II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 939 

To expedite payments of certain Federal emergency assistance authorized 

pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act, and to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to 

exercise certain authority provided under that Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2005 

Mr. MARTINEZ (for himself and Mr. NELSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

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

the Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise certain 

authority provided under that Act. 

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 Recovery Act 

5 of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED PAYMENTS OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE 

2 FOR DEBRIS REMOVAL AND EMERGENCY 

3 PROTECTIVE MEASURES. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 applicant’’ means— 

7 (A) a State government; 

8 (B) a local government;. 

9 (C) a private nonprofit organization or in10 stitution that owns or operates any private non11 profit educational, utility, emergency, medical, 

12 or custodial care facility, including a facility for 

13 the aged or disabled, or any other facility pro14 viding essential governmental services to the 

15 general public, and such facilities on Indian res16 ervations; and 

17 (D) an Indian tribe or authorized tribal or18 ganization, or an Alaska Native village or orga19 nization (other than an Alaska Native Corpora20 tion), the ownership of which is vested in a pri21 vate individual. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE CLAIM FOR ASSISTANCE.—The 

23 term ‘‘eligible claim for assistance’’ means— 

24 (A) a claim for the clearance, removal, or 

25 disposal of debris (such as trees, sand, gravel, 

26 building components, wreckage, vehicles, and 
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1 personal property), if the debris is the result of 

2 an emergency or major disaster and the clear3 ance, removal, or disposal is necessary— 

4 (i) to eliminate an immediate threat, 

5 as determined by the Secretary of Home6 land Security, to human life, public health, 

7 or safety; 

8 (ii) to eliminate an immediate threat, 

9 as determined by the Secretary, of signifi10 cant damage to public or private property; 

11 (iii) to ensure the economic recovery 

12 of the community affected by the emer13 gency or major disaster to the benefit of 

14 the community and any other community, 

15 as determined by the Secretary; or 

16 (iv) to ensure the provision of tem17 porary public transportation service in the 

18 community affected by the emergency or 

19 major disaster pursuant to section 419 of 

20 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emer21 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5186); 

22 (B) an action taken by an applicant before, 

23 during, or after an emergency or major disaster 

24 that is necessary— 
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1 (i) to eliminate or reduce an imme2 diate threat, as determined by the Sec3 retary of Homeland Security, to human 

4 life, public health, or safety; or 

5 (ii) to eliminate or reduce an imme6 diate hazard, as determined by the Sec7 retary, that threatens significant damage 

8 to public or private property; or 

9 (C) any other claim that the Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security determines to be appro11 priate. 

12 (3) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ has 

13 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

14 Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assist15 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

16 (4) MAJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis17 aster’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

18 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emer19 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

20 (b) EXPEDITED PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Notwith21 standing the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

22 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (in23 cluding any regulation promulgated pursuant to that Act), 

24 the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the 

25 Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
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1 shall pay to an eligible applicant, in accordance with sub2 section (c), 50 percent of the Federal share of assistance 

3 that the applicant is eligible to receive under section 

4 403(b), 407(d), or 503 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b(b), 

5 5173(d), 5193). 

6 (c) DATE OF PAYMENT.—A claim described in sub7 section (b) shall be paid not later than 60 days after the 

8 date on which the applicant files an eligible claim for as9 sistance. 

10 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ENSURE DEBRIS CLEARANCE, 

11 REMOVAL, AND DISPOSAL FROM EMERGENCY 

12 ACCESS ROADS. 

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

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

15 road that requires access by emergency personnel, includ16 ing firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel, or 

17 any other entity identified by the Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security that provides an emergency service after a dec19 laration of an emergency or major disaster (as defined in 

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

21 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)). 

22 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Any reimbursement authorized 

23 under section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re24 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) for 

25 clearing and removing debris shall include reimbursement 
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1 for clearing, removing, and disposing of debris from any 

2 emergency access road. 

3 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF DEBRIS REMOVAL FROM PRIVATE 

4 LAND AS ELIGIBLE CLAIM FOR FEDERAL AS5 SISTANCE. 

6 Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis7 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

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

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

11 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(iii) the removal, clearance, and dis14 posal of debris from private property that 

15 is the result of an emergency or major dis16 aster.’’. 

Æ