I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3869
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act to authorize programs for predisaster mitigation, to streamline the
administration of disaster relief, to control the Federal costs of disaster
assistance, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 14, 1998
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself and Mr. BORSKI) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to authorize programs 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Mitigation
Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ROBERT T. STAFFORD DISASTER
RELIEF AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE ACT.
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made
to a section or other provision of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5121 et seq.).
TITLE I—PREDISASTER HAZARD
MITIGATION
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) greater emphasis needs to be placed on
identifying and assessing the risks to State and local
communities and implementing adequate measures
to reduce losses from natural disasters and to ensure
that critical facilities and public infrastructure will
continue to function after a disaster;
(2) expenditures for post-disaster assistance are
increasing without commensurate reduction in the
likelihood of future losses from such natural disas-
ters;
(3) a high priority in the expenditure of Federal
funds under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act should be to imple-
ment predisaster activities at the local level; and
(4) with a unified effort of economic incentives,
awareness and education, technical assistance, and
demonstrated Federal support, States and local com-
munities will be able to increase their capabilities to
form effective community-based partnerships for
mitigation purposes, implement effective natural dis-
aster mitigation measures that reduce the risk of fu-
ture damage, hardship, and suffering, ensure contin-
ued functioning of critical facilities and public infra-
structure, leverage additional non-Federal resources
into meeting disaster resistance goals, and make
commitments to long-term mitigation efforts in new
and existing structures.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to estab-
lish a predisaster hazard mitigation program that—
(1) reduces the loss of life and property, human
suffering, economic disruption, and disaster assist-
ance costs resulting from natural hazards; and
(2) provides a source of predisaster hazard
mitigation funding that will assist States and local
governments in implementing effective mitigation
measures that are designed to ensure the continued
functioning of critical facilities and public infrastruc-
ture after a natural disaster.
SEC. 102. STATE MITIGATION PROGRAM.
Section 201(c) (42 U.S.C. 5131(c)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(1);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) set forth, with the ongoing cooperation of
local governments and consistent with section 409, a
comprehensive and detailed State program for miti-
gating against emergencies and major disasters, in-
cluding provisions for prioritizing mitigation meas-
ures.’’.
SEC. 103. DISASTER ASSISTANCE PLANS.
Section 201(d) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) GRANTS FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE AND HAZ-
ARD IDENTIFICATION.—The President is authorized to
make grants for—
‘‘(1) the cost of improving, maintaining, and
updating State disaster assistance plans including,
consistent with section 409, evaluation of natural
hazards and development of the programs and ac-
tions required to mitigate such hazards; and