Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act of 2017

To ensure fairness in the recoupment of certain Federal disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act of 2017 2. Waiver of certain debts (a) Waiver authority Notwithstanding section 3716(e) of title 31, United States Code, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may waive a debt owed to the United States related to covered assistance provided to an individual or household if— (1) the covered assistance was distributed based on an error by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; (2) there was no fault on behalf of the debtor, including that there was no fraud, presentation of a false claim, or misrepresentation by the debtor or any party having an interest in the applicable claim; and (3) the collection of the debt would be against equity and good conscience. (b) Monitoring of covered assistance distributed based on error (1) In general The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security shall monitor, on an ongoing basis, the distribution of covered assistance to determine the percentage of such assistance that is distributed based on an error by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2) Removal of waiver authority due to excessive error rate If the Inspector General determines, with respect to any 12-month period, that the percentage of covered assistance that is distributed based on an error by the Federal Emergency Management Agency exceeds 4 percent of the total amount of covered assistance distributed— (A) the Inspector General shall— (i) notify the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the determination; and (ii) publish the determination in the Federal Register; and (B) with respect to debts owed in relation to covered assistance provided for a major disaster or emergency declared after the date on which the determination is published under subparagraph (A)(ii), the waiver authority under subsection (a) of this section shall not apply. (c) Covered assistance defined In this section, the term covered assistance (1) under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5174 (2) in relation to a major disaster or emergency declared by the President under such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5121 3. Limitation on recovery Notwithstanding section 3716(e) of title 31, United States Code, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, unless there is evidence of fraud, shall not initiate any action, in any forum, to recover— (1) assistance provided to an individual or household under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5174 (2) amounts owed by an individual or household in relation to assistance provided under such section more than 3 years after the date on which the amounts were determined to be owed.

Summary: Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to waive a debt owed to the United States related to disaster assistance provided to an individual or household if: such assistance was distributed based on an error by FEMA, there was no fault on behalf of the debtor, and the collection of the debt would be against equity and good conscience. The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security shall: (1) monitor federal disaster assistance to determine the percentage that is distributed based on a FEMA error; and (2) upon determining that such percentage exceeds 4% for any 12-month period, notify the FEMA Administrator and publish such determination. The waiver authority under this bill shall not apply to debts owed in relation to assistance provided for a disaster or emergency declared after the date such a determination is published. Unless there is evidence of fraud, FEMA shall not initiate any action to recover: (1) disaster assistance for an individual or household later than three years after the last date the assistance was provided, or (2) amounts owed by an individual or household in relation to such assistance later than three years after the date the amounts were determined to be owed.