I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3779 

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

Act to allow the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency to provide capitalization grants to eligible entities to establish 

revolving funds to provide assistance to reduce disaster risks, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Ms. CRAIG (for herself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

CRAWFORD, Mr. KIND, and Mr. SMITH of Missouri) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to allow the Administrator of the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide capitalization grants to eligible entities to establish revolving 

funds to provide assistance to reduce disaster risks, 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 ‘‘Resilience Revolving 

5 Loan Fund Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO ENTITIES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF 

2 HAZARD MITIGATION REVOLVING LOAN 

3 FUNDS. 

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

5 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 205. GRANTS TO ENTITIES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF 

8 HAZARD MITIGATION REVOLVING LOAN 

9 FUNDS. 

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

12 enter into agreements with eligible entities to make 

13 capitalization grants to such entities for the estab14 lishment of hazard mitigation revolving loan funds 

15 (referred to in this section as ‘entity loan funds’) for 

16 providing funding assistance to local governments to 

17 carry out eligible projects under this section to re18 duce disaster risk in order to decrease— 

19 ‘‘(A) the loss of life and property; 

20 ‘‘(B) the cost of insurance claims; and 

21 ‘‘(C) Federal disaster payments. 

22 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS.—Any agreement entered 

23 into under this section shall require the participating 

24 entity to— 

25 ‘‘(A) comply with the requirements of this 

26 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) use accounting, audit, and fiscal pro2 cedures conforming to generally accepted ac3 counting standards. 

4 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

6 capitalization grant under this section, an eligible 

7 entity shall submit to the Administrator an applica8 tion that includes the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) Project proposals comprised of local 

10 government hazard mitigation projects, on the 

11 condition that the entity provides public notice 

12 not less than 6 weeks prior to the submission 

13 of an application. 

14 ‘‘(B) An assessment of recurring major 

15 disaster vulnerabilities impacting the entity that 

16 demonstrates an escalating risk to life and 

17 property. 

18 ‘‘(C) A description of how the hazard miti19 gation plan of the entity has or has not taken 

20 the vulnerabilities described in paragraph (2) 

21 into account. 

22 ‘‘(D) A description about how the projects 

23 described in paragraph (1) could conform with 

24 the hazard mitigation plans of the entity and 

25 local governments. 


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1 ‘‘(E) A proposal of the systematic and re2 gional approach to achieve resilience in a vul3 nerable area, including impacts to river basins, 

4 river corridors, watersheds, estuaries, bays, 

5 coastal regions, micro-basins, micro-watersheds, 

6 ecosystems, and areas at risk of earthquakes, 

7 tsunamis, droughts, and wildfires, including the 

8 wildland-urban interface. 

9 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis10 trator shall provide technical assistance to eligible 

11 entities for applications under this section. 

12 ‘‘(c) ENTITY LOAN FUND.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—An entity 

14 that receives a capitalization grant under this sec15 tion shall establish an entity loan fund that complies 

16 with the requirements of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(2) FUND MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided 

18 in paragraph (3), an entity loan funds shall be ad19 ministered by the agency responsible for emergency 

20 management for such entity and shall include only— 

21 ‘‘(A) funds provided by a capitalization 

22 grant under this section; 

23 ‘‘(B) repayments of loans under this sec24 tion to the entity loan fund; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) interest earned on amounts in the en2 tity loan fund. 

3 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—A participating entity 

4 may combine the financial administration of the en5 tity loan fund of such entity with the financial ad6 ministration of any other revolving fund established 

7 by such entity if the Administrator determines 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(A) the capitalization grant, entity share, 

10 repayments of loans, and interest earned on 

11 amounts in the entity loan fund are accounted 

12 for separately from other amounts in the revolv13 ing fund; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the authority to establish assistance 

15 priorities and carry out oversight activities re16 mains in the control of the agency responsible 

17 for emergency management for the entity. 

18 ‘‘(4) ENTITY SHARE OF FUNDS.—On or before 

19 the date on which a participating entity receives a 

20 capitalization grant under this section, the entity 

21 shall deposit into the entity loan fund of such entity, 

22 an amount equal to not less than 10 percent of the 

23 amount of the capitalization grant. 

