H. R. 707
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
An Act
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
to authorize a program for predisaster mitigation, to streamline the administration
of disaster relief, to control the Federal costs of disaster assistance, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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
Mitigation Act of 2000’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION
Sec. 101. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 102. Predisaster hazard mitigation.
Sec. 103. Interagency task force.
Sec. 104. Mitigation planning; minimum standards for public and private struc-
tures.
TITLE II—STREAMLINING AND COST REDUCTION
Sec. 201. Technical amendments.
Sec. 202. Management costs.
Sec. 203. Public notice, comment, and consultation requirements.
Sec. 204. State administration of hazard mitigation grant program.
Sec. 205. Assistance to repair, restore, reconstruct, or replace damaged facilities.
Sec. 206. Federal assistance to individuals and households.
Sec. 207. Community disaster loans.
Sec. 208. Report on State management of small disasters initiative.
Sec. 209. Study regarding cost reduction.
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 301. Technical correction of short title.
Sec. 302. Definitions.
Sec. 303. Fire management assistance.
Sec. 304. Disaster grant closeout procedures.
Sec. 305. Public safety officer benefits for certain Federal and State employees.
Sec. 306. Buy American.
Sec. 307. Treatment of certain real property.
Sec. 308. Study of participation by Indian tribes in emergency management.
TITLE I—PREDISASTER HAZARD
MITIGATION
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
H. R. 707—2
(1) natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis,
tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires, pose great danger
to human life and to property throughout the United States;
(2) greater emphasis needs to be placed on—
(A) identifying and assessing the risks to States and
local governments (including Indian tribes) from natural
disasters;
(B) implementing adequate measures to reduce losses
from natural disasters; and
(C) ensuring that the critical services and facilities
of communities will continue to function after a natural
disaster;
(3) expenditures for postdisaster assistance are increasing
without commensurate reductions in the likelihood of future
losses from natural disasters;
(4) in the expenditure of Federal funds under the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), high priority should be given to mitigation
of hazards at the local level; and
(5) with a unified effort of economic incentives, awareness
and education, technical assistance, and demonstrated Federal
support, States and local governments (including Indian tribes)
will be able to—
(A) form effective community-based partnerships for
hazard mitigation purposes;
(B) implement effective hazard mitigation measures
that reduce the potential damage from natural disasters;
(C) ensure continued functionality of critical services;
(D) leverage additional non-Federal resources in
meeting natural disaster resistance goals; and
(E) make commitments to long-term hazard mitigation
efforts to be applied to new and existing structures.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to establish a national
disaster hazard mitigation program—
(1) to reduce the loss of life and property, human suffering,
economic disruption, and disaster assistance costs resulting
from natural disasters; and
(2) to provide a source of predisaster hazard mitigation
funding that will assist States and local governments (including
Indian tribes) in implementing effective hazard mitigation
measures 
that 
are 
designed 
to 
ensure 
the 
continued
functionality of critical services and facilities after a natural
disaster.
SEC. 102. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131 et seq.) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 203. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF SMALL IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITY.—In this
section, the term ‘small impoverished community’ means a commu-
nity of 3,000 or fewer individuals that is economically disadvan-
taged, as determined by the State in which the community is
located and based on criteria established by the President.
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The President may estab-
lish a program to provide technical and financial assistance to
States and local governments to assist in the implementation of
H. R. 707—3
predisaster hazard mitigation measures that are cost-effective and
are designed to reduce injuries, loss of life, and damage and destruc-
tion of property, including damage to critical services and facilities
under the jurisdiction of the States or local governments.
‘‘(c) APPROVAL BY PRESIDENT.—If the President determines that
a State or local government has identified natural disaster hazards
in areas under its jurisdiction and has demonstrated the ability
to form effective public-private natural disaster hazard mitigation
partnerships, the President, using amounts in the National
Predisaster Mitigation Fund established under subsection (i)
(referred to in this section as the ‘Fund’), may provide technical
and financial assistance to the State or local government to be
used in accordance with subsection (e).
‘‘(d) STATE RECOMMENDATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Governor of each State
may recommend to the President not fewer than five local
governments to receive assistance under this section.
‘‘(B) DEADLINE
FOR
SUBMISSION.—The recommenda-
tions under subparagraph (A) shall be submitted to the
President not later than October 1, 2001, and each October
1st thereafter or such later date in the year as the Presi-
dent may establish.
‘‘(C) CRITERIA.—In making recommendations under
subparagraph (A), a Governor shall consider the criteria
specified in subsection (g).
‘‘(2) USE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), in providing assistance to local governments under
this section, the President shall select from local govern-
ments recommended by the Governors under this sub-
section.
‘‘(B) EXTRAORDINARY
CIRCUMSTANCES.—In providing
assistance to local governments under this section, the
President may select a local government that has not been
recommended by a Governor under this subsection if the
President determines that extraordinary circumstances jus-
tify the selection and that making the selection will further
the purpose of this section.
‘‘(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO NOMINATE.—If a Governor of
a State fails to submit recommendations under this subsection
in a timely manner, the President may select, subject to the
criteria specified in subsection (g), any local governments of
the State to receive assistance under this section.
‘‘(e) USES OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Technical and financial assistance pro-
vided under this section—
‘‘(A) shall be used by States and local governments
principally to implement predisaster hazard mitigation
measures that are cost-effective and are described in pro-
posals approved by the President under this section; and
‘‘(B) may be used—
‘‘(i) to support effective public-private natural dis-
aster hazard mitigation partnerships;
‘‘(ii) to improve the assessment of a community’s
vulnerability to natural hazards; or