I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5175 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to establish a pilot grant program for mobile pet shelters during emergencies and major disasters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 8, 2023 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. TITUS, Mr. MAST, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CARSON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a pilot grant program for 

mobile pet shelters during emergencies and major disasters. 

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 ‘‘Providing Essential 

5 Temporary Shelter Assistance For Emergencies Act of 

6 2023’’ or the ‘‘PETSAFE Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

5 Emergency Management Agency. 

6 (2) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 

7 means an emergency declared by the President 

8 under title V of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re9 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191 

10 et seq.). 

11 (3) MAJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis12 aster’’ means a major disaster declared by the Presi13 dent under title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Dis14 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.). 

16 (4) COMMON HOUSEHOLD PET.—The term 

17 ‘‘common household pet’’ means an animal, includ18 ing a dog, cat, bird, rodent, rabbit, or turtle, that is 

19 kept in the home as a companion animal rather than 

20 for commercial purposes. 

21 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

23 Administrator, in coordination with State, local, and Trib24 al governments, shall establish and conduct a pilot pro25 gram to provide grants for equipping mobile pet shelter 

26 sites for use during emergencies and major disasters. 


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1 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of the pilot 

3 program under this section, the Administrator may 

4 provide funds to State, local, and Tribal govern5 ments to establish a new pet shelter site that is a 

6 mobile unit, which may be a companion animal mo7 bile equipment trailer, to be used in the case of evac8 uation due to emergencies and major disasters. 

9 (2) DUTIES.—The duties of such mobile unit 

10 shall be to— 

11 (A) provide— 

12 (i) immediate and temporary shelter 

13 to common household pets in the case of 

14 government directed or ordered evacuation 

15 at embarkation sites in the impacted juris16 diction or shelters or reception sites within 

17 the impacted jurisdiction or a host jurisdic18 tion; or 

19 (ii) provide safe transport of common 

20 household pets that require shelter during 

21 evacuations and relocate pets to a safe lo22 cation; and 

23 (B) facilitate the reunification of common 

24 household pets, including return transport, if 

25 necessary, with the owners of such pets not 


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1 later than 3 weeks after all evacuation warnings 

2 are lifted and disaster-caused congregate shel3 ters operation transition and close. 

4 (3) REPORT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad7 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report 

8 on the effectiveness of the pilot program. 

9 (B) CONTENTS.—The Administrator shall 

10 include in the report required under subpara11 graph (A)— 

12 (i) an assessment of the effectiveness 

13 of the pilot program under this section, in14 cluding consultation with State, local, and 

15 Tribal governments and private nonprofit 

16 organizations with responsibility for care 

17 and sheltering of household pets; 

18 (ii) an assessment of cost savings to 

19 State, local, and Tribal governments and 

20 any benefits to individuals and households 

21 who housed a common household pet with 

22 a mobile shelter under the pilot program; 

23 (iii) findings and conclusions of the 

24 Administrator with respect to the pilot pro25 gram; 


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1 (iv) an assessment of additional au2 thorities needed to aid the Agency in its 

3 mission of providing disaster assistance to 

4 individuals and households with pets, ei5 ther under the pilot program under this 

6 section or other potential programs; and 

7 (v) any recommendations of the Ad8 ministrator for additional authority to con9 tinue or make permanent the pilot pro10 gram. 

11 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM PROJECT APPROVAL. 

12 The authority of the Administrator to approve a 

13 project under this section shall cease on January 1, 2029. 

Æ 


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