374 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants made under this sec-
tion may be used— 
‘‘(1) for waterline extensions from existing sys-
tems, laying of new waterlines, repairs or mainte-
nance to an existing system, digging of new wells or 
development of other sources of water designed to 
replace sources of drinking water with high levels of 
nitrates, equipment replacement, and hook-up fees; 
and 
‘‘(2) in the case of a project designed to benefit 
a rural community outside the jurisdiction of the 
grantee, to maintain existing water supplies of the 
grantee that will be reduced as a result of the 
project. 
‘‘(c) RURAL COMMUNITY.—In this section, the term 
‘rural community’ does not include— 
‘‘(1) any area in any city or town with a popu-
lation in excess of 10,000 inhabitants according to 
the most recent decennial census of the United 
States; and 
‘‘(2) any area with a median household income 
in excess of the State nonmetropolitan median 
household income.
375 
‘‘(d) FULL FUNDING.—Grants under this section 
shall be made in an amount equal to 100 percent of the 
costs of the projects conducted under this section. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—Subsection (h) of section 306A 
shall apply with respect to the administration of applica-
tions for grants under this section. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.’’. 
(b) REPEAL.—Effective 5 years after the date of the 
enactment of this section, section 306F of the Consoli-
dated Farm and Rural Development Act, as added by the 
amendment made by subsection (a), is repealed. 
TITLE II—NATIONAL DISASTER 
SAFETY BOARD ACT 
SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE. 
(a) ORGANIZATION.—There is established in the exec-
utive branch a National Disaster Safety Board, which 
shall be an independent establishment, as defined in sec-
tion 104 of title 5, United States Code. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Board are— 
(1) to reduce loss of life, injury, and economic 
injury caused by future incidents by learning from 
natural hazards, including the impacts and under-
376 
lying factors of such incidents, in a standardized 
way; 
(2) to maintain a focus that is future-looking 
and national in scope, by applying what the Board 
learns through the trends that emerge from the inci-
dents the Board reviews nationally to prevent loss of 
life, or human or economic injury, not only in the af-
fected jurisdiction, but nationally, as the Board de-
termines relevant; 
(3) in carrying out reviews, analyses, and rec-
ommendations, not to be accusatory in nature and 
the Board shall not seek to find blame in any indi-
vidual or organization, or second-guess any relevant 
authorities; 
(4) to address systemic causes behind the loss 
of life and human or economic injury in incidents, 
including by recommending the augmentation of re-
sources available to entities responsible for man-
aging incident consequences; and 
(5) while preventing economic injury as part of 
the mission of the Board, when relevant, to prioritize 
efforts that focus on lifesaving and injury preven-
tion, especially in disproportionately impacted com-
munities, as its work determines them to be.
377 
SEC. 202. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 
the Board shall review and establish the facts, cir-
cumstances, and cause or probable cause of the loss 
of life, human injury, and economic injury due to a 
natural hazard with 10 or more fatalities or that 
meets the requirements described in paragraph (5) 
or (6) of subsection (b) that occurs after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(2) DUE TO A NATURAL HAZARD INCIDENT DE-
FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 
‘‘due to a natural hazard’’ means a fatality that, if 
not for the natural hazard incident, as the case may 
be, would not have occurred within the time frame 
of the incident, as defined by standards developed by 
the Board. 
(b) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER INCIDENT WAR-
RANTS BOARD REVIEW.—In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Board— 
(1) may begin the review of an incident, includ-
ing by monitoring the natural hazard and collecting 
facts, before the total number of fatalities is known 
if the Board determines that the natural hazard in-
cident has the potential to cause 10 or more fatali-
378 
ties at its onset, in accordance with the policies and 
procedures established by the Board; 
(2) may, by a two-thirds vote, decide that an in-
cident that caused 10 or more fatalities does not re-
quire a review and shall issue a public statement ex-
plaining the determination; 
(3) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 
any natural hazard incident that occurs after the 
date of enactment of this Act upon request from a 
representative of an affected State, Tribal govern-
ment, or unit of local government, regardless of the 
number of fatalities; 
(4) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 
any natural hazard incident that occurs after the 
date of enactment of this Act upon recommendation 
by the Office for the Protection of Disproportion-
ately Impacted Communities of the Board, which the 
Office may make because of the incident’s impacts 
on populations that are socially, medically, or eco-
nomically vulnerable, as decided by the Office; and 
(5) may, by a majority vote, decide to review a 
natural hazard incident that occurs after the date of 
enactment of this Act if— 
(A) the Board determines that information 
may be gained by the review that will be useful
379 
in reducing systemic causes behind the loss of 
life and human or economic injury; and 
(B) the incident— 
(i) did not result in 10 or more fatali-
ties; and 
(ii)(I) could have resulted in a large 
number of fatalities if not for swift inter-
vention or a shift in the course of events; 
or 
(II) resulted in, as determined by the 
Board— 
(aa) a significant amount of eco-
nomic or infrastructure damage; 
(bb) significant human displace-
ment; or 
(cc) a significant number of se-
vere non-fatal injuries or cases of se-
vere illness; and 
(6) shall, by majority vote, determine whether 
each incident for which the President issues a major 
disaster declaration under section 401 of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) meets the criteria for re-
view under paragraph (5). 
(c) NATURE OF REVIEW.—