I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4455 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act to improve mitigation assistance, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2017 
Mr. DENHAM (for himself and Mr. CAPUANO) 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 Emer-
gency Assistance Act to improve mitigation assistance, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Mitigation 
Activities and Resiliency Targets for Rebuilding Act’’ or 
the ‘‘SMART Rebuilding Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL COST-SHARE ADJUSTMENTS FOR REPAIR, 
RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF DAM-
AGED FACILITIES. 
Section 406(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(b)) 
is amended by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: 
‘‘(3) INCREASED FEDERAL SHARE.— 
‘‘(A) INCENTIVE
MEASURES.—The Presi-
dent may provide incentives to a State or Tribal 
government to invest in measures that increase 
readiness for, and resilience from, a major dis-
aster by recognizing such investments through 
a sliding scale that increases the minimum Fed-
eral share to not more than 85 percent. Such 
measures may include— 
‘‘(i) the adoption of a mitigation plan 
approved under section 322; 
‘‘(ii) investments in disaster relief, in-
surance, and emergency management pro-
grams; 
‘‘(iii) encouraging the adoption and 
enforcement of nationally recognized de-
sign standards that establish minimum ac-
ceptable criteria for the design, construc-
tion, and maintenance of eligible facilities 
for the purpose of protecting the health, 
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safety, and general welfare of the build-
ings’ users against disasters; 
‘‘(iv) facilitating participation in the 
community rating system; and 
‘‘(v) funding mitigation projects or 
granting tax incentives for projects that re-
duce risk. 
‘‘(B) COMPREHENSIVE
GUIDANCE.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this paragraph, the President, acting through 
the Administrator, shall issue comprehensive 
guidance to States and Tribal governments re-
garding the measures and investments that will 
be recognized for the purpose of increasing the 
Federal share under this section. 
‘‘(C) 
REPORT.—One 
year 
after 
the 
issuance of the guidance required by subpara-
graph (B), the Administrator shall submit to 
the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report re-
garding the analysis of the Federal cost shares 
paid under this section.’’. 
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SEC. 3. NATIONAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PREDISAS-
TER HAZARD MITIGATION. 
Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘Public’’ after 
‘‘the National’’; 
(2) in subsection (e)(1)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause 
(ii); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
clause (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) to establish and carry out en-
forcement activities to implement nation-
ally recognized design standards that es-
tablish minimum acceptable criteria for the 
design, construction, and maintenance of 
eligible facilities for the purpose of pro-
tecting the health, safety, and general wel-
fare of the buildings’ users against disas-
ters.’’; 
(3) in subsection (f)— 
(A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘for 
mitigation activities that are cost effective’’ 
after ‘‘competitive basis’’; 
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(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) 
REDISTRIBUTION
OF
UNOBLIGATED 
AMOUNTS.—The President shall— 
‘‘(A) withdraw amounts of financial assist-
ance made available to a State (including 
amounts made available to local governments of 
a State) under paragraph (2) that remain unob-
ligated by the end of the third fiscal year after 
the fiscal year for which the amounts were allo-
cated; and 
‘‘(B) in the subsequent fiscal year, add the 
funds to the financial assistance available to be 
awarded on a competitive basis referred to in 
paragraph (1).’’; 
(4) in subsection (g)— 
(A) in paragraph (9) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 
paragraph (12); and 
(C) by adding after paragraph (9) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(10) the extent to which the State or local 
government has facilitated the adoption and enforce-
ment of nationally recognized design standards that 
establish criteria for the design, construction, and 
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maintenance of eligible facilities for the purpose of 
protecting the health, safety, and general welfare of 
the buildings’ users against disasters; 
‘‘(11) the extent to which the assistance will 
fund activities that increase the level of resiliency; 
and’’; 
(5) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(i) 
NATIONAL
PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURE 
PREDISASTER MITIGATION FUND.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President may es-
tablish in the Treasury of the United States a sepa-
rate account called the National Public Infrastruc-
ture Predisaster Mitigation Fund (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Predisaster Mitigation Fund’), 
which shall be used exclusively to carry out this sec-
tion, with amounts in such account to be available 
until expended unless otherwise provided. 
‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO PREDISASTER MITIGATION 
FUND.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be depos-
ited in the Predisaster Mitigation Fund with re-
spect to each disaster declared on or after Au-
gust 1, 2017, an additional amount equal to 6 
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percent of the estimated aggregate amount of 
grants to be made pursuant to section 406. 
‘‘(B) ESTIMATED AGGREGATE AMOUNT.— 
Not later than 180 days after each major dis-
aster declaration, the estimated aggregate 
amount of grants to be deposited in such Fund 
shall be determined and need not be reduced, 
increased, or changed due to variations in esti-
mates.’’; and 
(6) by striking subsection (m). 
SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR CODE IMPLEMENTATION AND EN-
FORCEMENT. 
Section 406(a)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172(a)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (B); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) base and overtime wages for extra 
hires to facilitate the implementation and en-
forcement of adopted building codes for a pe-
riod of not more than 180 days after the major 
disaster is declared.’’. 
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SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) HAZARD MITIGATION CLARIFICATION.—Section 
404(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(a)) is 
amended by striking the first sentence and inserting the 
following: ‘‘The President may contribute not more than 
75 percent of the cost of hazard mitigation measures 
which the President has determined are cost-effective and 
which substantially reduce the risk of, or increase resil-
ience to, future damage, hardship, loss, or suffering in any 
area affected by a major disaster.’’. 
(b) ELIGIBLE COST.—Section 406(e)(1)(A) of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by insert-
ing after ‘‘section’’ the following: ‘‘for disasters de-
clared on or after August 1, 2017, or disasters 
where a cost estimate has not yet been finalized for 
a project’’; 
(2) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
(3) in clause (ii)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘codes, specifications, and 
standards’’ and inserting ‘‘the latest nationally 
recognized design codes, specifications and 
standards that establish minimum acceptable 
criteria for the design, construction, and main-
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tenance of facilities for the purposes of pro-
tecting the health, safety, and general welfare 
of a facility’s users against disasters’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘applicable at the time at 
which the disaster occurred’’; and 
(C) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) in a manner that allows the fa-
cility to meet the definition of resilient de-
veloped pursuant this subsection.’’. 
(c) NEW RULES.—Section 406(e) of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5172(e)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(5) NEW RULES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, the President, acting through the 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency, shall issue a final rulemaking 
that defines the terms ‘resilient’ and ‘resiliency’ 
for purposes of this subsection. 
‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date on which the Administrator 
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issues the final rulemaking under this para-
graph, the Administrator shall issue any nec-
essary guidance related to the rulemaking. 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 
the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 
report summarizing the regulations and guid-
ance issued pursuant to this paragraph.’’. 
Æ 
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