I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4460 
To improve the provision of disaster and mitigation assistance to eligible 
individuals and households and to eligible State, local, Tribal, and terri-
torial governments and certain private nonprofit organizations, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
Mr. BARLETTA (for himself and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve the provision of disaster and mitigation assist-
ance to eligible individuals and households and to eligible 
State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and cer-
tain private nonprofit organizations, and for other pur-
poses. 
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’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—DISASTER MITIGATION 
Sec. 101. National public infrastructure predisaster hazard mitigation. 
Sec. 102. Additional mitigation activities. 
Sec. 103. Wildfire prevention. 
Sec. 104. Additional activities. 
TITLE II—DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY 
Sec. 201. Federal cost-share adjustments for repair, restoration, and replace-
ment of damaged facilities. 
Sec. 202. Eligibility for code implementation and enforcement. 
Sec. 203. Program improvements. 
Sec. 204. Prioritization of facilities. 
Sec. 205. Guidance on evacuation routes. 
Sec. 206. Proof of insurance. 
Sec. 207. Duplication of benefits. 
Sec. 208. State administration of assistance for direct temporary housing and 
permanent housing construction. 
Sec. 209. Assistance to individuals and households. 
Sec. 210. Multifamily lease and repair assistance. 
Sec. 211. Federal disaster assistance nonprofit fairness. 
Sec. 212. Management costs. 
Sec. 213. Flexibility. 
Sec. 214. Additional disaster assistance. 
Sec. 215. National veterinary emergency teams. 
TITLE III—AGENCY MANAGEMENT, OVERSIGHT, AND 
ACCOUNTABILITY 
Sec. 301. Unified Federal environmental and historic preservation review. 
Sec. 302. Closeout incentives. 
Sec. 303. Performance of services. 
Sec. 304. Study to streamline and consolidate information collection. 
Sec. 305. Agency accountability. 
Sec. 306. Audit of contracts. 
TITLE I—DISASTER MITIGATION 
SEC. 
101. 
NATIONAL 
PUBLIC 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 
Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is 
amended— 
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(1) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘Public’’ after 
‘‘the National’’; 
(2) in subsection (e)(1)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause 
(ii); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
clause (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) to establish and carry out en-
forcement activities to implement the latest 
published editions of relevant consensus- 
based codes, specifications, and standards 
that incorporate the latest hazard-resistant 
designs and establish minimum acceptable 
criteria for the design, construction, and 
maintenance of residential structures and 
facilities that may be eligible for assistance 
under this Act for the purpose of pro-
tecting the health, safety, and general wel-
fare of the buildings’ users against disas-
ters.’’; 
(3) in subsection (f)— 
(A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘for 
mitigation activities that are cost effective’’ 
after ‘‘competitive basis’’; and 
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(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) 
REDISTRIBUTION
OF
UNOBLIGATED 
AMOUNTS.—The President shall— 
‘‘(A) withdraw amounts of financial assist-
ance made available to a State (including 
amounts made available to local governments of 
a State) under this subsection that remain un-
obligated by the end of the third fiscal year 
after the fiscal year for which the amounts were 
allocated; and 
‘‘(B) in the fiscal year following a fiscal 
year in which amounts were withdrawn under 
subparagraph (A), add the amounts to any 
other amounts available to be awarded on a 
competitive basis pursuant to paragraph (1).’’; 
(4) in subsection (g)— 
(A) in paragraph (9) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 
paragraph (12); and 
(C) by adding after paragraph (9) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(10) the extent to which the State or local 
government has facilitated the adoption and enforce-
ment of the latest published editions of relevant con-
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sensus-based codes, specifications, and standards 
that incorporate the latest hazard-resistant designs 
and establish criteria for the design, construction, 
and maintenance of residential structures and facili-
ties that may be eligible for assistance under this 
Act for the purpose of protecting the health, safety, 
and general welfare of the buildings’ users against 
disasters; and 
‘‘(11) the extent to which the assistance will 
fund activities that increase the level of resiliency; 
and’’; 
(5) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(i) 
NATIONAL
PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURE 
PREDISASTER MITIGATION FUND.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall es-
tablish in the Treasury of the United States a sepa-
rate account called the National Public Infrastruc-
ture Predisaster Mitigation Fund (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Predisaster Mitigation Fund’), 
which shall be used exclusively to carry out this sec-
tion, with amounts in such account to be available 
until expended unless otherwise provided. 
‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO PREDISASTER MITIGATION 
FUND.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be depos-
ited in the Predisaster Mitigation Fund with re-
spect to each disaster declared on or after Au-
gust 1, 2017, an additional amount equal to 6 
percent of the estimated aggregate amount of 
grants to be made pursuant to sections 403, 
406, 407, 408, 410, and 416. 
‘‘(B) ESTIMATED AGGREGATE AMOUNT.— 
Not later than 180 days after each major dis-
aster declaration, the estimated aggregate 
amount of grants on which the amount cal-
culated in subparagraph (A) is based shall be 
determined and need not be reduced, increased, 
or changed due to variations in estimates.’’; and 
(6) by striking subsection (m) and redesig-
nating subsection (n) as subsection (m). 
SEC. 102. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) HAZARD MITIGATION CLARIFICATION.—Section 
404(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(a)) is 
amended by striking the first sentence and inserting the 
following: ‘‘The President may contribute up to 75 percent 
of the cost of hazard mitigation measures which the Presi-
dent has determined are cost effective and which substan-
tially reduce the risk of, or increase resilience to, future 
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damage, hardship, loss, or suffering in any area affected 
by a major disaster.’’. 
(b) ELIGIBLE COST.—Section 406(e)(1)(A) of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by insert-
ing after ‘‘section’’ the following: ‘‘for disasters de-
clared on or after August 1, 2017, or a disaster in 
which a cost estimate has not yet been finalized for 
a project,’’; 
(2) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
(3) in clause (ii)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘codes, specifications, and 
standards’’ and inserting ‘‘the latest published 
editions of relevant consensus-based codes, 
specifications, and standards that incorporate 
the latest hazard-resistant designs and establish 
minimum acceptable criteria for the design, 
construction, and maintenance of residential 
structures and facilities that may be eligible for 
assistance under this Act for the purposes of 
protecting the health, safety, and general wel-
fare of a facility’s users against disasters’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘applicable at the time at 
which the disaster occurred’’; and 
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(C) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) in a manner that allows the fa-
cility to meet the definition of resilient de-
veloped pursuant to this subsection.’’. 
(c) NEW RULES.—Section 406(e) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 5172(e)) is further amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(5) NEW RULES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, the President, acting through the 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency, shall issue a final rulemaking 
that defines the terms ‘resilient’ and ‘resiliency’ 
for purposes of this subsection. 
‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date on which the Administrator 
issues the final rulemaking under this para-
graph, the Administrator shall issue any nec-
essary guidance related to the rulemaking. 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 
the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 
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