II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2301 

To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide 

disaster assistance to States, insular areas, units of general local government, and Indian tribes under a community development block grant 

disaster recovery program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide disaster assistance to States, insular 

areas, units of general local government, and Indian 

tribes under a community development block grant disaster recovery program, 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 ‘‘Reforming Disaster 

5 Recovery Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESILIENT 

2 COMMUNITIES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 

4 and Urban Development shall establish, within the Office 

5 of Community Planning and Development of the Depart6 ment of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of 

7 Disaster Recovery and Resilient Communities (in this sec8 tion referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 

9 (b) DUTIES.—The Office shall be responsible for— 

10 (1) coordinating with the Office of Policy Devel11 opment and Research of the Department of Housing 

12 and Urban Development on needed research to de13 velop necessary curriculum and policy to build com14 munity resiliency, restore housing and infrastruc15 ture, and stimulate economic revitalization to sup16 port the recovery of low- to moderate-income individ17 uals; 

18 (2) coordinating with relevant Department of 

19 Housing and Urban Development program offices to 

20 support the incorporation of community resiliency 

21 planning and implementation across all department22 supported program activities; 

23 (3) leading and coordinating Department of 

24 Housing and Urban Development activities under 

25 the Housing Recovery Support Function of the Na26 tional Disaster Recovery Framework; 


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1 (4) coordinating Department of Housing and 

2 Urban Development interagency disaster recovery 

3 support activities, including those related to housing, 

4 economic development, infrastructure, and commu5 nity planning and capacity building; 

6 (5) providing annual and periodic disaster miti7 gation and recovery training, incorporating Federal 

8 best practices, to regional and field offices of the De9 partment of Housing and Urban Development; and 

10 (6) providing technical assistance to entities 

11 that are eligible to receive disaster recovery assist12 ance under title I of the Housing and Community 

13 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) 

14 and that demonstrate capacity constraints. 

15 (c) DIVISIONS.—The Office shall contain— 

16 (1) the Resiliency Division, which shall— 

17 (A) develop, coordinate, and maintain the 

18 capacity for disaster resilience and recovery of 

19 recipients of grants from the Department of 

20 Housing and Urban Development; 

21 (B) coordinate and operationalize research 

22 and policies of the Department of Housing and 

23 Urban Development to assist areas in commu24 nity resiliency planning, including— 


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1 (i) hazard mitigation and adaptive 

2 land use planning; 

3 (ii) establishing and carrying out en4 forcement activities and implementing the 

5 latest published editions of relevant con6 sensus-based codes, specifications, and 

7 standards that incorporate the latest resil8 ient designs and establish minimum ac9 ceptable criteria for the design, construc10 tion, and maintenance of residential struc11 tures and facilities that may be eligible for 

12 assistance under this Act for the purpose 

13 of protecting the health, safety, and gen14 eral welfare of the buildings’ users against 

15 disasters; and 

16 (iii) sustainable infrastructure invest17 ments; and 

18 (C) assist areas in the development of ac19 tion plans under section 123 of the Housing 

20 and Community Development Act of 1974, as 

21 added by section 3 of this Act; and 

22 (2) the Recovery Division, which shall oversee 

23 the disaster recovery policy and response of the De24 partment of Housing and Urban Development. 


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1 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT DIS2 ASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Housing and Com4 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in section 104(b) (42 U.S.C. 5304(b)), by 

7 inserting ‘‘or 123’’ after ‘‘106’’ each place that term 

8 appears; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 123. CDBG-DISASTER RECOVERY ASSISTANCE. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a State; 

14 ‘‘(B) an insular area; 

15 ‘‘(C) a unit of general local government; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(D) an Indian tribe; 

18 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘homeless’ and ‘at risk of home19 lessness’ have the meanings given those terms in 

20 sections 103 and 401, respectively, of the McKinney21 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302, 

22 11360; and 

23 ‘‘(3) the term ‘public housing agency’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 3(b) of the United 

25 States Housing Act of 1937. 

26 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY; USE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

2 assistance under this section to eligible entities for 

3 necessary expenses for activities authorized under 

4 this title related to disaster relief, resiliency, long5 term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and 

6 housing, mitigation, and economic revitalization in 

7 the most impacted and distressed areas resulting 

8 from a major disaster declared pursuant to the Rob9 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As10 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION FOR MITIGATION.—In deter12 mining the amount allocated under this section for 

13 any grantee, the Secretary shall include an addi14 tional amount for mitigation that is not less than 45 

15 percent of the amount allocated for such grantee for 

16 unmet needs. 