24 ‘‘(d) APPORTIONMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided by this subsection, the Administrator shall ap3 portion funds made available to carry out this sec4 tion to entities that have entered into an agreement 

5 under subsection (a)(2) in amounts as determined 

6 by the Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—The Adminis8 trator shall reserve not more than 2.5 percent of the 

9 amount made available to carry out this section 

10 for— 

11 ‘‘(A) administrative costs incurred in car12 rying out this section; 

13 ‘‘(B) providing technical assistance to par14 ticipating entities under subsection (b)(2); and 

15 ‘‘(C) capitalization grants to insular areas 

16 under paragraph (4). 

17 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In the apportionment of cap18 italization grants under this subsection, the Admin19 istrator shall give priority to entity applications 

20 under subsection (b) that— 

21 ‘‘(A) propose projects increasing resilience 

22 and reducing risk of harm to natural and built 

23 infrastructure; 


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1 ‘‘(B) involve a partnership between two or 

2 more eligible entities to carry out a project or 

3 similar projects; 

4 ‘‘(C) take into account regional impacts of 

5 hazards on river basins, river corridors, micro6 watersheds, macro-watersheds, estuaries, bays, 

7 coastal regions, and areas vulnerable to earth8 quake, drought, tsunamis and wildfire, includ9 ing the wildland-urban interface; or 

10 ‘‘(D) propose projects for the resilience of 

11 major economic sectors or critical national in12 frastructure, including ports, global commodity 

13 supply chain assets (located within an entity or 

14 within the jurisdiction of local governments, in15 sular areas, and tribal governments), capacity, 

16 power and water production and distribution 

17 centers, and bridges and waterways essential to 

18 interstate commerce. 

19 ‘‘(4) INSULAR AREAS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) APPORTIONMENT.—From any 

21 amount remaining of funds reserved under 

22 paragraph (2), the Administrator may enter 

23 into agreements to provide capitalization grants 

24 to insular areas. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An insular area 

2 receiving a capitalization grant under this sec3 tion shall comply with the requirements of this 

4 section as applied to participating entities. 

5 ‘‘(e) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW OF REVOLVING LOAN

6 FUND PROJECTS.—The Administrator may delegate to a 

7 participating entity all of the responsibilities for environ8 mental review, decision making, and action pursuant the 

9 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

10 4321 et seq.), and other applicable Federal environmental 

11 laws including the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the National Historic Preserva13 tion Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) that would apply 

14 to the Administrator were the Administrator to undertake 

15 projects under this section as Federal projects so long as 

16 the participating entity carry out such responsibilities in 

17 the same manner and subject to the same requirements 

18 as if the Administrator carried out such responsibilities. 

19 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Amounts depos21 ited in an entity loan fund, including loan repay22 ments and interest earned on such amounts, may be 

23 used— 

24 ‘‘(A) to make loans, on the condition 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) such loans are made at an inter2 est rate of not more than 1.5 percent; 

3 ‘‘(ii) annual principal and interest 

4 payments will commence not later than 1 

5 year after completion of any project and all 

6 loans will be fully amortized— 

7 ‘‘(I) not later than 20 years after 

8 the date on which the project is com9 pleted; or 

10 ‘‘(II) for projects in a low-income 

11 geographic area, not later than 30 

12 years after the date on which the 

13 projects is completed and not longer 

14 than the expected design life of the 

15 project; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the local government receiving a 

17 loan establishes a dedicated source of rev18 enue for repayment of the loan; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the local government receiving a 

20 loan has a hazard mitigation plan that has 

21 been approved by the Administrator; and 

22 ‘‘(v) the entity loan fund will be cred23 ited with all payments of principal and in24 terest on all loans; 


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1 ‘‘(B) for mitigation planning, not to exceed 

2 10 percent of the capitalization grants made to 

3 the participating entity in a fiscal year; 

4 ‘‘(C) for the reasonable costs of admin5 istering the fund and conducting activities 

6 under this section, except that such amounts 

7 shall not exceed $100,000 per year, 2 percent 

8 of the capitalization grants made to the partici9 pating entity in a fiscal year, or 1 percent of 

10 the value of the entity loan fund, whichever 

11 amount is greatest, plus the amount of any fees 

12 collected by the entity for such purpose regard13 less of the source; and 

14 ‘‘(D) to earn interest on the entity loan 

15 fund. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON DETERMINATION THAT

17 LOAN IS A DUPLICATION.—In carrying out this sec18 tion, Administrator may not determine that a loan 

19 is a duplication of assistance or a duplication of pro20 grams. 

21 ‘‘(3) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR

22 ASSISTANCE.—Except as provided in this subsection, 

23 a participating entity may use funds in the entity 

24 loan fund to provide financial assistance for projects 


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1 or activities that mitigate the impacts of hazards, in2 cluding— 

3 ‘‘(A) drought and prolonged episodes of in4 tense heat; 

5 ‘‘(B) severe storms, including tornados, 

6 wind storms, cyclones, and severe winter 

7 storms; 

8 ‘‘(C) wildfires; 

9 ‘‘(D) earthquakes; 

10 ‘‘(E) flooding; 

11 ‘‘(F) storm surges; 

12 ‘‘(G) chemical spills that present an immi13 nent threat to life and property; 

14 ‘‘(H) seepage resulting from chemical spills 

15 and flooding; and 

16 ‘‘(I) any catastrophic event that the entity 

17 determines appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(4) ZONING AND LAND USE PLANNING

19 CHANGES.—A participating entity may use not more 

20 than 10 percent of a capitalization grant under this 

21 section for zoning and land use planning changes fo22 cused on— 

23 ‘‘(A) the development and improvement of 

24 zoning and land use codes that incentivize and 

25 encourage low-impact development, resilient 


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1 wildland-urban interface land management and 

2 development, natural infrastructure, green 

3 stormwater management, conservation areas 

4 adjacent to floodplains, implementation of wa5 tershed or greenway master plans, and re6 connection of floodplains; 

7 ‘‘(B) the study and creation of agricultural 

8 risk compensation districts where there is a de9 sire to remove or set-back levees protecting 

10 highly developed agricultural land to mitigate 

11 for flooding, allowing agricultural producers to 

12 receive compensation for assuming greater flood 

13 risk that would alleviate flood exposure to popu14 lations centers and areas with critical national 

15 infrastructure; 

16 ‘‘(C) the study and creation of land use in17 centives that reward developers for greater reli18 ance on low impact development stormwater 

19 best management practices, exchange density 

20 increases for increased open space and improve21 ment of neighborhood catch basins to mitigate 

22 urban flooding, reward developers for including 

23 and augmenting natural infrastructure adjacent 

24 to and around building projects without reliance 


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1 on increased sprawl, and reward developers for 

2 addressing wildfire ignition; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the study and creation of an erosion 

4 response plan that accommodates river, lake, 

5 forest, plains, and ocean shoreline retreating or 

6 bluff stabilization due to increased flooding and 

7 disaster impacts. 

8 ‘‘(5) ESTABLISHING AND CARRYING OUT

9 BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT.—A participating 

10 entity may use capitalization grants under this sec11 tion for establishing and carrying out the latest pub12 lished editions of relevant building codes, specifica13 tions, and standards for the purpose of protecting 

14 the health, safety, and general welfare of the build15 ings users against disasters. 

16 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL

17 COSTS.—For each fiscal year, a participating entity 

18 may use the amount described in paragraph (1)(C) 

19 to— 

20 ‘‘(A) pay the reasonable costs of admin21 istering the programs under this section, includ22 ing the cost of establishing an entity loan fund; 

23 ‘‘(B) provide technical assistance to recipi24 ents of financial assistance from the entity loan 

25 fund, on the condition that such technical asVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3779.IH H3779

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1 sistance does not exceed 5 percent of the cap2 italization grant made to such entity. 

3 ‘‘(7) LIMITATION FOR SINGLE PROJECTS.—A 

4 participating entity may not provide an amount 

5 equal to or more than $5,000,000 to a single hazard 

6 mitigation project. 

7 ‘‘(g) INTENDED USE PLANS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After providing for public 

9 comment and review, and consultation with appro10 priate agencies in an entity, Federal agencies, and 

11 interest groups, each participating entity shall annu12 ally prepare and submit to the Administrator a plan 

13 identifying the intended uses of the entity loan fund. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—An entity intended 

15 use plan prepared under paragraph (1) shall in16 clude— 

17 ‘‘(A) the integration of entity planning ef18 forts, including entity hazard mitigation plans 

19 and other programs and initiatives relating to 

20 mitigation of major disasters carried out by 

21 such entity; 

22 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the mitigation and 

23 resiliency benefits the entity intends to achieve 

24 by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) reducing future damage and loss 

2 associated with hazards; 

3 ‘‘(ii) reducing the number of severe 

4 repetitive loss structures and repetitive loss 

5 structures in the entity; 

6 ‘‘(iii) decreasing the number of insur7 ance claims in the entity from injuries re8 sulting from major disasters or other haz9 ards; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) increasing the rating under the 

11 community rating system under section 

12 1315(b) of the Housing and Urban Devel13 opment Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(b)) 

14 for communities in the entity; 

15 ‘‘(C) information on the availability of, and 

16 application process for, financial assistance 

17 from the entity loan fund of such entity; 

18 ‘‘(D) the criteria and methods established 

19 for the distribution of funds; 

20 ‘‘(E) the amount of financial assistance 

21 that the entity anticipates apportioning; 

22 ‘‘(F) the expected terms of the assistance 

23 provided from the entity loan fund; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) a description of the financial status 

2 of the entity loan fund, including short-term 

3 and long-term goals for the fund. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUDITS, REPORTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND OVER5 SIGHT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) BIENNIAL ENTITY AUDIT AND REPORT.— 

7 Beginning not later than the last day of the second 

8 fiscal year after the receipt of payments under this 

9 section, and biennially thereafter, any participating 

10 entity shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) conduct an audit of such fund estab12 lished under subsection (b); and 

13 ‘‘(B) provide to the Administrator a report 

14 including— 

15 ‘‘(i) the result of any such audit; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a review of the effectiveness of 

17 the entity loan fund of the entity with re18 spect to meeting the goals and intended 

19 benefits described in the intended use plan 

20 submitted by the entity under subsection 

21 (f). 

22 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—A participating entity 

23 shall publish and periodically update information 

24 about all projects receiving funding from the entity 

25 loan fund of such entity, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the location of the project; 

2 ‘‘(B) the type and amount of assistance 

3 provided from the entity loan fund; 

4 ‘‘(C) the expected funding schedule; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the anticipated date of completion of 

6 the project. 

7 ‘‘(3) OVERSIGHT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

9 shall, at least every 4 years, conduct reviews 

10 and audits as may be determined necessary or 

11 appropriate by the Administrator to carry out 

12 the objectives of this section and determine the 

13 effectiveness of the fund in reducing hazard 

14 risk. 

15 ‘‘(B) GAO REQUIREMENTS.—The entity 

16 shall conduct audits under paragraph (1) in ac17 cordance with the auditing procedures of the 

18 Government Accountability Office, including 

19 chapter 75 of title 31. 

20 ‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATIONS BY ADMINIS21 TRATOR.—The Administrator may at any time 

22 make recommendations for or require specific 

23 changes to an entity’s loan fund in order to im24 prove the effectiveness of the fund. 


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1 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS OR GUIDANCE.—The Adminis2 trator shall issue such regulations or guidance as are nec3 essary to— 

4 ‘‘(1) ensure that each participating entity uses 

5 funds as efficiently as possible; and 

6 ‘‘(2) reduce waste, fraud, and abuse to the 

7 maximum extent possible. 

8 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

9 definitions apply: 

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means any State of the United States and an 

12 Indian tribal government as defined in section 102 

13 of this Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

14 ‘‘(2) HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN.—The term 

15 ‘hazard mitigation plan’ means a mitigation plan 

16 submitted under section 322 and approved by the 

17 Administrator. 

18 ‘‘(3) INSULAR AREA.—The term ‘insular area’ 

19 means Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 

20 of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United 

21 States Virgin Islands. 

22 ‘‘(4) LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREA.—The 

23 term ‘low-income geographic area’ means an area 

24 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 301(a) 


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1 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act 

2 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3161(a)). 

3 ‘‘(5) PARTICIPATING ENTITY.—The term ‘par4 ticipating entity’ means an eligible entity that has 

5 entered into an agreement under this section. 

6 ‘‘(6) REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURE.—The term 

7 ‘repetitive loss structure’ has the meaning given the 

8 term in section 1370 of the National Flood Insur9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121). 

10 ‘‘(7) SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURE.— 

11 The term ‘severe repetitive loss structure’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 1366(h) of the 

13 National Flood Insurance Act (42 U.S.C. 4104c(h)). 

14 ‘‘(8) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

15 ‘wildland-urban interface’ has the meaning given the 

16 term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restora17 tion Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

18 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 

20 of fiscal years 2020 and 2021.’’. 

Æ 


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