IB 
Union Calendar No. 473 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4358 
[Report No. 116–575] 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessment and 
to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 
Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mr. CUNNINGHAM) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. SABLAN, and Mr. 
DELGADO 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 17, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to submit to Congress a report on pre-
liminary damage assessment and to establish damage 
assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Preliminary Damage 
Assessment Improvement Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Preliminary damage assessments play a crit-
ical role in assessing and validating the impact and 
magnitude of a disaster. 
(2) Through the preliminary damage assessment 
process, representatives from the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency validate information gathered by 
State and local officials that serves as the basis for 
disaster assistance requests. 
(3) Various factors can impact the duration of a 
preliminary 
damage 
assessment 
and 
the 
cor-
responding submission of a major disaster request, 
however, the average time between when a disaster oc-
curs, and the submission of a corresponding disaster 
request has been found to be approximately twenty 
days longer for flooding disasters. 
(4) With communities across the country facing 
increased instances of catastrophic flooding and other 
extreme weather events, accurate and efficient pre-
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liminary damage assessments have become critically 
important to the relief process for impacted states and 
municipalities. 
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency shall submit to Con-
gress a report describing the preliminary damage assess-
ment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency in the 5 years before the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection (a) 
shall contain the following: 
(1) The process of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency for deploying personnel to support 
preliminary damage assessments. 
(2) The number of Agency staff participating on 
disaster assessment teams. 
(3) The training and experience of such staff de-
scribed in paragraph (2). 
(4) A calculation of the average amount of time 
disaster assessment teams described in paragraph (1) 
are deployed to a disaster area. 
(5) The efforts of the Agency to maintain a con-
sistent liaison between the Agency and State, local, 
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Tribal, and territorial officials within a disaster 
area. 
SEC. 4. PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency shall establish a training 
regime under section 206.33(b) of title 44, Code of Federal 
Regulations, within the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency to ensure preliminary damage assessments are con-
ducted and reviewed under consistent guidelines. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall annu-
ally submit to Congress a report on the number and type 
of instances under which Federal Emergency Management 
Agency personnel have overturned decisions made by per-
sonnel in the field. 
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall submit to Congress a report— 
(1) describing the establishment of disaster 
guidelines from Federal Emergency Management 
Agency personnel described under subsection (a); 
(2) assessing whether the duration of the deploy-
ment of Federal Emergency Management Agency per-
sonnel to conduct a preliminary damage assessment is 
longer based on specific disaster conditions; and 
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(3) containing legislative recommendations to 
improve the operation, deployment, and staffing of 
disaster personnel. 
(d) DEFINITION
OF STATE
AND LOCAL GOVERN-
MENT.—For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘State’’ and 
‘‘local government’’ have the meanings given such terms in 
section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 
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Union Calendar No. 473 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4358 
[Report No. 116–575] 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency to submit to Con-
gress a report on preliminary damage assessment 
and to establish damage assessment teams in the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for 
other purposes. 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Reported with an amendment; committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
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