Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief Act of 2015

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop an integrated plan to reduce administrative costs under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief Act of 2015 2. Definitions In this Act— (1) the term administrative cost (2) the term Administrator (3) the term Agency (4) the term direct administrative cost 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq. (5) the term hazard mitigation program 42 U.S.C. 5170c (6) the term individual assistance program 42 U.S.C. 5174 (7) the term major disaster 42 U.S.C. 5170 (8) the term mission assignment 6 U.S.C. 741 (9) the term public assistance program 42 U.S.C. 5170b(a)(3) 3. Integrated plan for administrative cost reduction (a) In general Not later than 365 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— (1) develop and implement an integrated plan to control and reduce administrative costs for major disasters, which shall include— (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce administrative costs; (B) milestones needed for accomplishing the reduction of administrative costs; (C) the assignment of clear roles and responsibilities, including the designation of officials responsible for monitoring and measuring performance; and (D) a timetable for implementation; (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking the administrative cost data for major disasters by the public assistance, individual assistance, hazard mitigation, and mission assignment programs, and if feasible, track this information; and (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum documentation requirements for a direct administrative cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public assistance grant program. (b) Congressional update Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives on the plan required to be developed under subsection (a)(1). (c) Updates If the Administrator modifies the plan or the timetable under subsection (a), the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report notifying Congress of the modification, which shall include the details of the modification. 4. Limitations for administrative costs (a) In general Except as provided in subsection (b), of the total amount obligated for major disasters by the Agency from the Disaster Relief Fund for a fiscal year, the amount obligated for administrative costs shall not exceed the milestones set by the Agency in the plan developed under section 3(a)(1). (b) Waiver (1) In general The Administrator may waive a requirement described in subsection (a) if the Administrator— (A) has completed an assessment described in paragraph (3); and (B) submits to the appropriate committees of Congress a written explanation as to why the Agency exceeded the milestones set by the Agency in the plan developed under section 3(a)(1) for administrative costs of major disasters for the specified fiscal year. (2) Public availability Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Administrator submits the written explanation to Congress under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall make the explanation publicly available on the website of the Agency. (3) Assessment Not later than 60 days after the last day of a fiscal year, the Administrator shall conduct an assessment of the administrative costs of major disasters for the fiscal year in order to determine whether a waiver is needed under this subsection.

Summary: (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on February 9, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief Act of 2015 (Sec. 3) This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to: develop and implement an integrated plan to control and reduce administrative costs incurred by FEMA in support of the delivery of assistance for major disasters; compare the costs and benefits of tracking the administrative cost data for major disasters by the public assistance, individual assistance, hazard mitigation, and mission assignment programs; track such information; and clarify FEMA guidance and minimum documentation requirements for a direct administrative cost claimed by a grantee or subgrantee of a public assistance grant program authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. (Sec. 4) FEMA must submit to Congress, by November 30 of each year for seven years beginning on the date of this Act's enactment, and make publicly available on its website, a report on the development and implementation of the plan for the previous fiscal year, with three-year and five-year updates. Each report shall contain: the total amount spent on administrative costs and the average annual percentage of administrative costs for the fiscal year period for which the report is being submitted; an assessment of the effectiveness of the plan; an analysis of whether FEMA is achieving its strategic goals for the average annual percentage of administrative costs of major disasters for each fiscal year and, in the case of it not achieving such goals, what is preventing it from doing so; any actions FEMA has identified as useful in improving upon and reaching those goals; and any administrative cost data for major disasters, if FEMA determines it is feasible to track such data.