I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3295
To improve the ability of the Federal Government to prepare for and respond
to major disasters, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 15, 1993
Mr. BORSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the
Committees on Public Works and Transportation, Banking, Finance and
Urban Affairs, and Armed Services
A BILL
To improve the ability of the Federal Government to prepare
for and respond to major disasters, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Disaster Response and Recovery Act of 1993’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Declaration of purpose.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Presidential response plan; Federal grants.
Sec. 5. Damage and needs assessment.
Sec. 6. Standards and reviews.
Sec. 7. Disaster resource inventory.
Sec. 8. Repeal of obsolete sliding scale limitation.
Sec. 9. Predeclaration authority.
Sec. 10. Essential assistance.
Sec. 11. Individual and family grant programs.
Sec. 12. Catastrophic disasters.
Sec. 13. Disaster loans.
Sec. 14. Procedure for declaration of emergency.
Sec. 15. Reorganization.
Sec. 16. Revision of the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to—
(1) improve the Federal Government’s and
State and local governments’ preparedness for, re-
sponse to, and recovery from emergencies, disasters,
and terrorist attacks;
(2) combine Federal disaster preparedness, re-
sponse, and recovery authorities and activities with
Federal civil defense authorities and activities; and
(3) redirect the mission of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency (hereinafter in this Act
referred to as ‘‘FEMA’’) to preparedness, response,
recovery, and mitigation with respect to all disasters,
whether natural or man-made.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
Section 102 of The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is
amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(2) MAJOR DISASTER.—‘Major disaster’ means
any event of natural, human, or other origin in the
United States that the President determines is caus-
ing damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to
warrant major disaster assistance under this Act to
supplement the efforts and available resources of
State and local governments and disaster relief orga-
nizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship,
and suffering caused by the event.’’;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through
(9) as paragraphs (6) through (12), respectively;
and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow-
ing new paragraphs:
‘‘(3) CATASTROPHIC DISASTER.—The term ‘cat-
astrophic disaster’ means a major disaster that the
President determines is overwhelming the ability of
State, local, and volunteer agencies to respond to the
disaster and provide victims of the disaster with
services necessary to sustain life.
‘‘(4) FEMA.—The term ‘FEMA’ means the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
‘‘(5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means
the Director of FEMA.’’.
SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSE PLAN; FEDERAL GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of The Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5131) is amended—
(1) by striking subsection (c);
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (d) as
subsections (i) and (j), respectively;
(3) in subsection (j), as so redesignated, by in-
serting ‘in fiscal years ending before October 1,
1994,’’ after ‘‘make grants’’; and
(4) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow-
ing new subsections:
‘‘(b) PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSE PLAN.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of the Disaster Re-
sponse and Recovery Act of 1993, the Director, in
consultation with appropriate Federal and non-Fed-
eral agencies, shall develop a plan (hereinafter in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Presidential Response
Plan’’) to provide Federal assistance, when re-
quested, to States affected by a major disaster, cata-
strophic disaster, or emergency.
‘‘(2) OPERATIONAL PLANS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of the Disaster
Response and Recovery Act of 1993, the Direc-
tor shall prepare, in cooperation with the Fed-
eral agencies designated under the Presidential
Response Plan, operational plans as part of the
Presidential Response Plan that shall include,
at a minimum, the following:
‘‘(i) A description of the chains of
command for responding to major disas-
ters, catastrophic disasters, and emer-
gencies.
‘‘(ii) A description of the specific du-
ties of all Federal agencies involved in such
response actions.
‘‘(iii) A description of the relationship
between, and the respective duties of, Fed-
eral, State, and local governments, private
relief agencies, and fire services involved in
such response actions.
‘‘(B) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The oper-
ational plans under this paragraph shall—
‘‘(i) be prepared on a regional basis;
‘‘(ii) be based on a comprehensive risk
assessment of the United States which the
Director shall carry out to assess the prob-
ability, frequency, and severity of major
disasters, catastrophic disasters, and emer-
gencies occurring within each region;
‘‘(iii) provide for coordination of the
emergency operations plans of State and
local governments in the region with the
operational plan prepared for the region
under this paragraph and with each other;
and
‘‘(iv) facilitate and enhance the devel-
opment of mutual aid agreements among
State and local government agencies.
‘‘(c) 
FEDERAL
DISASTER
PREPAREDNESS
GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Director
shall establish a grant program to assist States
in fiscal years beginning after September 30,
1994, to prepare for major disasters, cata-
strophic disasters, and emergencies, including
conducting disaster and emergency training ex-
ercises in accordance with the Presidential Re-
sponse Plan.
