I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2ND SESSION H. R. 6728 
To reauthorize the programs and activities of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 1, 2013 
Mr. DENHAM (for himself, Mr. MICA, and Mr. RAHALL) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the programs and activities of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, 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 Recovery Reform Act of 2012’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Hazard mitigation. 
Sec. 3. Individual assistance factors. 
Sec. 4. Public assistance program alternative procedures. 
Sec. 5. Tribal requests for a major disaster or emergency declaration under the 
Stafford Act. 
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Sec. 6. Federal assistance to individuals and households. 
Sec. 7. Simplified procedures. 
Sec. 8. Unified Federal review. 
Sec. 9. Child care. 
Sec. 10. Essential assistance. 
Sec. 11. State hazard mitigation plans. 
Sec. 12. Other methods of disposal. 
Sec. 13. Integrated public alert and warning system modernization. 
Sec. 14. Report on impacts of Hurricane Sandy. 
Sec. 15. Urban Search and Rescue Response System. 
Sec. 16. Recovery commissions. 
Sec. 17. Enhancing response and recovery operations and programs. 
Sec. 18. Federal recovery preparedness officials. 
Sec. 19. Dispute resolution pilot program. 
SEC. 2. HAZARD MITIGATION. 
(a) STREAMLINED PROCEDURES; ADVANCE ASSIST-
ANCE.—Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) STREAMLINED PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of pro-
viding assistance under this section, the President 
shall ensure that— 
‘‘(A) adequate resources are devoted to en-
sure that applicable environmental reviews 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 and historic preservation reviews under 
the National Historic Preservation Act are com-
pleted on an expeditious basis; and 
‘‘(B) the shortest existing applicable proc-
ess under the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 and the National Historic Preser-
vation Act is utilized. 
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‘‘(2) AUTHORITY FOR OTHER EXPEDITED PRO-
CEDURES.—The President may utilize expedited pro-
cedures in addition to those required under para-
graph (1) for the purpose of providing assistance 
under this section, such as procedures under the 
Prototype Programmatic Agreement of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, for the consider-
ation of multiple structures as a group and for an 
analysis of the cost-effectiveness and fulfillment of 
cost-share requirements for proposed hazard mitiga-
tion measures. 
‘‘(e) ADVANCE ASSISTANCE.—The President may 
provide not more than 25 percent of the amount of the 
estimated cost of hazard mitigation measures to a State 
grantee eligible for a grant under this section before eligi-
ble costs are incurred.’’. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA RELATING TO AD-
MINISTRATION OF HAZARD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE BY 
STATES.—Section 404(c)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170c(c)(2)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘applications 
submitted under paragraph (1).’’ the following: ‘‘Until 
such time as the Administrator promulgates regulations 
to implement this paragraph, the Administrator may 
waive notice and comment rulemaking, if the Adminis-
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trator determines doing so is necessary to expeditiously 
implement this section, and may carry out this section as 
a pilot program.’’. 
(c) 
APPLICABILITY.—The 
authority 
under 
the 
amendments made by this section shall apply to— 
(1) any major disaster or emergency declared 
under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 
on or after the date of enactment of this Act; and 
(2) a major disaster or emergency declared 
under that Act before the date of enactment of this 
Act for which the period for processing requests for 
assistance has not ended as of the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 3. INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE FACTORS. 
In order to provide more objective criteria for evalu-
ating the need for assistance to individuals, to clarify the 
threshold for eligibility and to speed a declaration of a 
major disaster or emergency under the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5121 et seq.), not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency, in cooperation with represent-
atives of State, tribal, and local emergency management 
agencies, shall review, update, and revise through rule-
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making the factors considered under section 206.48 of 
title 44, Code of Federal Regulations (including section 
206.48(b)(2) of such title relating to trauma and the spe-
cific conditions or losses that contribute to trauma), to 
measure the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster. 
SEC. 4. PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ALTERNATIVE PRO-
CEDURES. 
Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second section 425 (re-
lating to essential service providers) as section 427; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 428. PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ALTERNATIVE 
PROCEDURES. 
‘‘(a) APPROVAL OF PROJECTS.—The President, act-
ing through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, may approve projects under the al-
ternative procedures adopted under this section for any 
major disaster or emergency declared on or after the date 
of enactment of this section. The Administrator may also 
apply the alternate procedures adopted under this section 
to a major disaster or emergency declared before enact-
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