I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1685 
To require rulemaking by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to address considerations in evaluating the need for 
public and individual disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2015 
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 
BOST, and Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require rulemaking by the Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency to address consider-
ations in evaluating the need for public and individual 
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 ‘‘Fairness in Federal 
Disaster Declarations Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. REGULATORY ACTION REQUIRED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
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Federal Emergency Management Agency (in this Act re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’ and ‘‘FEMA’’, respec-
tively) shall amend the rules of the Administrator under 
section 206.48 of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, 
as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, in accord-
ance with the provisions of this Act. 
(b) NEW CRITERIA REQUIRED.—The amended rules 
issued under subsection (a) shall provide for the following: 
(1) PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—Such rules 
shall provide that, with respect to the evaluation of 
the need for public assistance— 
(A) specific weighted valuations shall be 
assigned to each criterion, as follows— 
(i) estimated cost of the assistance, 10 
percent; 
(ii) localized impacts, 40 percent; 
(iii) insurance coverage in force, 10 
percent; 
(iv) hazard mitigation, 10 percent; 
(v) recent multiple disasters, 10 per-
cent; 
(vi) programs of other Federal assist-
ance, 10 percent; and 
(vii) economic circumstances described 
in subparagraph (B), 10 percent; and 
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(B) FEMA shall consider the economic cir-
cumstances of— 
(i) the local economy of the affected 
area, including factors such as the local as-
sessable tax base and local sales tax, the 
median income as it compares to that of 
the State, and the poverty rate as it com-
pares to that of the State; and 
(ii) the economy of the State, includ-
ing factors such as the unemployment rate 
of the State, as compared to the national 
unemployment rate. 
(2) INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—Such 
rules shall provide that, with respect to the evalua-
tion of the severity, magnitude, and impact of the 
disaster and the evaluation of the need for assist-
ance to individuals— 
(A) specific weighted valuations shall be 
assigned to each criterion, as follows— 
(i) concentration of damages, 20 per-
cent; 
(ii) trauma, 20 percent; 
(iii) special populations, 20 percent; 
(iv) voluntary agency assistance, 10 
percent; 
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(v) insurance, 20 percent; 
(vi) average amount of individual as-
sistance by State, 5 percent; and 
(vii) 
economic 
considerations 
de-
scribed in subparagraph (B), 5 percent; 
and 
(B) FEMA shall consider the economic cir-
cumstances of the affected area, including fac-
tors such as the local assessable tax base and 
local sales tax, the median income as it com-
pares to that of the State, and the poverty rate 
as it compares to that of the State. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amended rules issued 
under subsection (a) shall apply to any disaster for which 
a Governor requested a major disaster declaration under 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and was denied on 
or after January 1, 2012. 
Æ 
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