17 ‘‘(3) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

18 provide an appropriate amount of assistance to eligi19 ble entities outside an area described in paragraph 

20 (1) that receives displaced residents due to a major 

21 disaster declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford 

22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) for the purpose of carrying out 

24 eligible activities to provide housing to and meet 


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1 other disaster recovery needs of those displaced resi2 dents. 

3 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying out eligible 

4 activities with assistance provided under this section, 

5 a grantee shall prioritize activities that address 

6 housing recovery needs and how to better recover 

7 from and withstand future disasters, prolong the life 

8 of housing and infrastructure, use cost-effective 

9 means of preventing harm to people and property, 

10 incorporate protective features, redundancies, energy 

11 savings, and other measures that will assure the 

12 continuation of critical services during future disas13 ters. 

14 ‘‘(c) TIMING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) DEADLINES FOR ALLOCATION OF

16 AMOUNTS.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), 

17 after the enactment of an appropriations Act making 

18 funds available for assistance under this section, the 

19 Secretary shall allocate for grantees, based on the 

20 best available data— 

21 ‘‘(A) not less than one-third of funds pro22 vided for assistance under this section, within 

23 60 days of the date of enactment of that Act; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) all remaining unallocated funds to be 

2 awarded to grantees, within 180 days of such 

3 date of enactment. 

4 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY OF DEADLINES BASED

5 ON INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION.—The deadlines 

6 under paragraph (1) for allocation of funds shall not 

7 apply in the case of funds made available for assist8 ance under this section until sufficient information 

9 has been made available to the Secretary to deter10 mine unmet recovery needs and make allocations in 

11 accordance with those deadlines. 

12 ‘‘(3) OBLIGATION OF AMOUNTS BY THE SEC13 RETARY.—Subject to subsection (d)(1), the Sec14 retary shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) obligate the amounts allocated for a 

16 grantee over time in accordance with the ap17 proved plan of the grantee; 

18 ‘‘(B) require the grantee to be in substan19 tial compliance with the requirements of this 

20 section before the Secretary obligated additional 

21 amounts; and 

22 ‘‘(C) not later than 90 days after the date 

23 on which the plan of the grantee is approved 

24 under subsection (d), unless the Secretary 

25 makes a public finding that good cause exists 


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1 for a waiver of the requirement, require the 

2 grantee to establish a direct assistance program 

3 and begin processing applications for— 

4 ‘‘(i) a program for homeless assist5 ance for persons experiencing homelessness 

6 prior to or as a result of the major disaster 

7 declared pursuant to the Robert T. Staf8 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); 

10 ‘‘(ii) a program for renter assistance; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iii) a program for homeowners as13 sistance. 

14 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION OF DISASTER BENEFITS

15 AND DATA WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) COORDINATION WITH FEMA.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and 

18 the Administrator of the Federal Emer19 gency Management Agency shall share 

20 with each other, and make publicly avail21 able, any data collected or analyzed during 

22 the course of a disaster recovery for which 

23 assistance is provided under this section, 

24 including, with respect to each census 

25 tract, block group, or block— 


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1 ‘‘(I) all data on damage caused 

2 by the disaster; 

3 ‘‘(II) information on how any 

4 Federal assistance provided in connec5 tion with the disaster is expended; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(III) information regarding the 

8 effect of the disaster on education, 

9 transportation capabilities and de10 pendence, housing needs, displace11 ment, health care, utilities, and other 

12 critical facilities. 

