116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3702 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to provide disaster assistance to States, Puerto 
Rico, units of general local government, and Indian tribes 
under a community development block grant disaster re-
covery 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 2019’’. 
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, including Puerto 
Rico, units of general local government, and Indian tribes 
for necessary expenses for activities authorized under this 
title related to disaster relief, resiliency, long-term recov-
ery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, mitigation, 
and economic revitalization in the most impacted and dis-
tressed areas (as such term shall be defined by the Sec-
retary by regulation) resulting from a major disaster de-
clared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION; COORDINATION.— 
‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FOR MITIGATION.—In deter-
mining the amount allocated under this section for 
any grantee, the Secretary shall include an addi-
tional amount for mitigation that is not less than 45
percent of the amount allocated for such grantee for 
unmet needs. 
‘‘(2) DEADLINES FOR ALLOCATION.—Except as 
provided in paragraph (3), after the enactment of an 
Act making funds available for assistance under this 
section, the Secretary shall allocate for grantees, 
based on the best available data all funds provided 
for assistance under this section within 60 days of 
the date of the enactment of such Act. 
‘‘(3) INAPPLICABILITY
OF
DEADLINES
BASED 
ON
INSUFFICIENT
INFORMATION.—The deadlines 
under paragraph (2) for allocation of funds shall not 
apply in the case of funds made available for assist-
ance under this section if Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency has not made sufficient information 
available to the Secretary regarding relevant unmet 
recovery needs to make allocations in accordance 
with such deadlines. The Secretary shall notify the 
Congress of progress on or delay in receiving the 
necessary information within 60 days following dec-
laration of such a major disaster and monthly there-
after until all necessary information is received. 
‘‘(4) OBLIGATION OF AMOUNTS BY THE SEC-
RETARY.—Subject to subsection (c)(1), the Sec-
retary shall provide for the disbursement of the
amounts allocated for a grantee, but shall require 
the grantee to be in substantial compliance with the 
requirements of this section before each such dis-
bursement. 
‘‘(5) COORDINATION
OF
DISASTER
BENEFITS 
AND DATA WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(A) COORDINATION OF DATA.—The Sec-
retary shall coordinate with other agencies to 
obtain data on recovery needs, including the 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency and the Administrator of the 
Small Business Administration, and other agen-
cies when necessary regarding disaster benefits. 
‘‘(B) COORDINATION
WITH
FEMA.—The 
Secretary shall share with the Administrator of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
and make publicly available, all data collected, 
possessed, or analyzed during the course of a 
disaster recovery for which assistance is pro-
vided under this section including— 
‘‘(i) all data on damage caused by the 
disaster; 
‘‘(ii) information on how any Federal 
assistance provided in connection with the 
disaster is expended; and
‘‘(iii) information regarding the effect 
of the disaster on education, transportation 
capabilities 
and 
dependence, 
housing 
needs, health care capacity, and displace-
ment of persons. 
‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS
REGARDING
ELIGI-
BILITY FOR DIRECT ASSISTANCE AND DUPLICA-
TION OF BENEFITS.— 
‘‘(i) 
COMPLIANCE.—Funds 
made 
available under this subsection shall be 
used in accordance with section 312 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5155), as amended by section 1210 of the 
Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (di-
vision D, Public Law 115–254), and such 
rules as may be prescribed under such sec-
tion. 
‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—Households having 
the lowest incomes shall be prioritized for 
assistance under this subsection until all 
unmet needs are satisfied for families hav-
ing an income up to 120 percent of the 
median for the area.
‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF DUPLICATIVE BENE-
FITS.—In any case in which a grantee provides 
assistance that duplicates benefits available to a 
person for the same purpose from another 
source, the grantee itself shall either (i) be sub-
ject to remedies for noncompliance under sec-
tion 111, or (ii) bear responsibility for absorb-
ing such cost of duplicative benefits and return-
ing an amount equal to any duplicative benefits 
paid to the grantee’s funds available for use 
under this section or to the Community Devel-
opment Block Grant Disaster Recovery Reserve 
Fund under section 124, unless the Secretary 
issues a public determination by publication in 
the Federal Register that it is not in the best 
interest of the Federal Government to pursue 
such remedies. 