‘‘(B) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Direc-
tor shall allocate 50 percent of the funds appro-
priated to carry out this subsection for a fiscal
year among the States in the ratio that the
population in each State bears to the total pop-
ulation of all of the States; except that no State
shall be allocated less than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of
such funds.
‘‘(C) DISCRETIONARY
GRANTS.—The Di-
rector shall use the remaining 50 percent of the
funds appropriated to carry out this subsection
to make discretionary grants to the States. In
selecting the States to receive such grants, the
Director shall consider—
‘‘(i) the potential risk that a major
disaster, catastrophic disaster, or emer-
gency will occur in the State; and
‘‘(ii) the potential amount and degree
of damage that could occur in the State as
the result of a major disaster, catastrophic
disaster, or emergency; and compliance of
the State with the performance standards
developed by the Director under section
313.
‘‘(2) STATE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN.—
The Director may only make a discretionary grant
to a State under this subsection if the State has a
disaster preparedness plan and is meeting or making
reasonable progress toward meeting the performance
standards issued under section 313.
‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a
grant under this subsection for preparing for major
disasters, catastrophic disasters, and emergencies
shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of such prep-
aration.
‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this subsection $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years
1995 through 1998.
‘‘(d) HAZARD MITIGATION GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es-
tablish a grant program to assist States in fiscal
years beginning after September 30, 1994, to mini-
mize damages likely to occur from major disasters,
catastrophic disasters, and emergencies.
‘‘(2) SELECTION
LIMITATION.—The Director
may only make a grant under this subsection to a
State if the Director determines that the activities to
be carried out with such grant will be cost effective
and substantially reduce the risk of future damage,
hardship, loss, or suffering in any area affected by
a major disaster, catastrophic disaster, or emer-
gency.
‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a
grant made under this subsection to assist a State
in minimizing damages described in paragraph (1)
shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the activi-
ties to be carried out with such assistance.
‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this subsection $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years
1995 through 1998.
‘‘(e) ROLE OF NATIONAL GUARD.—
‘‘(1) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense, in
cooperation with the Director and in consultation
with the States, shall direct the Chief of the Na-
tional Guard Bureau—
‘‘(A) to review the role of the National
Guard in responding to major disasters, cata-
strophic disasters, and emergencies for the pur-
pose of making recommendations to the Presi-
dent to address—
‘‘(i) how the National Guard could
better prepare for and respond to major
disasters, catastrophic disasters, and emer-
gencies;
‘‘(ii) how the structure of the National
Guard could be adjusted to provide Gov-
ernors with improved immediate access to
critical assets during an emergency;
‘‘(iii) how the National Guard should
be integrated into the Presidential Re-
sponse Plan and into regional operational
plans; and
‘‘(iv) how the National Guard should
coordinate with disaster medical assistance
teams of the Department of Health and
Human Services in preparing for and re-
sponding to major disasters, catastrophic
disasters, and emergencies.
‘‘(B) to develop an interstate compact that,
if adopted by the States, would facilitate the
mutual use of National Guard assets across
State borders during major disasters, cata-
strophic disasters, and emergencies.
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Sec-
retary of Defense shall transmit to the President
and Congress a report on the results of the review
conducted under paragraph (1) and a copy of the
proposed interstate compact developed under para-
graph (1).
‘‘(3) INTERSTATE
MUTUAL
ASSISTANCE
COM-
PACTS.—The Director, in consultation with the
Chief of the National Guard Bureau, shall take ac-
tion to encourage the States to enter into interstate
compacts for the mutual use of National Guard as-
sets across State borders during major disasters,
catastrophic disasters, and emergencies.
‘‘(4) RESPONSE
TO
DISASTERS
AND
REIM-
BURSEMENT FOR AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—
‘‘(A) REIMBURSEMENT.—To assure more
effective and rapid responses by National Guard
units to major disasters, catastrophic disasters,
and emergencies, the Director is authorized to
reimburse a State or States for all or any part
of expenses incurred as a result of the use of
the National Guard at the onset of any event
for which, in the judgment of the Governor of
the affected State, it is probable that the event
will result in a declaration of a major disaster,
catastrophic disaster, or emergency under this
Act.
‘‘(B) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Funds available
for disbursement to the States under this para-
graph shall come from the funds appropriated
to the disaster relief fund.