13 ‘‘(ii) BREAKDOWN.—The data shared 

14 and made publicly available under clause 

15 (i) shall be broken down by the smallest 

16 census tract, block group, or block possible 

17 for the data set. 

18 ‘‘(B) DEVELOPMENT OF COMMON APPLICA19 TION.—The Secretary, the Administrator of the 

20 Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 

21 Administrator of the Small Business Adminis22 tration, and the heads of other appropriate 

23 agencies shall develop a common form— 

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1 partment of Housing and Urban Develop2 ment, the Federal Emergency Management 

3 Agency, or the Small Business Administra4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) that can be used and shared by 

6 all agencies providing individual disaster 

7 assistance and by the grantees and sub8 grantees as necessary. 

9 ‘‘(d) PLAN FOR USE OF ASSISTANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

11 after the allocation pursuant to subsection (c)(1)(B) 

12 of the funds made available by an appropriations 

13 Act for assistance under this section, and before the 

14 Secretary obligates any of such funds for a grantee, 

15 the grantee shall submit a plan to the Secretary for 

16 approval detailing the proposed use of all funds, 

17 which shall include, at a minimum— 

18 ‘‘(A) criteria for eligibility for each pro19 posed use of funds, including eligibility limits 

20 on income and geography, and a description of 

21 how the use of such funds will— 

22 ‘‘(i) address unmet needs relating to 

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1 talization in the most impacted and dis2 tressed areas; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide assistance to impacted 

4 households experiencing homelessness or at 

5 risk of homelessness; 

6 ‘‘(B) identification of officials and offices 

7 responsible for administering such funds and 

8 identifying and recovering duplicative benefits; 

9 ‘‘(C) an agreement to share data with Fed10 eral agencies and other providers of disaster re11 lief, which shall include information the grantee 

12 has regarding the matters described in subpara13 graph (B); and 

14 ‘‘(D) a plan to provide case management 

15 services to disaster-impacted residents in identi16 fying, understanding, and accessing available 

17 Federal assistance. 

18 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.—In developing 

19 the plan required under paragraph (1), a grantee 

20 shall, at a minimum— 

21 ‘‘(A) consult with affected residents, stake22 holders, local governments, and public housing 

23 authorities to assess needs; 

24 ‘‘(B) publish the plan in accordance with 

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1 cluding a requirement to prominently post the 

2 plan on the website of the grantee for not less 

3 than 14 days; 

4 ‘‘(C) ensure equal access for individuals 

5 with disabilities and individuals with limited 

6 English proficiency; and 

7 ‘‘(D) publish the plan in a manner that af8 fords residents, affected local governments, and 

9 other interested parties a reasonable oppor10 tunity to examine the contents of the plan and 

11 provide feedback. 

12 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall, by regu13 lation, specify criteria for the approval of a plan sub14 mitted under paragraph (1), including approval of 

15 substantial amendments to the plan. 

16 ‘‘(4) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall dis17 approve a plan or substantial amendment to a plan 

18 submitted under paragraph (1) if— 

19 ‘‘(A) a plan or substantial amendment does 

20 not meet the approval criteria; 

21 ‘‘(B) based on damage and unmet needs 

22 assessments of the Secretary and the Federal 

23 Emergency Management Agency or such other 

24 information as may be available, the plan or 


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1 amendment does not provide for proportional 

2 allocation of resources— 

3 ‘‘(i) between housing activities and in4 frastructure; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) between homeowners, renters, 

6 and persons experiencing homelessness; 

7 ‘‘(C) the plan does not provide a sufficient 

8 plan for ensuring compliance with the Fair 

9 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); or 

10 ‘‘(D) the plan does not prioritize preserva11 tion or one-for-one replacement of public hous12 ing and other federally subsidized housing that 

13 provides affordable housing for the lowest in14 come households. 

