I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2592 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by 

encouraging States to adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida (for himself, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. BROWN

of South Carolina, Mr. FILNER, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZBALART of Florida, and Mr. CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to enhance existing programs providing mitigation assistance by encouraging States to 

adopt and actively enforce State building codes, 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 ‘‘Safe Building Code 

5 Incentive Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) mitigation planning is the foundation for 

4 saving lives, protecting residential and commercial 

5 properties, and developing disaster resistant commu6 nities; 

7 (2) recent studies of the performance of build8 ing structures during disasters have demonstrated 

9 that the adoption and active enforcement of State 

10 building codes have greatly reduced residential and 

11 commercial property damage and personal injury re12 sulting from major disasters; 

13 (3) modern building codes govern all aspects of 

14 construction and are designed to ensure that single15 family residential dwellings and commercial struc16 tures are protected from natural disasters; 

17 (4) the people of the United States rely on ac18 tive enforcement of modern building codes for assur19 ance that minimum standards for reducing personal 

20 injuries and property damages have been met in the 

21 buildings they live in, work in, and visit everyday; 

22 (5) active enforcement of building codes plays 

23 an increasingly important role in public safety and 

24 loss prevention of residential and commercial prop25 erty; 


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1 (6) active enforcement of building codes based 

2 on nationally recognized models reduces the need for 

3 public disaster aid, creates sustainable communities, 

4 promotes a level and consistent playing field for de5 sign professionals, suppliers, and builders, and can 

6 contribute to the durability of residential and com7 mercial structures; 

8 (7) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re9 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

10 et seq.), the Federal Emergency Management Agen11 cy provides Federal assistance to States for mitiga12 tion efforts; 

13 (8) it is beneficial and appropriate to expand 

14 Federal mitigation assistance to encourage States to 

15 take a comprehensive and integrated approach to 

16 disaster loss reduction; and 

17 (9) it is beneficial to the Federal Government 

18 and appropriate that Federal mitigation assistance 

19 be used to encourage the adoption and active en20 forcement of State building codes as a disaster miti21 gation strategy under the auspices of a comprehen22 sive disaster loss reduction plan. 

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

24 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) substantially mitigate the occurrence of loss 

2 to residential and commercial property, reduce and 

3 minimize damage when losses to residential and 

4 commercial property occur, improve the quality and 

5 value of residential and commercial property, and re6 duce the need for public disaster aid; 

7 (2) provide incentives for the adoption and ac8 tive enforcement of State building codes; 

9 (3) encourage States to continue their key re10 sponsibility to coordinate all State and local activi11 ties relating to hazard evaluation and mitigation, as 

12 specified in section 201.3(c) of title 44, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations, through the adoption and active 

14 enforcement of State building codes; and 

15 (4) encourage States to require that local gov16 ernments use a current version of a nationally appli17 cable model building code that address natural haz18 ards as a basis for design and construction of State19 sponsored mitigation projects described in section 

20 201.5(b)(4)(iv) of title 44, Code of Federal Regula21 tions. 

22 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

23 Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

24 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara3 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 

4 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

5 an approved State building code, the President may 

6 increase the maximum total of contributions under 

7 this section for the major disaster, as specified in 

8 subsection (a) and section 322(e), by an amount 

9 equal to 4 percent of the estimated aggregate 

10 amount of grants to be made (less any associated 

11 administrative costs) under this Act with respect to 

12 the major disaster. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in14 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State 

15 shall submit its State building code to the President 

16 for approval. 

17 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The President shall approve 

18 a State building code submitted under paragraph (2) 

19 if the President determines that the building code— 

20 ‘‘(A) is consistent with the most recent 

21 version of a nationally recognized model build22 ing code; 

23 ‘‘(B) has been adopted by the State within 

24 6 years of the most recent version of the na25 tionally recognized model building code; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

2 building code as a minimum standard. 

3 ‘‘(4) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The President, act4 ing through the Administrator, shall set appropriate 

5 standards, by regulation, for the periodic update, re6 submittal, and approval of a State building code ap7 proved by the President in accordance with para8 graph (3) that are consistent with similar require9 ments related to mitigation planning under section 

10 322. 

11 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol12 lowing definitions apply: 

13 ‘‘(A) ACTIVELY ENFORCING.—The term 

14 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic15 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

16 code in the process of examination and approval 

17 of construction plans, specifications, and tech18 nical data and the inspection of new construc19 tion or renovation. 

20 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

21 BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog22 nized model building code’ means a building 

23 code for residential and commercial construc24 tion and construction materials that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

2 by a code organization in an open con3 sensus type forum with input from na4 tional experts; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

6 design standards that establish minimum 

7 acceptable criteria for the design, construc8 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

9 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

10 protecting the health, safety, and general 

11 welfare of the building’s users against nat12 ural disasters. 

13 ‘‘(C) STATE BUILDING CODE.—The term 

14 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

15 associated standards for residential and com16 mercial construction and construction materials 

17 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

18 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

19 code, or zoning ordinance. At a minimum, such 

20 requirements and associated standards shall 

21 apply— 

22 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

23 of residential building contractors applica24 ble to single-family and 2-family residential 

25 structures; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

2 of engineers, architects, designers, and 

3 commercial building contractors applicable 

4 to the structural safety, design, and con5 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

6 multifamily structures. 

7 ‘‘(6) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

9 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

10 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 

11 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

12 this subsection.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 

14 (a) USES OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSIST15 ANCE.—Section 203(e)(1)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford 

16 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5133(e)(1)(B)) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

20 (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(iv) to establish and operate a build23 ing department and carry out enforcement 

24 activities to implement a State building 

25 code approved under section 404(d).’’. 


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1 (b) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE AWARDS.—Section 

2 203(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(g)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

4 (9); 

5 (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para6 graph (11); and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(10) the extent to which the State or local 

10 government is carrying out activities to implement a 

11 State building code approved under section 404(d) 

12 and’’. 

Æ 


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