I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3500 
To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 
to incorporate the recommendations made by the Government Account-
ability Office relating to advance contracts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2019 
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform 
Act of 2006 to incorporate the recommendations made 
by the Government Accountability Office relating to ad-
vance contracts, 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 ‘‘Federal Advance Con-
tracts Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘FACE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
and Reform Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–925; 120 
Stat. 1394) required the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to establish advance contracts, 
which are established prior to disasters and are typi-
cally needed to quickly provide life-sustaining goods 
and services in the immediate aftermath of a dis-
aster; 
(2) the catastrophic hurricanes and wildfires in 
the United States in 2017 highlighted the impor-
tance of these advance contracts in disaster re-
sponse; 
(3) in a report issued by the Government Ac-
countability Office entitled ‘‘2017 Disaster Con-
tracting: Action Needed to Better Ensure More Ef-
fective Use and Management of Advance Contracts’’, 
the Government Accountability Office identified a 
number of challenges with advance contracts and 
recommended actions to improve management by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency of these 
contracts for future disasters; and 
(4) section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) 
should be amended to incorporate the recommenda-
tions made by the report described in paragraph (3) 
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to ensure more effective use and management of ad-
vance contracts. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AD-
VANCE CONTRACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 691 of the Post-Katrina 
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 
791) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) UPDATED REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Admin-
istrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress an updated report that contains— 
‘‘(1) the information required in the initial re-
port under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 
(a)(1); and 
‘‘(2) an updated strategy described in sub-
section (a)(1)(C) that clearly defines— 
‘‘(A) the objectives of advance contracts; 
‘‘(B) how advance contracts contribute to 
disaster response operations of the Agency; 
‘‘(C) how to maximize the award of ad-
vance contracts to small business concerns, as 
defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 632); and 
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‘‘(D) whether and how advance contracts 
should be prioritized in relation to new post-dis-
aster contract awards. 
‘‘(f) 
ADDITIONAL
DUTIES
OF
THE
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.— 
‘‘(1) HEAD OF CONTRACTING.—The Adminis-
trator shall ensure that the head of contracting ac-
tivity of the Agency— 
‘‘(A) not later than 270 days after the date 
of enactment of this subsection, updates the 
Disaster Contracting Desk Guide of the Agency 
to provide specific guidance— 
‘‘(i) on whether and under what cir-
cumstances contracting officers should con-
sider using existing advance contracts en-
tered into in accordance with this section 
prior to making new post-disaster contract 
awards, and include this guidance in exist-
ing semi-annual training given to con-
tracting officers; and 
‘‘(ii) for contracting officers to per-
form outreach to State and local govern-
ments on the potential benefits of estab-
lishing their own pre-negotiated advance 
contracts; 
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‘‘(B) adheres to hard copy contract file 
management requirements in effect to ensure 
that the files relating to advance contracts en-
tered into in accordance with this section are 
complete and up to date, whether the files will 
be transferred into the Electronic Contract Fil-
ing System of the Agency or remain in hard 
copy format; 
‘‘(C) notifies contracting officers of the 3- 
day time frame requirement for entering com-
pleted award documentation into the contract 
writing system of the Agency when executing 
notice to proceed documentation; 
‘‘(D) not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this subsection, revises the 
reporting methodology of the Agency to ensure 
that all disaster contracts are included in each 
quarterly report submitted to the appropriate 
congressional committees under this section on 
disaster contract actions; 
‘‘(E) identifies a single centralized resource 
listing advance contracts entered into under 
this section and ensures that source is current 
and up to date and includes all available ad-
vance contracts; and 
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‘‘(F) communicates complete and up-to- 
date information on available advance contracts 
to State and local governments to inform their 
advance contracting efforts. 
‘‘(2) MASTER ACQUISITION PLANNING SCHED-
ULE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of en-
actment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
update and implement guidance for program office 
and acquisition personnel of the Agency to— 
‘‘(A) identify acquisition planning time 
frames and considerations across the entire ac-
quisition planning process of the Agency; and 
‘‘(B) clearly communicate the purpose and 
use of a master acquisition planning schedule.’’. 
(b) REPORT.—The Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency shall regularly update 
the appropriate committees of Congress (as defined in sec-
tion 602 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Re-
form Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 701)) on the progress of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency in implementing 
the recommendations of the Government Accountability 
Office in the report entitled ‘‘2017 Disaster Contracting: 
Action Needed to Better Ensure More Effective Use and 
Management of Advance Contracts’’, as required under 
section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
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