15 ‘‘(5) RESUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall per16 mit a grantee to revise and resubmit a plan that the 

17 Secretary disapproves under paragraph (4). 

18 ‘‘(6) TIMING.—The Secretary shall approve or 

19 disapprove a plan submitted under paragraph (1) 

20 not later than 90 days after the date on which the 

21 plan is submitted to the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(e) FINANCIAL CONTROLS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE SYSTEM.—The Secretary 

24 shall develop and maintain a system to ensure that 

25 each grantee has in place— 


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1 ‘‘(A) proficient financial controls and pro2 curement processes; 

3 ‘‘(B) adequate procedures to ensure that 

4 amounts made available under this section pro5 vide the broadest benefit possible to eligible 

6 families and individuals that are approved for 

7 assistance; 

8 ‘‘(C) adequate procedures to— 

9 ‘‘(i) ensure timely expenditure of 

10 funds; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) detect and prevent waste, fraud, 

12 and abuse of funds; and 

13 ‘‘(D) adequate procedures to ensure the 

14 grantee will maintain comprehensive and pub15 licly accessible websites that make available in16 formation regarding all disaster recovery activi17 ties assisted with such funds, which information 

18 shall include any resulting contract, agreement, 

19 or other disposition of requests for qualification 

20 of assistance or for procurement with such 

21 funds. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The procedures described 

23 in paragraph (1)(D) shall ensure that personally 

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1 sistance provided from funds made available under 

2 this section shall not be made publicly available. 

3 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.—As a condition of mak4 ing any grant, the Secretary shall certify in advance 

5 that the grantee has in place the processes and pro6 cedures required under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity re10 ceiving a grant under this section— 

11 ‘‘(i) may use not more than 5 percent 

12 of the amount of grant funds received, or 

13 not more than such other percentage as 

14 may be established pursuant to subpara15 graph (B), for administrative costs; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) shall document the use of funds 

17 for the purpose described in clause (i) in 

18 accordance with such requirements as the 

19 Secretary shall establish. 

20 ‘‘(B) DISCRETION TO ESTABLISH SLIDING

21 SCALE.—The Secretary may establish a series 

22 of percentage limitations that may be used by 

23 a grantee for administrative costs only if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the percentage limitations are 

2 based on the amount of grant funds re3 ceived by a grantee; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the series provides that the per5 centage that may be so used is lower for 

6 grantees receiving a greater amount of 

7 grant funds and such percentage that may 

8 be used is higher for grantees receiving a 

9 lesser amount of grant funds; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) in no case may a grantee so use 

11 more than 10 percent of grant funds re12 ceived. 

13 ‘‘(2) HUD ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION.—Of any funds made 

15 available for use under this section by any sin16 gle appropriations Act, the Secretary may use 

17 0.5 percent of any such amount for necessary 

18 costs, including information technology costs, of 

19 administering and overseeing the obligation and 

20 expenditure of amounts made available for use 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Any amounts 

23 made available for use in accordance with sub24 paragraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall be transferred to the ac2 count for ‘Program Office Salaries and Ex3 penses—Community Planning and Devel4 opment’ for the Department of Housing 

5 and Urban Development; 

6 ‘‘(ii) shall remain available until ex7 pended; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) may be used for such adminis9 trative costs for administering any funds 

10 appropriated to the Department of Hous11 ing and Urban Development for any dis12 aster and related purposes in any prior or 

13 future Act making funds available for use 

14 under this section, notwithstanding the dis15 aster for which such funds were appro16 priated. 

17 ‘‘(3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Of any funds 

18 made available for use in accordance with paragraph 

19 (2)(A), 10 percent shall be transferred to the Office 

20 of the Inspector General of the Department of Hous21 ing and Urban Development for necessary costs of 

22 audits, reviews, oversight, evaluation, and investiga23 tions relating to amounts made available for use 

24 under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CAPACITY BUILDING.—Of any funds made 

2 available for use under this section, 2 percent may 

3 be made available for capacity building and technical 

4 assistance to support grantees and subgrantees re5 ceiving funds under this section. 

6 ‘‘(5) COMPLIANCE WITH STORM WATER PRO7 TECTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 ensure that any funds made available under 

10 this section for construction, rehabilitation, or 

11 installation of any infrastructure, including 

12 stormwater management infrastructure, will ad13 vance long-term resilience to natural hazards 

14 and be effective in protecting the infrastructure 

15 from future damages for the expected useful 

16 lifetime of the infrastructure. 

17 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION AND CONTINUATION

18 OF SERVICES.—In approving funding for infra19 structure, the Secretary shall require a grantee 

20 to— 

21 ‘‘(i) describe how the activities de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) will align with 

23 other planned State and local capital in24 vestments and help assure continuation of 

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1 and moderate-income households, individ2 uals with disabilities, and other individuals 

3 with special needs; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) consider the use of both tradi5 tional and natural infrastructure alter6 natives, alone or in conjunction with each 

7 other, if those alternatives are practicable. 

8 ‘‘(6) FLOOD RISK MITIGATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—Subject to sub10 paragraph (B), the Secretary shall require that 

11 any structure that is located in an area having 

12 special flood hazards and that is newly con13 structed or is undergoing rehabilitation for sub14 stantial damage, for which substantial damage 

15 is repaired, or that is substantially improved, 

16 using amounts made available under this sec17 tion, shall be elevated with the lowest floor, in18 cluding the basement, at the higher of— 

19 ‘‘(i) 2 feet above the base flood level; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(ii) any requirement set forth by the 

22 Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

23 Management Agency. 

24 ‘‘(B) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For rehabilitation 

2 of substantial damage or substantial im3 provement of multifamily housing, the Sec4 retary may approve a proposal submitted 

5 by a grantee for an appropriate, cost-effec6 tive level of elevation above flood heights 

7 that is below the level described in sub8 paragraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—A proposal sub10 mitted under clause (i) shall describe how 

11 the proposed level of elevation will func12 tionally achieve flood protection similar to 

13 or greater than the requirement described 

14 in subparagraph (A) with an alternative 

15 form of mitigation to assure the safety of 

16 residents and property, if applicable. 

17 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION.—In administering any 

18 amounts made available for assistance under this section, 

19 the Secretary— 

20 ‘‘(1) may not allow a grantee to use any such 

21 amounts for any purpose other than the purpose ap22 proved by the Secretary in the plan submitted under 

23 subsection (d)(1) to the Secretary for use of those 

24 amounts; 


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1 ‘‘(2) may not permit a grantee to amend a plan 

2 to retroactively approve a beneficiary’s use of funds 

3 for an eligible activity other than an activity for 

4 which the funds were originally approved in the 

5 plan; and 

6 ‘‘(3) shall prohibit a grantee from delegating, 

7 by contract or otherwise, the responsibility for the 

8 final determination of eligibility. 

9 ‘‘(h) TRAINING FOR GRANT MANAGEMENT FOR SUB10 GRANTEES.—The Secretary shall require each grantee to 

11 provide ongoing training to all staff and subgrantees. 

12 ‘‘(i) PROCUREMENT PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES

13 FOR GRANTEES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) GRANTEE PROCESSES AND PROCE15 DURES.—In procuring property or services to be 

16 paid for in whole or in part with amounts from a 

17 grant under this section, a grantee shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) follow the procurement processes and 

19 procedures of the grantee, but only if the Sec20 retary makes a determination that those proc21 esses and procedures comply with the require22 ments under paragraph (2); or 

23 ‘‘(B) comply with such processes and pro24 cedures as the Secretary shall, by regulation, 

25 establish for purposes of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements under 

2 this paragraph with respect to the procurement 

3 processes and procedures of a grantee are that the 

4 processes and procedures shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) provide for full and open competition 

6 and require cost or price analysis; 

7 ‘‘(B) include requirements for procurement 

8 policies and procedures for subgrantees, based 

9 on full and open competition; 

10 ‘‘(C) specify methods of procurement and 

11 their applicability, but not allow for cost-plus-a12 percentage-of cost or percentage-of-construc13 tion-cost methods of procurement; 

14 ‘‘(D) include standards of conduct gov15 erning employees engaged in the award or ad16 ministration of contracts; and 

17 ‘‘(E) ensure that all purchase orders and 

18 contracts include any clauses required by stat19 ute or implementing regulation. 

20 ‘‘(3) NONCOMPLIANCE.—In the case of a grant21 ee for which the Secretary finds pursuant to para22 graph (1)(A) that the procurement processes and 

23 procedures of the grantee do not comply with para24 graph (2), the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provide the grantee with specific writ2 ten notice of the elements of noncompliance and 

3 the changes necessary to those processes and 

4 procedures to provide for compliance; 

5 ‘‘(B) provide the grantee a reasonable pe6 riod of time to come into compliance; and 

7 ‘‘(C) during the period of time described in 

8 subparagraph (B), allow the grantee to proceed 

9 with procuring property and services paid for in 

10 whole or in part with amounts from a grant 

11 under this section in compliance with the pro12 curement processes and procedures of the 

13 grantee, but only if the Secretary periodically 

14 affirmatively determines that the grantee is 

15 making a good faith effort to effectuate compli16 ance with the requirements of paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(j) TREATMENT OF CDBG ALLOCATIONS.— 

18 Amounts made available for use under this section shall 

19 not be considered relevant to the non-disaster formula al20 locations made pursuant to section 106. 

21 ‘‘(k) WAIVERS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—Subject to the other provi23 sions of this section, in administering amounts made 

24 available for use under this section, the Secretary 

25 may waive, or specify alternative requirements for, 


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1 any provision of any statute or regulation that the 

2 Secretary administers in connection with the obliga3 tion by the Secretary or the use by the recipient of 

4 those funds (except for requirements related to fair 

5 housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, flood 

6 risk management, and the environment and except 

7 for the requirements of this section), if the Secretary 

8 makes a public finding that good cause exists for the 

9 waiver or alternative requirement and the waiver or 

10 alternative requirement would not be inconsistent 

11 with the overall purpose of this title. 

12 ‘‘(2) NOTICE AND PUBLICATION.—Any waiver 

13 of or alternative requirement pursuant to paragraph 

14 (1) shall not take effect before the expiration of the 

15 15-day period beginning upon the publication of no16 tice in the Federal Register of such waiver or alter17 native requirement. 

18 ‘‘(3) LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME USE.—A 

19 waiver pursuant to paragraph (1) may not reduce 

20 the percentage of funds that is required to be used 

21 for activities that benefit persons of low- and mod22 erate-income to less than 70 percent of the total al23 location, unless the Secretary specifically finds that 

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1 essary to address the housing needs of low- and 

2 moderate-income residents. 

3 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not 

4 waive any provision of this section pursuant to the 

5 authority under paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(l) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ADOPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection 

8 (k)(1), recipients of funds provided under this sec9 tion that use the funds to supplement Federal as10 sistance provided under section 402, 403, 404, 406, 

11 407, 408(c)(4), 428, or 502 of the Robert T. Staf12 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 5170a, 5170b, 5170c, 5172, 5173, 

14 5174(c)(4), 5189f, 5192) may adopt, without review 

15 or public comment, any environmental review, ap16 proval, or permit performed by a Federal agency, 

17 and that adoption shall satisfy the responsibilities of 

18 the recipient with respect to the environmental re19 view, approval, or permit under section 104(g)(1). 

20 ‘‘(2) RELEASE OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

21 section 104(g)(2), the Secretary may, upon receipt 

22 of a request for release of funds and certification, 

23 immediately approve the release of funds for an ac24 tivity or project assisted with amounts made avail25 able for use under this section if the recipient has 


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1 adopted an environmental review, approval, or per2 mit under paragraph (1) or the activity or project is 

3 categorically excluded from review under the Na4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

5 4321 et seq.). 

6 ‘‘(m) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each major disaster for 

8 which assistance is made available under this sec9 tion, the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) collect information regarding all re11 covery activities so assisted, including informa12 tion on applicants and recipients of assistance; 

13 ‘‘(B) make the information described in 

14 subparagraph (A) available to the public and to 

15 the Inspector General for the Department of 

16 Housing and Urban Development on a monthly 

17 basis using uniform data collection practices; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(C) report to Congress regarding those 

20 efforts. 

21 ‘‘(2) FORM.—Information collected and re22 ported by grantees or the Secretary under this sub23 section shall be disaggregated by program, race, in24 come, geography, and all classes of individuals pro25 tected under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 


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1 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et 

2 seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

3 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Fair Housing Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

5 (Public Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 241), and other civil 

6 rights and nondiscrimination protections, with re7 spect to the smallest census tract, block group, or 

8 block possible for the data. 

9 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—In car10 rying out this subsection, the Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall take such actions as may be 

12 necessary to ensure that personally identifiable 

13 information regarding recipients of assistance 

14 provided from funds made available under this 

15 section shall not be made publicly available; and 

16 ‘‘(B) may make full and unredacted infor17 mation available to academic institutions for the 

18 purpose of researching into the equitable dis19 tribution of recovery funds and adherence to 

20 protections described in paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(n) PRE-CERTIFICATION FOR UNITS OF GENERAL

22 LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry 

24 out a program under this subsection to provide for 


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1 units of general local government to pre-certify as el2 igible grantees for assistance under this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible for pre4 certification under the program under this sub5 section, a unit of general local government shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 

7 Secretary the capacity to comply with the re8 quirements of this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) have previously received assistance as 

10 a grantee or subgrantee under this section, or 

11 with amounts made available for the Commu12 nity Development Block Grant—Disaster Re13 covery appropriations account, in connection 

14 with 2 or more major disasters declared pursu15 ant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

16 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

17 et seq.). 

18 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL OF PLANS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) EXPEDITED APPROVAL PROCESSES.— 

20 The Secretary shall establish and maintain 

21 processes for expediting approval of plans for 

22 units of general local government that are pre23 certified under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF PRE-CERTIFICATION.— 

2 Pre-certification pursuant to this subsection 

3 shall not— 

4 ‘‘(i) establish any entitlement to, or 

5 priority or preference for, allocation of 

6 funds made available under this section; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) exempt any grantee from com8 plying with any of the requirements under, 

9 or established pursuant to, subsection (c) 

10 or (d). 

11 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—Pre-certification under the 

12 program under this subsection shall be effective for 

13 a term of 5 years. 

14 ‘‘(o) DEPOSIT OF UNUSED AMOUNTS IN FUND.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any amounts made avail16 able for assistance under this section to grantees re17 main unexpended upon the earlier of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the date that the grantee of such 

19 amounts notifies the Secretary that the grantee 

20 has completed all activities identified in the 

21 grantee’s plan for use of such amounts that was 

22 approved by the Secretary in connection with 

23 the grant; 

24 ‘‘(B) recapture of funds from the grantee 

25 or repayment of funds by the grantee; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) the expiration of the 10-year period 

2 beginning upon the Secretary obligating such 

3 amounts to the grantee, as such period may be 

4 extended pursuant to paragraph (2), 

5 the Secretary shall transfer such unexpended 

6 amounts to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit 

7 into the Community Development Block Grant Dis8 aster Recovery Reserve Fund established under sec9 tion 124, except that the Secretary may, by regula10 tion, permit the grantee to retain amounts needed to 

11 close out the grant. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR USE OF

13 FUNDS.—The period under paragraph (1)(C) shall 

14 be extended by not more than 3 years if the Sec15 retary waives this requirement and submits a writ16 ten justification for the waiver to the Committees on 

17 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

18 the Senate that specifies the period of that exten19 sion. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 124. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT DIS21 ASTER RECOVERY RESERVE FUND. 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

23 Treasury of the United States an account to be known 

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1 covery Reserve Fund (in this section referred to as the 

2 ‘Fund’). 

3 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

5 appropriated to the Fund such sums as may be nec6 essary to carry out the activities authorized under 

7 this Act, to remain available until expended, except 

8 that not more than $50,000,000 is authorized to be 

9 appropriated for the first fiscal year beginning after 

10 the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 

11 of this section, and each fiscal year thereafter. 

