II 

Calendar No. 439 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3512 

[Report No. 117–128] 

To establish an advisory group to encourage and foster collaborative efforts 

among individuals and entities engaged in disaster recovery relating 

to debris removal, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 13 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 2022 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

JULY 12, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish an advisory group to encourage and foster collaborative efforts among individuals and entities engaged 

in disaster recovery relating to debris removal, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Contract Im3 provement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT ON DEBRIS REMOVAL. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

8 Emergency Management Agency. 

9 (2) DEBRIS REMOVAL PROGRAM.—The term 

10 ‘‘debris removal program’’ means the program estab11 lished under section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford 

12 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 5173). 

14 (b) ADVISORY WORKING GROUP.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es16 tablish an advisory working group to encourage and 

17 foster collaborative efforts among individuals and en18 tities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris 

19 removal. 

20 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory working 

21 group established under paragraph (1) shall be com22 prised of— 

23 (A) representatives from the Federal 

24 Emergency Management Agency; 

25 (B) representatives from the Army Corps 

26 of Engineers; 


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1 (C) representatives of States and units of 

2 local government; and 

3 (D) subject matter experts in debris re4 moval, including not less than 1 representative 

5 from the debris services contractor industry. 

6 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consulta8 tion with the advisory working group established under 

9 subsection (b)(1), shall— 

10 (1) determine whether guidance and procedures 

11 in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act with 

12 respect to the oversight and cost of debris removal 

13 contracts entered into under the debris removal pro14 gram are sufficient; and 

15 (2) if the Administrator, in consultation with 

16 the advisory working group established under sub17 section (b)(1), determines that the guidance and 

18 procedures described in paragraph (1) are insuffi19 cient, develop and implement additional such guid20 ance and procedures, including— 

21 (A) a requirement that each State and unit 

22 of local government receiving a grant under the 

23 debris removal program take the primary role 

24 in the oversight function of debris removal; 


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1 (B) guidance for State and local debris 

2 monitors relating to debris removal operations, 

3 debris operations oversight, and contractor 

4 oversight, including contractor monitoring; 

5 (C) checklists, job aids, eligibility require6 ments, contract requirements, debris manage7 ment planning guidance, sample bids, and other 

8 items, as determined necessary by the Adminis9 trator, for State and local debris monitors; 

10 (D) a list of the specific debris removal 

11 monitoring responsibilities expected to be com12 pleted by a State that receives a grant under 

13 the debris removal grant program; 

14 (E) a list of the specific debris removal 

15 monitoring responsibilities expected to be com16 pleted by recipients of a grant under the debris 

17 removal grant program; and 

18 (F) guidance for State and units of local 

19 government to reduce duplication and ineffi20 ciency in debris removal contracting across the 

21 Federal Government, State governments, and 

22 units of local government. 

23 (d) TRAINING.—The Administrator shall conduct 

24 outreach to States, Tribal governments, and units of local 


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1 government with respect to any guidance or support mate2 rials developed under this section. 

3 (e) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall conduct a study that— 

6 (1) studies the use and adoption rate of ad7 vance contracts for debris removal by States and 

8 units of local government; 

9 (2) identifies the benefits of advance contracts 

10 for debris removal; 

11 (3) with respect to the reporting and informa12 tion sharing processes, as of the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, for advance contracts for debris removal 

14 between States and units of local government and 

15 Federal partners— 

16 (A) assesses those processes; and 

17 (B) makes any necessary recommendations 

18 for those processes; 

19 (4) studies— 

20 (A) the process for setting Federal reim21 bursement rates for the debris removal pro22 gram; 

23 (B) the use of penalties, as of the date of 

24 enactment of this Act, for violations of law and 

25 regulations relating to debris removal; and 


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1 (C) fraud, waste, and abuse relating to the 

2 debris removal program, including case studies; 

3 and 

4 (5) recommends improvements to oversight and 

5 fraud prevention across the debris removal program. 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Contract Im8 provement Act’’. 

9 SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT ON DEBRIS REMOVAL. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis12 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

13 Emergency Management Agency. 

14 (2) DEBRIS REMOVAL PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘de15 bris removal program’’ means the program established 

16 under section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

17 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 5173). 

19 (b) ADVISORY WORKING GROUP.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es21 tablish an advisory working group to encourage and 

22 foster collaborative efforts among individuals and en23 tities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris 

24 removal. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory working group 

2 established under paragraph (1) shall be comprised 

3 of— 

4 (A) representatives from the Federal Emer5 gency Management Agency; 

6 (B) representatives from the Army Corps of 

7 Engineers; 

8 (C) representatives from the Natural Re9 sources Conservation Service of the Department 

10 of Agriculture; 

11 (D) representatives of States, Tribal govern12 ments, and units of local government; and 

13 (E) subject matter experts in debris re14 moval, including not less than 1 representative 

15 from the debris services contractor industry. 

16 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation 

18 with the advisory working group established under sub19 section (b)(1), shall— 

20 (1) determine whether guidance and procedures 

21 in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act with 

22 respect to the oversight and cost of debris removal 

23 contracts entered into under the debris removal pro24 gram are sufficient; and 


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1 (2) if the Administrator, in consultation with the 

2 advisory working group established under subsection 

3 (b)(1), determines that the guidance and procedures 

4 described in paragraph (1) are insufficient, develop 

5 and implement additional such guidance and proce6 dures, including— 

7 (A) a requirement that each State, Tribal 

8 government, and unit of local government receiv9 ing a grant under the debris removal program 

10 take the primary role in the oversight function 

11 of debris removal; 

12 (B) guidance for State, Tribal, and local de13 bris monitors relating to debris removal oper14 ations, debris operations oversight, and con15 tractor oversight, including contractor moni16 toring; 

17 (C) guidance for streamlining the reim18 bursement of debris costs overall, including de19 bris management planning and support for resil20 ience in debris removal operations; 

21 (D) checklists, job aids, eligibility require22 ments, contract requirements, debris manage23 ment planning guidance, sample bids, and other 

24 items, as determined necessary by the Adminis25 trator, for State and local debris monitors; 


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1 (E) a list of the specific debris removal 

2 monitoring responsibilities expected to be com3 pleted by a State that receives a grant under the 

4 debris removal program; 

5 (F) a list of the specific debris removal 

6 monitoring responsibilities expected to be com7 pleted by recipients of a grant under the debris 

8 removal program; and 

9 (G) guidance for State and Tribal govern10 ments and units of local government to reduce 

11 duplication and inefficiency in debris removal 

12 contracting across the Federal Government, State 

13 and Tribal governments, and units of local gov14 ernment. 

15 (d) TRAINING.—The Administrator shall conduct out16 reach to States, Tribal governments, and units of local gov17 ernment with respect to any guidance or support materials 

18 developed under this section. 

19 (e) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

21 United States shall conduct a study that— 

22 (1) studies the use and adoption rate of advance 

23 contracts for debris removal by selected States, Tribal 

24 governments, and units of local government; 


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1 (2) identifies the benefits and challenges of ad2 vance contracts for debris removal; 

3 (3) with respect to the reporting and information 

4 sharing processes, as of the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, for advance contracts for debris removal between 

6 States and units of local government and Federal 

7 partners— 

8 (A) assesses those processes; and 

9 (B) makes any necessary recommendations 

10 for those processes; 

11 (4) studies— 

12 (A) the process for setting Federal reim13 bursement rates for the debris removal program; 

14 (B) the use of penalties, as of the date of en15 actment of this Act, for violations of law and 

16 regulations relating to debris removal; and 

17 (C) fraud, waste, and abuse relating to the 

18 debris removal program, including case studies; 

19 and 

20 (5) makes any necessary recommendations for 

21 improvements to oversight and fraud prevention 

22 across the debris removal program. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 439 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3512 

[Report No. 117–128] 

A BILL 

To establish an advisory group to encourage and 

debris removal, and for other purposes. entities engaged in disaster recovery relating to foster collaborative efforts among individuals and 

JULY 12, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS