I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 939 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 27, 2005 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

AN ACT 

To expedite payments of certain Federal emergency assistance authorized pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, to authorize 

the reimbursement under that Act of certain expenditures, 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 ‘‘Debris Removal Act 

5 of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED PAYMENTS. 

2 (a) EXPEDITED PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Notwith3 standing the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

4 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (in5 cluding any regulation promulgated pursuant to that Act), 

6 the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the 

7 Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

8 shall pay to an eligible applicant, in accordance with sub9 section (b), 50 percent of the Federal share of assistance 

10 that the applicant is eligible to receive under section 407 

11 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5173). 

12 (b) DATE OF PAYMENT.—A claim described in sub13 section (a) shall be paid not later than 60 days after the 

14 date on which the applicant files an eligible claim for as15 sistance. 

16 SEC. 3. DEBRIS CLEARANCE, REMOVAL, AND DISPOSAL 

17 FROM EMERGENCY ACCESS ROADS. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY ACCESS ROAD.—In 

19 this section, the term ‘‘emergency access road’’ means a 

20 road that requires access by emergency personnel, includ21 ing firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel, or 

22 any other entity identified by the Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security that provides an emergency service after a dec24 laration of an emergency or major disaster (as defined in 

25 section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

26 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)). 
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1 (b) REIMBURSEMENT AUTHORIZED.—Any reim2 bursement authorized under section 407 of the Robert T. 

3 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 5173) for clearing and removing debris may 

5 include reimbursement for clearing, removing, and dis6 posing of debris from any emergency access road. 

7 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF DEBRIS REMOVAL AS ELIGIBLE 

8 CLAIM FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. 

9 Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis10 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

12 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 

14 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

16 ‘‘(iii) the removal of debris and wreck17 age resulting from a major disaster from 

18 owner occupied private residential prop19 erty, utilities, and residential infrastruc20 ture (such as a private access route) as 

21 necessary for a safe and sanitary living or 

22 functioning condition.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. COST SHARE. 

24 For a period of not less than 180 days after the date 

25 of declaration of an emergency or major disaster (as de-
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1 fined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

2 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)) 

3 during the period beginning on August 25, 2005 through 

4 December 31, 2005, the Federal share of assistance pro5 vided to eligible applicants for debris removal under sec6 tion 407 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) shall be 100 per7 cent. 

8 SEC. 6. GUIDELINES FOR REIMBURSEMENT. 

9 In light of concerns regarding inconsistent policy 

10 memoranda and guidelines issued to counties and commu11 nities affected by the 2004 hurricane season, the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security, acting through the Under Sec13 retary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, shall 

14 provide clear, concise, and uniform guidelines for the reim15 bursement to any county or government entity affected by 

16 a hurricane of the costs of hurricane debris removal. 

17 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY; TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

18 This Act and the authority provided by this Act (in19 cluding by any amendment made by this Act) shall— 

20 (1) apply to each major disaster declared in ac21 cordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford 

22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 5170) during calendar year 2005; and 
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1 (2) terminate on the date that is 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate October 27, 2005. 

Attest: EMILY J. REYNOLDS, 

Secretary.