I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3646 

To direct the Secretary of the Army to give priority to projects and studies 

for hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2013 

Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Army to give priority to 

projects and studies for hurricane and storm damage 

risk reduction, 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 ‘‘Extreme Weather Miti5 gation Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HURRICANE AND STORM DAMAGE RISK REDUCTION 

7 PRIORITIZATION. 

8 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to provide adequate levels of protection to 

2 communities impacted by natural disasters, includ3 ing hurricanes, tropical storms, and other related ex4 treme weather events; and 

5 (2) to expedite critical water resources projects 

6 in communities that have historically been and con7 tinue to remain susceptible to extreme weather 

8 events. 

9 (b) PRIORITY.—For authorized projects and ongoing 

10 feasibility studies with a primary purpose of hurricane and 

11 storm damage risk reduction, the Secretary of the Army 

12 shall give funding priority to projects and ongoing studies 

13 that— 

14 (1) address an imminent threat to life and 

15 property; 

16 (2) prevent storm surge from inundating popu17 lated areas; 

18 (3) prevent the loss of coastal wetlands that 

19 help reduce the impact of storm surge; 

20 (4) protect emergency hurricane evacuation 

21 routes or shelters; 

22 (5) prevent adverse impacts to publicly owned 

23 or funded infrastructure and assets; 

24 (6) minimize disaster relief costs to the Federal 

25 Government; and 


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1 (7) address hurricane and storm damage risk 

2 reduction in an area for which the President de3 clared a major disaster in accordance with section 

4 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

5 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 

6 (c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CURRENTLY AU7 THORIZED PROJECTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

9 (1) submit to the Committee on Environment 

10 and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee 

11 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

12 of Representatives a list of all— 

13 (A) ongoing hurricane and storm damage 

14 reduction feasibility studies that have signed 

15 feasibility cost share agreements and have re16 ceived Federal funds since 2009; and 

17 (B) authorized hurricane and storm dam18 age reduction projects that— 

19 (i) have been authorized for more 

20 than 20 years but are less than 75 percent 

21 complete; or 

22 (ii) are undergoing a post-authoriza23 tion change report, general reevaluation re24 port, or limited reevaluation report; 


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1 (2) identify those projects on the list required 

2 under paragraph (1) that meet the criteria described 

3 in subsection (b); and 

4 (3) provide a plan for expeditiously completing 

5 the projects identified under paragraph (2), subject 

6 to available funding. 

7 (d) PRIORITIZATION OF NEW STUDIES FOR HURRI8 CANE AND STORM DAMAGE RISK REDUCTION.—In select9 ing new studies for hurricane and storm damage reduction 

10 to propose to Congress, the Secretary shall give priority 

11 to studies— 

12 (1) that— 

13 (A) have been recommended in a com14 prehensive hurricane protection study carried 

15 out by the Corps of Engineers; or 

16 (B) are included in a State plan or pro17 gram for hurricane, storm damage reduction, 

18 flood control, coastal protection, conservation, 

19 or restoration that is created in consultation 

20 with the Corps of Engineers or other relevant 

21 Federal agencies; and 

22 (2) for areas for which the President declared 

23 a major disaster in accordance with section 401 of 


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1 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer2 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 

Æ 


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