I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3026 
To amend the United States Public Housing Act of 1937 to establish a 
predisaster mitigation program to benefit public and assisted housing 
residents, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2009 
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the United States Public Housing Act of 1937 
to establish a predisaster mitigation program to benefit 
public and assisted housing residents, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hazard Mitigation For 
All Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. IN GENERAL. 
Title I of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 37. HAZARD MITIGATION FOR ALL GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to 
provide grant assistance to public housing agencies for ac-
tivities to— 
‘‘(1) protect the lives of residents of public and 
assisted housing by mitigating in advance against 
natural disasters; and 
‘‘(2) improve the resilience of resident-inhabited 
residential structures to withstand storms and other 
natural disasters, through restoration, reconstruc-
tion, replacement, or retrofit initiatives in advance of 
such storms and disasters. 
‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—To the extent amounts for 
grants under this section for a fiscal year are made avail-
able in advance in appropriations Acts, the Secretary shall 
make grants under this section to public housing agencies 
that have submitted applications for such grants which 
have been selected pursuant to subsection (h). 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.—A 
grant under this section may be provided only to a public 
housing agency that— 
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‘‘(1) administers one or more public housing 
projects; 
‘‘(2) provides project-based housing assistance 
under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) for any rental housing 
project; 
‘‘(3) administers a program for tenant-based 
rental housing assistance under section 8 of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f); or 
‘‘(4) administers a program for tenant-based 
rental housing assistance for the elderly, persons 
with disabilities, or the homeless. 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grants under this sec-
tion may be used only for predisaster activities for hazard 
mitigation that benefit residents of the assisted housing 
of the public housing agency that is the grantee, which 
shall include the following: 
‘‘(1) Improving the strength of roof deck at-
tachments. 
‘‘(2) Creating a secondary water barrier to pre-
vent water intrusion. 
‘‘(3) Installing coverings to reduce leakage in 
the event hurricane-force winds remove roof shin-
gles. 
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‘‘(4) Improving the survivability of the roof cov-
ering. 
‘‘(5) Bracing gable-ends in roof framing. 
‘‘(6) Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections. 
‘‘(7) Upgrading exterior wall openings with pro-
tections to resist hurricane-force winds. 
‘‘(8) Replacing storm shutters, exterior doors, 
windows, and garage doors. 
‘‘(9) Adding anchor bolts or steel plates be-
tween the property and the foundation. 
‘‘(10) Bracing the inside of any short wood-stud 
wall between the top of the foundation wall and the 
first floor (known as a cripple wall) with sheathing 
for added protection against an earthquake. 
‘‘(11) Any other activities as the Secretary may 
determine that improve the storm resilience of as-
sisted housing through restoration, reconstruction, 
replacement, or retrofit. 
‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (3), each public housing agency that receives 
a grant under this section shall provide, from 
sources other than a grant under this section, an 
amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the 
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total funds necessary to complete an activity funded 
under this section. 
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), funds from other Federal sources, 
funds from any State or local government source, 
any private contributions, and any in-kind contribu-
tions available to comply with this subsection shall 
be considered funds from sources other than a grant 
under this section. 
‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary may con-
sider the severity and frequency of storms in the 
area for which the public housing agency has juris-
diction in determining the percentage of contribution 
required under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS.—Amounts from a grant under 
this section— 
‘‘(1) shall be used only to provide eligible activi-
ties for real property that is assisted housing; 
‘‘(2) shall be used to provide eligible activities 
only for residents of assisted housing whose family 
incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median in-
come for the area; 
‘‘(3) may be used for eligible activities that re-
sult in displacement of assisted residents only if ac-
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commodations are provided for such assisted resi-
dents during such period of displacement that are— 
‘‘(A) similar to the existing assisted hous-
ing of the resident; 
‘‘(B) located in a community comparable 
to the existing housing of the resident; and 
‘‘(C) a reasonable distance from the exist-
ing housing of the resident. 
‘‘(g) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE TO PRIVATE 
OWNERS OF ASSISTED HOUSING.—A public housing agen-
cy receiving a grant under this section may not provide 
grant amounts to an owner of assisted housing that is not 
public housing unless the owner of the assisted housing 
agrees to make the assisted housing units that are des-
ignated at the time of the grant award available for occu-
pancy, during the 5-year period beginning upon the initial 
receipt of any funds from a grant under this section, 
through an occupancy preference, in accordance with rea-
sonable admissions screening criteria developed by the 
public housing agency, to families who are eligible for 
rental assistance under section 8. 
‘‘(h) APPLICATIONS AND SELECTION CRITERIA.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro-
vide for public housing agencies to submit applica-
tions for a grant under this section through the Of-
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fice of Multifamily Housing Programs and shall re-
quire, to be eligible for a grant for any fiscal year, 
that an application be submitted not later than June 
30 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year of 
grant award. Such Office shall establish such appli-
cations in consultation with the Administrator of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
‘‘(2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Office of Mul-
tifamily Housing Programs shall establish criteria 
for the selection of applications by public housing 
agencies for grants under this section, which shall 
consider the following factors: 
‘‘(A) The severity and frequency of natural 
disasters within the area in which eligible activi-
ties are to be carried out using grant amounts. 
‘‘(B) The size and median age of the as-
sisted resident population within the jurisdic-
tion of the public housing agency applicant. 
‘‘(C) The capability of the public housing 
agency applicant to administer the grant funds. 
‘‘(D) The nature and effectiveness of the 
eligible activities to be carried out using the 
grant amounts. 
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‘‘(E) The long-term viability of the hazard 
mitigation improvements for which the grant 
amounts will be used. 
‘‘(F) Whether energy efficient methods 
(such as energy efficient storm windows) will be 
used in the hazard mitigation improvements for 
which grant amounts will be used. 
‘‘(G) The efforts the public housing agency 
has made to publicize the importance of hazard 
mitigation to local owners of assisted housing. 
‘‘(H) The extent of commitment by the 
public housing agency to support ongoing non- 
Federal hazard mitigation measures. 
‘‘(I) The ability of the public housing agen-
cy to maintain eligible activities funded with 
grant amounts. 
‘‘(i) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) COMPETITIVE
PROGRAM.—Grants from 
amounts made available under this section shall be 
awarded on a competitive basis subject to the cri-
teria specified in subsection (h)(2) and regulations 
issued by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM
AMOUNT.—Of any amounts 
made available for any fiscal year for grants under 
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this section, not more than 15 percent may be pro-
vided to any single public housing agency. 
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(1) ASSISTED HOUSING.—The term ‘assisted 
housing’ means, with respect to a public housing 
agency— 
‘‘(A) any public housing administered by 
the agency; 
‘‘(B) any housing for which project-based 
rental assistance is provided by the agency; and 
‘‘(C) any housing occupied by a family for 
whom the agency provides tenant-based rental 
assistance and for rental of which such family 
uses such rental assistance. 
‘‘(2) ASSISTED RESIDENT.—The term ‘assisted 
resident’ means— 
‘‘(A) a resident of public housing; 
‘‘(B) a resident of assisted housing de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(B) who resides in a 
dwelling unit for which such project-based rent-
al assistance is provided; or 
‘‘(C) a family described in paragraph 
(1)(C). 
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‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘eligible 
activities’ means activities that, pursuant to sub-
section (d), may be funded with amounts from a 
grant under this section. 
‘‘(k) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2010 through 2013, to remain available until 
expended. 
‘‘(l) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue any 
regulations necessary to carry out this section.’’. 
Æ 
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