108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3980

AN ACT

To establish a National Windstorm Impact

Reduction Program.

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3980

AN ACT

To establish a National Windstorm Impact Reduction

Program.

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 ‘‘National Windstorm

3 Impact Reduction Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, and

7 thunderstorms can cause significant loss of life, in8 jury, destruction of property, and economic and so9 cial disruption. All States and regions are vulnerable

10 to these hazards.

11 (2) The United States currently sustains sev12 eral billion dollars in economic damages each year

13 due to these windstorms. In recent decades, rapid

14 development and population growth in high-risk

15 areas has greatly increased overall vulnerability to

16 windstorms.

17 (3) Improved windstorm impact reduction

18 measures have the potential to reduce these losses

19 through—

20 (A) cost-effective and affordable design

21 and construction methods and practices;

22 (B) effective mitigation programs at the

23 local, State, and national level;

24 (C) improved data collection and analysis

25 and impact prediction methodologies;
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1 (D) engineering research on improving new

2 structures and retrofitting existing ones to bet3 ter withstand windstorms, atmospheric-related

4 research to better understand the behavior and

5 impact of windstorms on the built environment,

6 and subsequent application of those research re7 sults; and

8 (E) public education and outreach.

9 (4) There is an appropriate role for the Federal

10 Government in supporting windstorm impact reduc11 tion. An effective Federal program in windstorm im12 pact reduction will require interagency coordination,

13 and input from individuals, academia, the private

14 sector, and other interested non-Federal entities.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this Act:

17 (1) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

18 the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

19 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the States

20 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the

21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States

22 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Com23 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and

24 any other territory or possession of the United

25 States.
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1 (3) The term ‘‘windstorm’’ means any storm

2 with a damaging or destructive wind component,

3 such as a hurricane, tropical storm, tornado, or

4 thunderstorm.

5 SEC. 4. NATIONAL WINDSTORM IMPACT REDUCTION PRO6 GRAM.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Na8 tional Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (in this Act

9 referred to as the ‘‘Program’’).

10 (b) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the Program is the

11 achievement of major measurable reductions in losses of

12 life and property from windstorms. The objective is to be

13 achieved through a coordinated Federal effort, in coopera14 tion with other levels of government, academia, and the

15 private sector, aimed at improving the understanding of

16 windstorms and their impacts and developing and encour17 aging implementation of cost-effective mitigation meas18 ures to reduce those impacts.

19 (c) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—Not later than

20 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Direc21 tor shall establish an Interagency Working Group con22 sisting of representatives of the National Science Founda23 tion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra24 tion, the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

25 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other
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1 Federal agencies as appropriate. The Director shall des2 ignate an agency to serve as Chair of the Working Group

3 and be responsible for the planning, management, and co4 ordination of the Program, including budget coordination.

5 Specific agency roles and responsibilities under the Pro6 gram shall be defined in the implementation plan required

7 under subsection (e). General agency responsibilities shall

8 include the following:

9 (1) The National Institute of Standards and

10 Technology shall support research and development

11 to improve building codes and standards and prac12 tices for design and construction of buildings, struc13 tures, and lifelines.

14 (2) The National Science Foundation shall sup15 port research in engineering and the atmospheric

16 sciences to improve the understanding of the behav17 ior of windstorms and their impact on buildings,

18 structures, and lifelines.

19 (3) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad20 ministration shall support atmospheric sciences re21 search to improve the understanding of the behavior

22 of windstorms and their impact on buildings, struc23 tures, and lifelines.

24 (4) The Federal Emergency Management Agen25 cy shall support the development of risk assessment
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1 tools and effective mitigation techniques, windstorm2 related data collection and analysis, public outreach,

3 information dissemination, and implementation of

4 mitigation measures consistent with the Agency’s

5 all-hazards approach.

6 (d) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Program shall consist

8 of three primary mitigation components: improved

9 understanding of windstorms, windstorm impact as10 sessment, and windstorm impact reduction. The

11 components shall be implemented through activities

12 such as data collection and analysis, risk assess13 ment, outreach, technology transfer, and research

14 and development. To the extent practicable, research

15 activities authorized under this Act shall be peer-re16 viewed, and the components shall be designed to be

17 complementary to, and avoid duplication of, other

18 public and private hazard reduction efforts.

19 (2) UNDERSTANDING OF WINDSTORMS.—Activi20 ties to enhance the understanding of windstorms

21 shall include research to improve knowledge of and

22 data collection on the impact of severe wind on

23 buildings, structures, and infrastructure.
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1 (3) WINDSTORM IMPACT ASSESSMENT.—Activi2 ties to improve windstorm impact assessment shall

3 include—

4 (A) development of mechanisms for col5 lecting and inventorying information on the per6 formance of buildings, structures, and infra7 structure in windstorms and improved collection

8 of pertinent information from sources, including

9 the design and construction industry, insurance

10 companies, and building officials;

11 (B) research, development, and technology

12 transfer to improve loss estimation and risk as13 sessment systems; and

14 (C) research, development, and technology

15 transfer to improve simulation and computa16 tional modeling of windstorm impacts.

