116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4358 
AN ACT 
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. 
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 
critical role in assessing and validating the impact 
and magnitude of a disaster. 
(2) Through the preliminary damage assess-
ment process, representatives from the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency validate informa-
tion 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 
occurs, and the submission of a corresponding dis-
aster 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 
preliminary damage assessments have become criti-
cally 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 
Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to 
Congress a report describing the preliminary damage as-
sessment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency in the 5 years before the date of en-
actment of this Act. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 
(a) shall contain the following: 
(1) The process of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency for deploying personnel to sup-
port preliminary damage assessments. 
(2) The number of Agency staff participating 
on disaster assessment teams. 
(3) The training and experience of such staff 
described 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 
consistent liaison between the Agency and State, 
local, Tribal, and territorial officials within a dis-
aster 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 as-
sessments are conducted and reviewed under consistent 
guidelines. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall an-
nually submit to Congress a report on the number and 
type of instances under which Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency personnel have overturned decisions 
made by personnel 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 de-
ployment of Federal Emergency Management Agen-
cy personnel to conduct a preliminary damage as-
sessment is longer based on specific disaster condi-
tions; and
(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). 
Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 
2020. 
Attest: 
Clerk.