H. R. 5441—106
assistance activities which may be carried out by contract or 
agreement with private organizations, firms, or individuals, 
not awarded to an organization, firm, or individual residing 
or doing business primarily in the area affected by such major 
disaster shall be justified in writing in the contract file. 
‘‘(2) TRANSITION.—Following the declaration of an emer-
gency or major disaster, an agency performing response, relief, 
and reconstruction activities shall transition work performed 
under contracts in effect on the date on which the President 
declares the emergency or major disaster to organizations, 
firms, and individuals residing or doing business primarily 
in any area affected by the major disaster or emergency, unless 
the head of such agency determines that it is not feasible 
or practicable to do so. 
‘‘(c) PRIOR CONTRACTS.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to require any Federal agency to breach or renegotiate 
any contract in effect before the occurrence of a major disaster 
or emergency.’’. 
SEC. 695. LIMITATION ON LENGTH OF CERTAIN NONCOMPETITIVE 
CONTRACTS. 
(a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
applicable to contracts described in subsection (c) to restrict the 
contract period of any such contract entered into using procedures 
other than competitive procedures pursuant to the exception pro-
vided in paragraph (2) of section 303(c) of the Federal Property 
and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(c)) to the 
minimum contract period necessary—
(1) to meet the urgent and compelling requirements of 
the work to be performed under the contract; and 
(2) to enter into another contract for the required goods 
or services through the use of competitive procedures. 
(b) SPECIFIC CONTRACT PERIOD.—The regulations promulgated 
under subsection (a) shall require the contract period to not to 
exceed 150 days, unless the Secretary determines that exceptional 
circumstances apply. 
(c) COVERED CONTRACTS.—This section applies to any contract 
in an amount greater than the simplified acquisition threshold 
(as defined by section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
Act (41 U.S.C. 403)) entered into by the Department to facilitate 
response to or recovery from a natural disaster, act of terrorism, 
or other man-made disaster. 
SEC. 696. FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE CONTROLS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall ensure that—
(1) all programs within the Agency administering Federal 
disaster relief assistance develop and maintain proper internal 
management controls to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and 
abuse; 
(2) application databases used by the Agency to collect 
information on eligible recipients must record disbursements; 
(3) such tracking is designed to highlight and identify 
ineligible applications; and 
(4) the databases used to collect information from applica-
tions for such assistance must be integrated with disbursements 
and payment records. 
(b) AUDITS AND REVIEWS REQUIRED.—The Administrator shall 
ensure that any database or similar application processing system
H. R. 5441—107
for Federal disaster relief assistance programs administered by 
the Agency undergoes a review by the Inspector General of the 
Agency to determine the existence and implementation of such 
internal controls required under this section and the amendments 
made by this section. 
(c) VERIFICATION MEASURES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS 
PROGRAM.—Section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following: 
‘‘(i) VERIFICATION MEASURES.—In carrying out this section, the 
President shall develop a system, including an electronic database, 
that shall allow the President, or the designee of the President, 
to—
‘‘(1) verify the identity and address of recipients of assist-
ance under this section to provide reasonable assurance that 
payments are made only to an individual or household that 
is eligible for such assistance; 
‘‘(2) minimize the risk of making duplicative payments 
or payments for fraudulent claims under this section; 
‘‘(3) collect any duplicate payment on a claim under this 
section, or reduce the amount of subsequent payments to offset 
the amount of any such duplicate payment; 
‘‘(4) provide instructions to recipients of assistance under 
this section regarding the proper use of any such assistance, 
regardless of how such assistance is distributed; and 
‘‘(5) conduct an expedited and simplified review and appeal 
process for an individual or household whose application for 
assistance under this section is denied.’’. 
SEC. 697. REGISTRY OF DISASTER RESPONSE CONTRACTORS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
(1) the term ‘‘registry’’ means the registry created under 
subsection (b); and 
(2) the terms ‘‘small business concern’’, ‘‘small business 
concern owned and controlled by socially and economically dis-
advantaged individuals’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and 
controlled by women’’, and ‘‘small business concern owned and 
controlled by service-disabled veterans’’ have the meanings 
given those terms under the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
631 et seq.). 
(b) REGISTRY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish and 
maintain a registry of contractors who are willing to perform 
debris removal, distribution of supplies, reconstruction, and 
other disaster or emergency relief activities. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The registry shall include, for each busi-
ness concern—
(A) the name of the business concern; 
(B) the location of the business concern; 
(C) the area served by the business concern; 
(D) the type of good or service provided by the business 
concern; 
(E) the bonding level of the business concern; and 
(F) whether the business concern is—
(i) a small business concern;
H. R. 5441—108
(ii) a small business concern owned and controlled 
by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; 
(iii) a small business concern owned and controlled 
by women; or 
(iv) a small business concern owned and controlled 
by service-disabled veterans. 
(3) SOURCE OF INFORMATION.—
(A) SUBMISSION.—Information maintained in the reg-
istry shall be submitted on a voluntary basis and be kept 
current by the submitting business concerns. 
(B) ATTESTATION.—Each business concern submitting 
information to the registry shall submit—
(i) an attestation that the information is true; and 
(ii) documentation supporting such attestation. 
(C) VERIFICATION.—The Administrator shall verify that 
the documentation submitted by each business concern sup-
ports the information submitted by that business concern. 
(4) AVAILABILITY OF REGISTRY.—The registry shall be made 
generally available on the Internet site of the Agency. 
(5) CONSULTATION OF REGISTRY.—As part of the acquisition 
planning for contracting for debris removal, distribution of sup-
plies in a disaster, reconstruction, and other disaster or emer-
gency relief activities, a Federal agency shall consult the reg-
istry. 
SEC. 698. FRAUD PREVENTION TRAINING PROGRAM. 
The Administrator shall develop and implement a program 
to provide training on the prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse 
of Federal disaster relief assistance relating to the response to 
or recovery from natural disasters and acts of terrorism or other 
man-made disasters and ways to identify such potential waste, 
fraud, and abuse. 
Subtitle G—Authorization of 
Appropriations 
SEC. 699. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title 
and the amendments made by this title for the administration 
and operations of the Agency—
(1) for fiscal year 2008, an amount equal to the amount 
appropriated for fiscal year 2007 for administration and oper-
ations of the Agency, multiplied by 1.1; 
(2) for fiscal year 2009, an amount equal to the amount 
described in paragraph (1), multiplied by 1.1; and 
(3) for fiscal year 2010, an amount equal to the amount 
described in paragraph (2), multiplied by 1.1.
H. R. 5441—109
SEC. 699A. Except as expressly provided otherwise, any ref-
erence to ‘‘this Act’’ contained in this title shall be treated as 
referring only to the provisions of this title. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Homeland Security 
Appropriations Act, 2007’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.