I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6481 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office of 

Disability Integration and Coordination within the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2010 

Ms. RICHARDSON (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced 

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

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination 

within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 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 ‘‘Disability Integration 

5 and Coordination Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF DISABILITY INTEGRATION AND COORDI2 NATION. 

3 Section 513 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

4 (6 U.S.C. 321b) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

6 the semicolon at the end of paragraph (1), by redes7 ignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (12), and by 

8 inserting after paragraph (10) the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(11) serving as the Director of the Office of 

11 Disability Integration and Coordination established 

12 under subsection (c); and’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(c) OFFICE OF DISABILITY INTEGRATION AND CO16 ORDINATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es18 tablish within the Agency the Office of Disability In19 tegration and Coordination (in this subsection re20 ferred to as the ‘Office’). 

21 ‘‘(2) MISSION.—The Administrator shall, in 

22 consultation with the National Council on Disability, 

23 State, local, and tribal governments, private sector 

24 entities, and nongovernmental organizations, includ25 ing faith-based and other community humanitarian 

26 relief entities, use the Office to implement strategies 


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1 and activities in support of the responsibilities of the 

2 Disability Coordinator under this section and as as3 signed by other provisions of law or by the Adminis4 trator. 

5 ‘‘(3) STAFFING.—The Disability Coordinator— 

6 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), shall 

7 maintain staffing levels of the Office that are 

8 commensurate with the current and projected 

9 workload; 

10 ‘‘(B) shall maintain not less than 10 full11 time, permanent personnel of the headquarters 

12 office of the Agency who are properly trained to 

13 implement the Office’s mission, and who shall 

14 be assigned to the Regional Offices as nec15 essary; and 

16 ‘‘(C) shall periodically evaluate the staffing 

17 levels of the headquarters office of the Agency. 

18 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Adminis19 trator, in coordination with the Disability Coordi20 nator and in consultation with the National Council 

21 on Disability, State, local, and tribal governments, 

22 private sector entities, and nongovernmental organi23 zations, including faith-based and other community 

24 humanitarian relief entities, shall establish perform25 ance measures for the Office that are specific, measVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:47 Dec 03, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6481.IH H6481

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1 urable, achievable, and relevant, including but not 

2 limited to— 

3 ‘‘(A) ensuring the timely development, up4 date, integration, and dissemination of informa5 tion, including policy guidance, training mate6 rials, and other planning tools for State, local, 

7 and tribal government officials and other appro8 priate stakeholders; and 

9 ‘‘(B) ensuring the integration of people 

10 with disabilities into emergency, preparedness, 

11 protection, mitigation, evacuation, sheltering, 

12 transition, resiliency, and recovery plans.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES REG14 ISTRIES. 

15 (a) GENERAL.—The Administrator, subject to the 

16 availability of appropriations, shall enter into a contract 

17 with the National Academy of Public Administration with18 in 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act to— 

19 (1) conduct an assessment of the efficacy of 

20 State, local, and tribal governments’ and nonprofits’ 

21 registries of people with disabilities to guide plan22 ning and preparedness during local, State, and na23 tional disasters or emergencies resulting from a nat24 ural disaster, an act of terrorism, or other man25 made disaster; and 


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1 (2) provide recommendations for establishing a 

2 Federal disabilities registry. 

3 (b) STUDY GOALS.—The study shall— 

4 (1) review national trends of State, local, and 

5 tribal governments’ use of such registries; 

6 (2) provide a comparative analysis, including 

7 costs, of the sampling of such registries; 

8 (3) determine the effectiveness of such reg9 istries for implementing emergency planning, evacu10 ation, and recovery plans related to sheltering needs 

11 for people with disabilities during disasters and 

12 emergencies resulting from a natural disaster, an act 

13 of terrorism, or other man-made disaster; 

14 (4) review best practices from State, local, and 

15 tribal governments that have adopted a registry 

16 plan; and 

17 (5) provide recommendations for implementa18 tion of a Federal disabilities registry. 

19 (c) FINAL REPORT.—The National Academy of Pub20 lic Administration shall— 

21 (1) submit the findings of the study to the 

22 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

23 Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Secu24 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and 

25 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency ManVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:47 Dec 03, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6481.IH H6481

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1 agement Agency not later than 12 months after the 

2 contract is awarded; and 

3 (2) periodically brief Congress on the progress 

4 of the study. 

Æ 


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