I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4557 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide 
disaster assistance to States and units of general government under 
a community development block grant disaster recovery program, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 5, 2017 
Mrs. WAGNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to provide disaster assistance to States and units 
of general government under a community development 
block grant disaster recovery program, 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 ‘‘Reforming Disaster 
Recovery Act of 2017’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:31 Dec 12, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4557.IH
H4557
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT DIS-
ASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Housing and Com-
munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 123. CDBG-DISASTER RECOVERY ASSISTANCE. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY; USE.—The Secretary may provide 
assistance under this section to States and units of general 
local government for necessary expenses for activities au-
thorized under this title related to disaster relief, long- 
term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, 
and economic revitalization in the most impacted and dis-
tressed areas resulting from a major disaster declared pur-
suant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) DIRECT
ASSISTANCE.—Assistance shall be 
awarded directly to States and units of general local gov-
ernment at the discretion of the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) PLAN FOR USE OF ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Before obligating any 
funds made available under this section, a grantee 
shall submit a plan to the Secretary for approval de-
tailing the proposed use of all funds, which shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) criteria for eligibility and how the use 
of such funds will address long-term recovery 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:31 Dec 12, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4557.IH
H4557
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
and restoration of infrastructure and housing 
and economic revitalization in the most im-
pacted and distressed areas; 
‘‘(B) identification of officials and offices 
responsible for identifying and recovering dupli-
cate benefits; and 
‘‘(C) an agreement to share data with Fed-
eral agencies and other providers of disaster re-
lief. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL; DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary 
shall, by regulations issued under section 2(b) of the 
Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2017, specify 
criteria for approval of plans under paragraph (1), 
and, if the Secretary determines that a plan does not 
meet such criteria, the Secretary shall disapprove 
the plan. 
‘‘(d) TIMING.— 
‘‘(1) 
DEADLINE
FOR
ALLOCATION
OF 
AMOUNTS.—Within 60 days after the enactment of 
an Act making funds available for assistance under 
this section, the Secretary shall allocate to grantees 
all funds provided for assistance under this section 
based on the best available data. 
‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH SBA ASSISTANCE.— 
The Secretary may not allocate any amounts made 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:31 Dec 12, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4557.IH
H4557
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
available for assistance under this section for, or 
provide any grant amounts to, any State or unit of 
general local government that does not provide such 
assurances as the Secretary may require that such 
State or unit of general local government has re-
quired its grantees of assistance received under this 
section to apply to the Small Business Administra-
tion for disaster loan programs administered by such 
Administration for which such grantee is eligible. 
The Secretary shall consult with the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration in carrying 
out this paragraph. 
‘‘(e) FINANCIAL CONTROLS.— 
‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—As a condition of mak-
ing any grant, the Secretary shall certify in advance 
that the grantee has in place proficient financial 
controls and procurement processes and has estab-
lished adequate procedures to prevent any duplica-
tion of benefits as defined by section 312 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155), to ensure timely 
expenditure of funds, to maintain comprehensive 
websites regarding all disaster recovery activities as-
sisted with such funds, and to detect and prevent 
waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:31 Dec 12, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4557.IH
H4557
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE.—In exercising 
the Secretary’s obligation and responsibility to re-
view a grantees’s performance, the maximum fea-
sible deference standard under section 570.480(c) of 
the Secretary’s regulations (24 C.F.R. 570.480(c)) 
shall not apply to a grantee’s interpretation of the 
statutory and regulatory requirements. 
‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTEE AND SUBGRANTEE ADMINISTRA-
TIVE COSTS.—A State or unit of general local gov-
ernment receiving a grant under this section, and a 
grantee or subgrantee of such a State or unit of 
general local government, may use not more than 5 
percent of the amount of grant funds received for 
administrative costs. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION
ON
USE.—Amounts from a 
grant under this section may not be used for activi-
ties reimbursable by, or for which funds are made 
available by, the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, or the Small 
Business Administration. 
‘‘(3) HUD ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS.—Of any 
funds made available for use under this section, 5 
percent may be used, in aggregate, by the Secretary 
for necessary costs, including information technology 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:31 Dec 12, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4557.IH
H4557
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS