I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5973 

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

Act to require a report on risk transfer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2018 

Mr. ROSS 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 require a report on risk transfer, 

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 Assistance 

5 Risk Transfer Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RISK TRANSFER. 

7 Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

8 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 328. RISK TRANSFER. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this section, the Administrator of the 

4 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall solicit pro5 posals and may secure contracts from private entities pro6 viding insurance, reinsurance, or capital market invest7 ments to transfer a portion of the risk of assistance pro8 vided under any or all of sections 403, 404, 406, 407, 408, 

9 and 428, and of title V. 

10 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—The Administrator 

11 shall deposit any funds collected as the result of transfer 

12 of risk arrangements into the Disaster Relief Fund and 

13 such funds are available for any purpose for which such 

14 Fund may be used. 

15 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

16 date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 

17 submit to Congress a report that— 

18 ‘‘(1) provides a description of the proposals de19 scribed in subsection (a) that the Administrator re20 ceived; 

21 ‘‘(2) assesses the proposals described in para22 graph (1) with respect to the capacity of private re23 insurance, capital, and financial markets to assist 

24 communities in managing the full range of financial 

25 risks associated with major disasters; 


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1 ‘‘(3) assesses whether the rates and terms of 

2 the proposals described in paragraph (1) are— 

3 ‘‘(A) reasonable and appropriate; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in an amount sufficient to ensure the 

5 Disaster Relief Fund has the resources nec6 essary to respond to major disasters; 

7 ‘‘(4) identifies the proposals, if any, that con8 tain rates and terms that satisfy the requirements of 

9 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3); and 

10 ‘‘(5) describes the extent to which the proposals 

11 described in paragraph (4) would minimize the likeli12 hood that the Disaster Relief Fund would require 

13 emergency supplemental appropriations. 

14 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY TO IMPLEMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may an16 nually transfer a portion of the risk of the payments 

17 that may be made pursuant to this section to private 

18 insurance, reinsurance, or the capital markets, or 

19 any combination thereof, pursuant to the rates and 

20 terms of any proposals described in subsection 

21 (c)(4), if the Administrator determines that transfer22 ring such a portion is in the public interest. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ACQUISITION

24 REGULATION.—Any transfer of risk pursuant to 

25 paragraph (1) may be entered into without regard to 


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1 the provisions of chapter 1 of title 48, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations. 

3 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The author4 ity described in paragraph (1) expires 5 years after 

5 the date on which the Administrator first transfers 

6 a portion of risk pursuant to such paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(4) MULTIYEAR CONTRACTS.—Nothing in this 

8 subsection may be construed to prevent or prohibit 

9 the Administrator from entering into contracts hav10 ing a duration longer than 1 year. 

11 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

12 date on which the Administrator identifies a proposal that 

13 contains rates and terms that satisfy the requirements of 

14 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (c)(3), the Ad15 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report detailing— 

16 ‘‘(1) whether the Administrator adopted the 

17 proposal; and 

18 ‘‘(2) the reasons the Administrator adopted or 

19 did not adopt such proposal.’’. 

Æ 


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