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Union Calendar No. 117 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3709 

[Report No. 117–160] 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessments 

and make necessary improvements to processes in the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mr. DELGADO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

NOVEMBER 1, 2021 

Additional sponsors: Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, 

and Mr. GARBARINO

NOVEMBER 1, 2021 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 3709 RH

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessments and make necessary improvements to processes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Preliminary Damage 

5 Assessment Improvement Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Preliminary damage assessments play a 

9 critical role in assessing and validating the impact 

10 and magnitude of a disaster. 

11 (2) Through the preliminary damage assess12 ment process, representatives from the Federal 

13 Emergency Management Agency validate informa14 tion gathered by State and local officials that serves 

15 as the basis for disaster assistance requests. 

16 (3) Various factors can impact the duration of 

17 a preliminary damage assessment and the cor18 responding submission of a major disaster request, 

19 however, the average time between when a disaster 

20 occurs, and the submission of a corresponding dis21 aster request has been found to be approximately 

22 twenty days longer for flooding disasters. 

23 (4) With communities across the country facing 

24 increased instances of catastrophic flooding and 

25 other extreme weather events, accurate and efficient 


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1 preliminary damage assessments have become criti2 cally important to the relief process for impacted 

3 States and municipalities. 

4 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

7 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to 

8 Congress a report describing the preliminary damage as9 sessment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency 

10 Management Agency in the 5 years before the date of en11 actment of this Act. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 

13 (a) shall contain the following: 

14 (1) The process of the Federal Emergency 

15 Management Agency for deploying personnel to sup16 port preliminary damage assessments. 

17 (2) The number of Agency staff participating 

18 on disaster assessment teams. 

19 (3) The training and experience of such staff 

20 described in paragraph (2). 

21 (4) A calculation of the average amount of time 

22 disaster assessment teams described in paragraph 

23 (1) are deployed to a disaster area. 

24 (5) The efforts of the Agency to maintain a 

25 consistent liaison between the Agency and State, 


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1 local, tribal, and territorial officials within a disaster 

2 area. 

3 SEC. 4. PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

6 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall convene an 

7 advisory panel consisting of emergency management per8 sonnel employed by State, local, territorial, or tribal au9 thorities, and the representative organizations of such per10 sonnel to assist the Agency in improving critical compo11 nents of the preliminary damage assessment process. 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—This advisory panel shall 

14 consist of at least 2 representatives from national 

15 emergency management organizations and at least 1 

16 representative from each of the 10 regions of the 

17 Federal Emergency Management Agency, selected 

18 from emergency management personnel employed by 

19 State, local, territorial, or tribal authorities within 

20 each region. 

21 (2) INCLUSION ON PANEL.—To the furthest ex22 tent practicable, representation on the advisory 

23 panel shall include emergency management per24 sonnel from both rural and urban jurisdictions. 


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1 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—The advisory panel convened 

2 under subsection (a) shall— 

3 (1) consider— 

4 (A) establishing a training regime to en5 sure preliminary damage assessments are con6 ducted and reviewed under consistent guide7 lines; 

8 (B) utilizing a common technological plat9 form to integrate data collected by State and 

10 local governments with data collected by the 

11 Agency; and 

12 (C) assessing instruction materials pro13 vided by the Agency for omissions of pertinent 

14 information or language that conflicts with 

15 other statutory requirements; and 

16 (2) identify opportunities for streamlining the 

17 consideration of preliminary damage assessments by 

18 the Agency, including eliminating duplicative paper19 work requirements and ensuring consistent commu20 nication and decision making among Agency staff. 

21 (d) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

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

23 shall submit to Congress a report regarding the findings 

24 of the advisory panel, steps that will be undertaken by the 

25 Agency to implement the findings of the advisory panel, 


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1 and additional legislation that may be necessary to imple2 ment the findings of the advisory panel. 

3 (e) RULEMAKING AND FINAL REPORT.—Not later 

4 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 Administrator shall issue such regulations as are nec6 essary to implement the recommendations of the advisory 

7 panel and submit to Congress a report discussing— 

8 (1) the implementation of recommendations 

9 from the advisory panel; 

10 (2) the identification of any additional chal11 lenges to the preliminary damage assessment proc12 ess, including whether specific disasters result in 

13 longer preliminary damage assessments; and 

14 (3) any additional legislative recommendations 

15 necessary to improve the preliminary damage assess16 ment process. 


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Union Calendar No. 117 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3709 

[Report No. 117–160] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal EmerAgency, and for other purposes. esses in the Federal Emergency Management ments and make necessary improvements to proc- gress a report on preliminary damage assess- gency Management Agency to submit to ConNOVEMBER 1, 2021 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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