17 (4) WINDSTORM IMPACT REDUCTION.—Activi18 ties to reduce windstorm impacts shall include—

19 (A) development of improved outreach and

20 implementation mechanisms to translate exist21 ing information and research findings into cost22 effective and affordable practices for design and

23 construction professionals, and State and local

24 officials;
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1 (B) development of cost-effective and af2 fordable windstorm-resistant systems, struc3 tures, and materials for use in new construction

4 and retrofit of existing construction; and

5 (C) outreach and information dissemina6 tion related to cost-effective and affordable con7 struction techniques, loss estimation and risk

8 assessment methodologies, and other pertinent

9 information regarding windstorm phenomena to

10 Federal, State, and local officials, the construc11 tion industry, and the general public.

12 (e) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 1 year

13 after date of enactment of this Act, the Interagency Work14 ing Group shall develop and transmit to the Congress an

15 implementation plan for achieving the objectives of the

16 Program. The plan shall include—

17 (1) an assessment of past and current public

18 and private efforts to reduce windstorm impacts, in19 cluding a comprehensive review and analysis of

20 windstorm mitigation activities supported by the

21 Federal Government;

22 (2) a description of plans for technology trans23 fer and coordination with natural hazard mitigation

24 activities supported by the Federal Government;
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1 (3) a statement of strategic goals and priorities

2 for each Program component area;

3 (4) a description of how the Program will

4 achieve such goals, including detailed responsibilities

5 for each agency; and

6 (5) a description of plans for cooperation and

7 coordination with interested public and private sec8 tor entities in each program component area.

9 (f) BIENNIAL REPORT.—The Interagency Working

10 Group shall, on a biennial basis, and not later than 180

11 days after the end of the preceding 2 fiscal years, transmit

12 a report to the Congress describing the status of the wind13 storm impact reduction program, including progress

14 achieved during the preceding two fiscal years. Each such

15 report shall include any recommendations for legislative

16 and other action the Interagency Working Group con17 siders necessary and appropriate. In developing the bien18 nial report, the Interagency Working Group shall consider

19 the recommendations of the Advisory Committee estab20 lished under section 5.

21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WINDSTORM

22 IMPACT REDUCTION.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish a

24 National Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Re25 duction, consisting of not less than 11 and not more than
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1 15 non-Federal members representing a broad cross sec2 tion of interests such as the research, technology transfer,

3 design and construction, and financial communities; mate4 rials and systems suppliers; State, county, and local gov5 ernments; the insurance industry; and other representa6 tives as designated by the Director.

7 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Advisory Committee shall

8 assess—

9 (1) trends and developments in the science and

10 engineering of windstorm impact reduction;

11 (2) the effectiveness of the Program in carrying

12 out the activities under section 4(d);

13 (3) the need to revise the Program; and

14 (4) the management, coordination, implementa15 tion, and activities of the Program.

16 (c) BIENNIAL REPORT.—At least once every two

17 years, the Advisory Committee shall report to Congress

18 and the Interagency Working Group on the assessment

19 carried out under subsection (b).

20 (d) SUNSET EXEMPTION.—Section 14 of the Federal

21 Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory

22 Committee established under this section.

23 SEC. 6. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

24 Nothing in this Act supersedes any provision of the

25 National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety
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1 Standards Act of 1974. No design, construction method,

2 practice, technology, material, mitigation methodology, or

3 hazard reduction measure of any kind developed under

4 this Act shall be required for a home certified under sec5 tion 616 of the National Manufactured Housing Construc6 tion and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5415),

7 pursuant to standards issued under such Act, without

8 being subject to the consensus development process and

9 rulemaking procedures of that Act.

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 (a) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGEN12 CY.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fed13 eral Emergency Management Agency for carrying out this

14 Act—

15 (1) $8,700,000 for fiscal year 2006; and

16 (2) $9,400,000 for fiscal year 2007.

17 (b) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—From sums

18 otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are author19 ized to be appropriated to the National Science Founda20 tion for carrying out this Act—

21 (1) $8,700,000 for fiscal year 2006; and

22 (2) $9,400,000 for fiscal year 2007.

23 (c) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND

24 TECHNOLOGY.—From sums otherwise authorized to be

25 appropriated, there are authorized to be appropriated to
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1 the National Institute of Standards and Technology for

2 carrying out this Act—

3 (1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and

4 (2) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.

5 (d) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN6 ISTRATION.—From sums otherwise authorized to be ap7 propriated, there are authorized to be appropriated to the

8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for car9 rying out this Act—

10 (1) $2,100,000 for fiscal year 2006; and

11 (2) $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2007.

12 SEC. 8. BIENNIAL REPORT.

13 Section 37(a) of the Science and Engineering Equal

14 Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885d(a)) is amended by

15 striking ‘‘By January 30, 1982, and biennially thereafter’’

16 and inserting ‘‘By January 30 of each odd-numbered

17 year’’.

Passed the House of Representatives July 7, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.