12 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—Amounts made available 

13 through section 106(c)(4) by actions taken under 

14 section 104(e) or 111 may be transferred to the 

15 Fund, to remain available until expended. 

16 ‘‘(c) USE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), amounts in the Fund shall be available 

19 only for providing assistance under section 123, but 

20 only to the extent provided in advance in appropria21 tions Acts. 

22 ‘‘(2) HOMELESSNESS ASSISTANCE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An amount deter24 mined by the Secretary, based on available data 

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1 fordable housing needs, and disaster impact, 

2 may be allocated to a grantee within 14 days of 

3 the disaster declaration to serve households ex4 periencing homelessness or at risk of homeless5 ness that are not receiving housing assistance 

6 from the Federal Emergency Management 

7 Agency. 

8 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of law, any assistance pro10 vided under this paragraph shall be determined 

11 to meet the requirements of section 123, includ12 ing benefit to low-income persons, if the assist13 ance is administered in compliance with pro14 gram requirements under paragraphs (4) and 

15 (5) of section 415(a) of the McKinney-Vento 

16 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11374(a)). 

17 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Office of 

18 Block Grant Assistance in the Office of Com19 munity Planning and Development of the De20 partment of Housing and Urban Development 

21 shall, in coordination with the Office of Special 

22 Needs Assistance Programs of the Department, 

23 administer all related funds provided under this 

24 section that are intended to serve individuals 

25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.’’. 


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1 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

2 (1) PROPOSED RULES.—Not later than the 6 

3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

4 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

5 shall issue proposed rules to carry out sections 123 

6 and 124 of the Housing and Community Develop7 ment Act of 1974, as added by the amendment 

8 made by subsection (a) of this section, and shall pro9 vide a 90-day period for submission of public com10 ments on those proposed rules. 

11 (2) FINAL RULES.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 of Housing and Urban Development shall issue final 

14 regulations to carry out sections 123 and 124 of the 

15 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, 

16 as added by the amendment made by subsection (a) 

17 of this section. 

18 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COORDINATING EMERGENCY AND 

19 LONG-TERM HOUSING NEEDS. 

20 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop22 ment, in consultation with the Administrator of the Fed23 eral Emergency Management Agency and the Secretary 

24 of Agriculture, shall submit to the Committee on Banking, 

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1 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Representa2 tives a report on policies to improve the transition from 

3 emergency disaster housing response to long-term housing 

4 recovery. 

5 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT ON ALLOCATION OF DISASTER BENE6 FITS. 

7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

9 shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

10 Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Finan11 cial Services of the House of Representatives a com12 prehensive report that includes— 

13 (1) a review of disaster-related housing benefits 

14 administered by the Federal Emergency Manage15 ment Agency, the Department of Housing and 

16 Urban Development, and the Department of Agri17 culture; 

18 (2) with respect to the 10-year period preceding 

19 the report, an analysis of the distribution of the ben20 efits described in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) between homeowners and renters; 

22 (B) between individuals that are— 

23 (i) extremely low-income, defined as 0 

24 to 30 percent of the area median income; 


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1 (ii) very low-income, defined as 30 to 

2 50 percent of the area median income; 

3 (iii) lower-income, defined as 50 to 80 

4 percent of the area median income; and 

5 (iv) moderate-income, defined as 80 to 

6 120 percent of the area median income; 

7 and 

8 (C) between housing and infrastructure; 

9 (3) an analysis of how the distribution of bene10 fits described in paragraph (2) met the needs identi11 fied in unmet needs assessments and other available 

12 data; 

13 (4) an analysis of the impact of disasters on the 

14 shortage of affordable rental housing stock and fed15 erally assisted housing; 

16 (5) an analysis of the impact of disasters and 

17 Federal recovery efforts on all protected classes cov18 ered by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

19 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), 

20 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

21 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Fair Housing Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

23 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and other civil 

24 rights protections, including those related to race, 


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1 ethnicity, income, economic status, age, disability, 

2 and gender; and 

3 (6) an analysis of mitigation and resiliency ap4 proaches with respect to disaster-related housing 

5 benefits. 

Æ 


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