‘‘(E) PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY IDEN-
TIFIABLE INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 
paragraph, the Secretary and the grantee shall 
take such actions as may be necessary to ensure 
that personally identifiable information regard-
ing recipients of assistance provided from funds 
made available under this section is not made 
publicly available by the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development or any agency with 
which information is shared pursuant to this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(c) PLAN FOR USE OF ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the allocation pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of 
all of the funds made available by an appropriations 
Act for assistance under this section and before the 
Secretary obligates any of such funds for a grantee, 
the grantee shall submit a plan to the Secretary for 
approval detailing the proposed use of all funds, 
which shall include, at a minimum— 
‘‘(A) criteria for eligibility for each pro-
posed use of funds, including eligibility limits 
on income and geography, and a description of 
how each proposed use of such funds will com-
ply with all civil rights and fair housing laws 
and will address unmet needs relating to dis-
aster relief, resiliency, long-term recovery, res-
toration of infrastructure and housing, mitiga-
tion, and economic revitalization in the most 
impacted and distressed areas, including assist-
ance to impacted households experiencing home-
lessness as defined by section 103 of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 11302) or at risk of homelessness as de-
fined by section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
11360); 
‘‘(B) 
an 
agreement 
to 
share 
data, 
disaggregated by the smallest census tract, 
block group, or block possible for the data set, 
with Federal agencies and other providers of 
disaster relief, which shall include information 
the grantee has regarding the matters described 
in subsection (b)(4)(B); 
‘‘(C) identification of officials and offices 
responsible for administering such funds and 
processes and procedures for identifying and re-
covering duplicate benefits; and 
‘‘(D) a plan for ensuring compliance with 
the Fair Housing Act, which may include, at 
the election of the grantee, providing for part-
nerships with local fair housing organizations 
and funding set-aside for local fair housing or-
ganizations to handle complaints relating to as-
sistance with amounts made available for use 
under this section. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall, by regu-
lation, specify criteria for approval of plans under
paragraph (1), including approval of substantial 
amendments to such plans. 
‘‘(3) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall dis-
approve a plan or substantial amendment to a plan 
if— 
‘‘(A) the plan or substantial amendment 
does not meet the approval criteria; 
‘‘(B) based on damage and unmet needs 
assessments of the Secretary and the Federal 
Emergency Management Administration or 
such other information as may be available, the 
plan or amendment does not address equitable 
allocation of resources— 
‘‘(i) between infrastructure and hous-
ing activities; and 
‘‘(ii) between homeowners, renters, 
and persons experiencing homelessness; 
‘‘(C) the plan or amendment does not pro-
vide an adequate plan for ensuring that funding 
provided under this section is used in compli-
ance with the Fair Housing Act; 
‘‘(D) the plan or amendment does not 
prioritize the one-for-one replacement, with cost 
adjustment where appropriate, of damaged 
dwelling units in public housing, in projects re-
ceiving tax credits pursuant to section 42 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or in projects 
assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act 
of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q), under section 811 
of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013), under the 
HOME 
Investment 
Partnerships 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 12721 et seq.), under the community 
development block grant program under this 
title, or by the Housing Trust Fund under sec-
tion 1338 of the Housing and Community De-
velopment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); or 
‘‘(E) the plan or amendment does not pro-
vide a process to provide applicants— 
‘‘(i) notice by grantee of applicant’s 
right to appeal any adverse action or inac-
tion; 
‘‘(ii) right to full discovery of appli-
cant’s entire application file; and 
‘‘(iii) right to appeal to a court of 
competent jurisdiction in the vicinage of 
the applicant’s residence at the time of the 
appeal.
‘‘(4) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.— In developing 
the plan required under paragraph (1), a grantee 
shall, at a minimum— 
‘‘(A) consult with affected residents, stake-
holders, local governments, and public housing 
authorities to assess needs; 
‘‘(B) publish the plan in accordance with 
the requirements set forth by the Secretary, in-
cluding a requirement to prominently post the 
plan on the website of the grantee for not less 
than 14 days; 
‘‘(C) ensure equal access for individuals 
with disabilities and individuals with limited 
English proficiency; and 
‘‘(D) publish the plan in a manner that af-
fords citizens, affected local governments, and 
other interested parties a reasonable oppor-
tunity to examine the contents of the plan and 
provide feedback. 
‘‘(5) RESUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall per-
mit a grantee to revise and resubmit a disapproved 
plan or plan amendment. 
‘‘(6) TIMING.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
approve or disapprove a plan not later than 60