governmental services and

16 functions in the area affected by the major disaster.

17 ‘‘(2)(A) FOR PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACILI18 TIES.—In any case where a person who owns or op19 erates a private nonprofit facility determines that

20 the public welfare would not be best served by re21 pairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing such

22 facility, such person may elect to receive, in lieu of

23 a contribution under subsection (a)(2), a contribu24 tion of 75 percent of the Federal share of the Fed25 eral estimate of the cost of repairing, restoring, re-
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1 constructing, or replacing such facility and of man2 agement expenses.

3 ‘‘(B) Funds contributed under this subsection

4 may be used to repair, restore, or expand other eligi5 ble private nonprofit facilities owned or operated by

6 the applicant, to construct eligible new private non7 profit facilities to be owned or operated by the appli8 cant, or to fund hazard mitigation measures that

9 such private nonprofit organization determines to be

10 necessary to meet a need for its services and func11 tions in the area affected by the major disaster.’’

12 (d) Subsection (e) of section 406 is amended to

13 read as follows—

14 ‘‘(e)(1) For the purposes of this section, the estimate

15 of the cost of repairing, restoring, reconstruction, or re16 placing a public facility or private nonprofit facility on the

17 basis of the design of such facility as it existed imme18 diately before the major disaster and in conformity with

19 the applicable codes, specifications, and standards in effect

20 at the time of the major disaster declaration (including

21 floodplain management and hazard mitigation criteria re22 quired by the President or by the Coastal Barrier Re23 sources Act (16 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) shall be treated as

24 the net eligible cost of such repair, restoration, reconstruc25 tion, or replacement.
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1 ‘‘(2) Within 18 months of enactment of this section,

2 the President shall, through the Director of the Federal

3 Emergency Management Agency, convene an expert panel,

4 including representation from the construction industry,

5 and shall develop cost-estimating procedures consistent

6 with industry practices.’’.

7 (e) REPEAL.—Subsection (f) of section 406 is

8 repealed.

9 SEC. 8. FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

10 (a) Sections 408 and 411 of the Robert T. Stafford

11 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amend12 ed, 42 U.S.C. 5174, are here repealed.

13 (b) New section 408 is added as follows—

14 ‘‘SEC. 408. FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

15 ‘‘The President may provide financial assistance and,

16 if necessary, direct services, to disaster victims who, as

17 a direct result of a major disaster, have necessary ex18 penses and serious needs for housing, personal property,

19 medical and dental or funeral expenses, transportation

20 costs, and other needs. The President shall administer the

21 program authorized by this section, and shall promulgate

22 rules and regulations to carry out its provisions (which

23 shall include criteria, standards, and procedures for deter24 mining eligibility for assistance).
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1 ‘‘No individual or household shall receive financial as2 sistance greater than $25,000 under this section with re3 spect to a single major disaster. Such limit shall be ad4 justed annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price

5 Index for all Urban Consumers published by the Depart6 ment of Labor. The types of assistance that may be pro7 vided under this section are as follows—

8 ‘‘(a) HOUSING NEEDS.—The President may

9 provide financial or other assistance to individuals or

10 families to respond to disaster-related housing needs

11 of those who are displaced from their pre-disaster

12 primary residences, or whose pre-disaster residences

13 are rendered uninhabitable as a result of damage

14 caused by a major disaster. Individuals and house15 holds who have no pre-disaster residence shall not

16 be provided housing assistance under this section.

17 The most appropriate forms of housing assistance

18 to be provided to disaster victims shall be deter19 mined in the President’s discretion based upon con20 siderations of cost effectiveness, convenience to dis21 aster victims, and such other factors as the Presi22 dent may deem appropriate. One or more forms of

23 housing assistance may be made available, based on

24 the suitability and availability of the types of assist-
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1 ance to meet the disaster victims’ verified needs in

2 the particular disaster situation.

3 ‘‘(1) Housing assistance may be provided

4 to individuals or households to rent alternate

5 housing accommodations or existing rental

6 units, manufactured housing, recreational vehi7 cles, or other readily fabricated dwellings. The

8 President may also directly provide such hous9 ing units, acquired by purchase or lease, to in10 dividuals or households who, because of lack of

11 available housing resources, would be unable to

12 make use of the assistance provided under this

13 section. Direct assistance shall continue for no

14 longer than 18 months after the President’s

15 major disaster declaration, unless the President

16 determines that it would be in the public inter17 est to extend this period due to extraordinary

18 circumstances. After 18 months the President

19 may charge fair market rent for the accommo20 dation being provided. The amount of grant as21 sistance shall be based on the fair market rent

22 for the accommodation being furnished plus the

23 cost of any transportation, utility hook-ups, or

24 unit installation not being directly provided by

25 the President.
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1 ‘‘(2) Housing assistance may be provided

2 to repair owner-occupied private residences,

3 utilities, and residential infrastructure (such as

4 private access routes) damaged by a major dis5 aster to habitable condition where such assist6 ance cannot be provided by voluntary agency

7 assistance, insurance proceeds, or through dis8 aster loan benefits from the Small Business Ad9 ministration.

10 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN PERMANENT HOUSING CON11 STRUCTION.—The President may provide financial

12 assistance or direct assistance to individuals or

13 households to construct permanent housing in re14 mote locations (primarily insular areas outside the

15 continental United States) in cases where no alter16 native housing resources are available; where the

17 types of temporary housing assistance enumerated

18 above are unavailable, infeasible, or not cost-effec19 tive; and where such needs cannot be met by vol20 untary agency assistance, insurance proceeds, or dis21 aster loan benefits from the Small Business Admin22 istration.

23 ‘‘(c) SITES.—Any readily fabricated dwelling

24 provided under this section shall whenever possible

25 be located on a site complete with utilities, and is
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1 provided by the disaster victim, or the State or local

2 government, by the owner of the site, or by the occu3 pant who was displaced by the major disaster. Read4 ily fabricated dwellings may be located on sites pro5 vided by the President if the President determines

6 that such sites would be more economical or acces7 sible.

8 ‘‘(d) DISPOSITION OF UNITS.—Notwithstanding

9 any other provision of law, housing units purchased

10 by the President for the purposes of housing disaster

11 victims may be:

12 ‘‘(1) Sold directly to individuals or house13 holds who are occupants of temporary housing

14 units if such individuals and households need

15 permanent housing. Such sales shall be accom16 plished at prices that are fair and equitable, as

17 determined by the President. Notwithstanding

18 any other provision of law, the proceeds of sale

19 shall be deposited into the appropriate Disaster

20 Relief Fund account. The President may use

21 the services of the General Services Administra22 tion to accomplish the sale.

23 ‘‘(2) If not disposed of under paragraph

24 (d)(1) of this section, temporary housing units

25 may be resold in the private market. Temporary
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1 housing units may also be sold, transferred, do2 nated, or otherwise made available directly to

3 States, other governmental entities, and vol4 untary organizations for the sole purpose of

5 providing temporary housing to disaster victims

6 in major disasters and emergencies: Provided,

7 That as a condition of such sale, transfer or do8 nation to States, other governmental agencies,

9 or voluntary organizations a covenant to comply

10 with the nondiscrimination provisions of section

11 308 is agreed to. The State, other governmental

12 agency, or voluntary organization must also

13 agree to obtain and maintain hazard and flood

14 insurance on the transferred housing unit.

15 ‘‘(e) OTHER NEEDS.—The President is author16 ized to provide financial assistance to individuals or

17 households adversely affected by a major disaster to

18 meet disaster-related medical, dental, and funeral

19 expenses, where such individuals or households are

20 unable to meet such needs through insurance pro21 ceeds or voluntary agency assistance. Financial as22 sistance may also be authorized to address personal

23 property needs, transportation expenses, and other

24 necessary expenses or serious needs resulting from

25 the major disaster where such expenses and needs
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1 cannot be met through insurance proceeds, voluntary

2 agency assistance, or through loan assistance from

3 the Small Business Administration.’’

4 (c) Section 502(a)(6) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis5 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C.

6 502(a)(6), is amended by deleting ‘‘temporary housing’’.

7 SEC. 9. REPEAL.

8 Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief

9 and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

10 5184, is repealed.

11 SEC. 10. REPEAL.

12 Section 422 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief

13 and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

14 5189, is repealed.

Æ