I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3453 

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

Act to make improvements in the provision of Federal disaster assistance, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Mr. SCALISE (for himself and Mr. CAO) 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 make improvements in the provision of Federal disaster assistance, 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 ‘‘Disaster Recovery Im5 provement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

2 Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

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

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara7 tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 

8 effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 

9 an approved State building code, the President may 

10 increase the maximum total of contributions under 

11 this section for the major disaster, as specified in 

12 subsection (a), by an amount equal to 5 percent of 

13 the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be 

14 made (less any associated administrative costs) 

15 under this Act with respect to the major disaster. 

16 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in17 creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State, 

18 at least once every 4 years, shall submit its State 

19 building code to the President for approval. 

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

21 a State building code submitted under paragraph (2) 

22 if the President determines that the building code— 

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

24 version of a nationally recognized model build25 ing code; 


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

2 4 years of the most recent version of the na3 tionally recognized model building code; and 

4 ‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 

5 building code as a minimum standard. 

6 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol7 lowing definitions apply: 

8 ‘‘(A) ACTIVELY ENFORCING.—The term 

9 ‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic10 tional execution of all phases of a State building 

11 code in the process of examination and approval 

12 of construction plans, specifications, and tech13 nical data and the inspection of new construc14 tion or renovation. 

15 ‘‘(B) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MODEL

16 BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog17 nized model building code’ means a building 

18 code for residential and commercial construc19 tion and construction materials that— 

20 ‘‘(i) has been developed and published 

21 by a code organization in an open con22 sensus type forum with input from na23 tional experts; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 

25 design standards that establish minimum 


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1 acceptable criteria for the design, construc2 tion, and maintenance of residential and 

3 commercial buildings for the purpose of 

4 protecting the health, safety, and general 

5 welfare of the building’s users against nat6 ural disasters. 

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

8 ‘State building code’ means requirements and 

9 associated standards for residential and com10 mercial construction and construction materials 

11 that are implemented on a statewide basis by 

12 ordinance, resolution, law, housing or building 

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

14 requirements and associated standards shall 

15 apply— 

16 ‘‘(i) to construction-related activities 

17 of residential building contractors applica18 ble to single-family and two-family residen19 tial structures; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) to construction-related activities 

21 of engineers, architects, designers, and 

22 commercial building contractors applicable 

23 to the structural safety, design, and con24 struction of commercial, industrial, and 

25 multifamily structures. 


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1 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

3 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

4 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 

5 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

6 this subsection.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. EXPEDITED PAYMENTS. 

8 Section 406 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

9 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172) is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED PAYMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) GRANT ASSISTANCE.—In making a con13 tribution under subsection (a)(1), the President shall 

14 provide not less than 50 percent of the President’s 

15 initial estimate of the Federal share of assistance as 

16 an initial payment in accordance with paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) DATE OF PAYMENT.—Not later than 60 

18 days after the date of the estimate described in 

19 paragraph (1), and not later than 90 days after the 

20 date on which the State or local government or 

21 owner or operator of a private nonprofit facility ap22 plies for assistance under this section, the initial 

23 payment described in paragraph (1) shall be paid.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEBRIS REMOVAL. 

2 (a) DEBRIS MANAGEMENT PLANS.—Section 407(d) 

3 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

4 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173(d)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: ‘‘The Federal share shall be in6 creased by 5 percent for States and local governments that 

7 (1) have a debris management plan approved by the Ad8 ministrator; and (2) have prequalified 2 or more debris 

9 and wreckage removal contractors before the date of dec10 laration of the major disaster. To qualify for the increased 

11 Federal share under the preceding sentence, a debris man12 agement plan shall be resubmitted to the Administrator 

13 for approval every 4 years.’’. 

14 (b) FINANCIAL INCENTIVES FOR DEBRIS RECY15 CLING.—Section 407 such Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) DEBRIS RECYCLING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant recipient under 

19 subsection (a)(2) may use funds from the grant for 

20 the costs of recycling debris and wreckage resulting 

21 from a major disaster, including the sorting of such 

22 materials. 

23 ‘‘(2) VALUE OF SALVAGED MATERIAL.— 

24 ‘‘(A) RETENTION OF FINANCIAL BENE25 FITS.—A grant recipient under subsection 


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1 (a)(2) may retain any financial benefit received 

2 from the salvage of recycled debris or wreckage. 

3 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF FINANCIAL BENE4 FITS.—Any such financial benefit shall not be 

5 considered to be program income for purposes 

6 of section 13.25 of title 44, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

8 ‘‘(C) CONTRACTS.—Any arrangement be9 tween a grant recipient under subsection (a)(2) 

10 and a contractor in which the contractor will re11 tain possession of recyclable materials shall be 

12 reflected in the contractor’s bid price. 

13 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) RECIPIENTS THAT RECYCLE DE15 BRIS.—A grant recipient under subsection 

16 (a)(2) that recycles debris or wreckage during 

17 disaster operations shall submit to the Adminis18 trator of the Federal Emergency Management 

19 Agency a written description of what the recipi20 ent did to recycle the debris or wreckage, the 

21 volume of the debris or wreckage that was recy22 cled, and the monetary or nonmonetary benefits 

23 received, if any. 

24 ‘‘(B) RECIPIENTS THAT DO NOT RECYCLE

25 DEBRIS.—A grant recipient under subsection 


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1 (a)(2) that chooses not to recycle debris or 

2 wreckage during disaster operations shall sub3 mit to the Administrator a written statement 

4 describing why this option was not used.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. APPEALS PROCESS. 

6 (a) TIMING.—Section 423(b) of the Robert T. Staf7 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 5189a(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 

10 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue 

11 rules regarding the information that must be provided to 

12 an applicant in the event that a project worksheet is de13 nied. The required information shall include, at a min14 imum— 

15 (1) all reasons for which the project worksheet 

16 was denied; 

17 (2) the specific items, if any, in the project 

18 worksheet that are disputed; and 

19 (3) a description of any additional information 

20 the applicant needs to provide. 

21 SEC. 6. INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE FACTORS. 

22 In order to provide more objective criteria for evalu23 ating the need for assistance to individuals and to speed 

24 a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under the 

25 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency AssistVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:32 Aug 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3453.IH H3453

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1 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in co4 operation with representatives of State and local emer5 gency management agencies, shall review, update, and re6 vise through rulemaking the factors considered under sec7 tion 206.48 of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, to 

8 measure the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster. 

9 SEC. 7. HOUSEHOLD PETS AND SERVICE ANIMALS. 

10 Section 502(a) of Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

11 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5192(a)) is 

12 amended— 

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

14 (7); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(9) provide assistance for rescue, care, shelter, 

19 and essential needs— 

20 ‘‘(A) to individuals with household pets 

21 and service animals; and 

22 ‘‘(B) to such pets and animals.’’. 

Æ 


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