I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3453 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act to make improvements in the provision of Federal disaster assistance, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2009 
Mr. SCALISE (for himself and Mr. CAO) 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 make improvements in the provi-
sion of Federal disaster assistance, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 Recovery Im-
provement Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 
Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time of a declara-
tion of a major disaster, the affected State has in 
effect and is actively enforcing throughout the State 
an approved State building code, the President may 
increase the maximum total of contributions under 
this section for the major disaster, as specified in 
subsection (a), by an amount equal to 5 percent of 
the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be 
made (less any associated administrative costs) 
under this Act with respect to the major disaster. 
‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for an in-
creased Federal share under paragraph (1), a State, 
at least once every 4 years, shall submit its State 
building code to the President for approval. 
‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The President shall approve 
a State building code submitted under paragraph (2) 
if the President determines that the building code— 
‘‘(A) is consistent with the most recent 
version of a nationally recognized model build-
ing code; 
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‘‘(B) has been adopted by the State within 
4 years of the most recent version of the na-
tionally recognized model building code; and 
‘‘(C) uses the nationally recognized model 
building code as a minimum standard. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply: 
‘‘(A) ACTIVELY
ENFORCING.—The term 
‘actively enforcing’ means effective jurisdic-
tional execution of all phases of a State building 
code in the process of examination and approval 
of construction plans, specifications, and tech-
nical data and the inspection of new construc-
tion or renovation. 
‘‘(B) NATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED
MODEL 
BUILDING CODE.—The term ‘nationally recog-
nized model building code’ means a building 
code for residential and commercial construc-
tion and construction materials that— 
‘‘(i) has been developed and published 
by a code organization in an open con-
sensus type forum with input from na-
tional experts; and 
‘‘(ii) is based on national structural 
design standards that establish minimum 
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‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
President, acting through the Administrator of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue 
such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 3. EXPEDITED PAYMENTS. 
Section 406 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) EXPEDITED PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT ASSISTANCE.—In making a con-
tribution under subsection (a)(1), the President shall 
provide not less than 50 percent of the President’s 
initial estimate of the Federal share of assistance as 
an initial payment in accordance with paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) DATE OF PAYMENT.—Not later than 60 
days after the date of the estimate described in 
paragraph (1), and not later than 90 days after the 
date on which the State or local government or 
owner or operator of a private nonprofit facility ap-
plies for assistance under this section, the initial 
payment described in paragraph (1) shall be paid.’’. 
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SEC. 4. DEBRIS REMOVAL. 
(a) DEBRIS MANAGEMENT PLANS.—Section 407(d) 
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173(d)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: ‘‘The Federal share shall be in-
creased by 5 percent for States and local governments that 
(1) have a debris management plan approved by the Ad-
ministrator; and (2) have prequalified 2 or more debris 
and wreckage removal contractors before the date of dec-
laration of the major disaster. To qualify for the increased 
Federal share under the preceding sentence, a debris man-
agement plan shall be resubmitted to the Administrator 
for approval every 4 years.’’. 
(b) FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
FOR DEBRIS RECY-
CLING.—Section 407 such Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) DEBRIS RECYCLING.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A grant recipient under 
subsection (a)(2) may use funds from the grant for 
the costs of recycling debris and wreckage resulting 
from a major disaster, including the sorting of such 
materials. 
‘‘(2) VALUE OF SALVAGED MATERIAL.— 
‘‘(A) RETENTION
OF
FINANCIAL
BENE-
FITS.—A grant recipient under subsection 
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(a)(2) may retain any financial benefit received 
from the salvage of recycled debris or wreckage. 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT
OF
FINANCIAL
BENE-
FITS.—Any such financial benefit shall not be 
considered to be program income for purposes 
of section 13.25 of title 44, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or any successor regulation). 
‘‘(C) CONTRACTS.—Any arrangement be-
tween a grant recipient under subsection (a)(2) 
and a contractor in which the contractor will re-
tain possession of recyclable materials shall be 
reflected in the contractor’s bid price. 
‘‘(3) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) RECIPIENTS
THAT
RECYCLE
DE-
BRIS.—A grant recipient under subsection 
(a)(2) that recycles debris or wreckage during 
disaster operations shall submit to the Adminis-
trator of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency a written description of what the recipi-
ent did to recycle the debris or wreckage, the 
volume of the debris or wreckage that was recy-
cled, and the monetary or nonmonetary benefits 
received, if any. 
‘‘(B) RECIPIENTS THAT DO NOT RECYCLE 
DEBRIS.—A grant recipient under subsection 
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(a)(2) that chooses not to recycle debris or 
wreckage during disaster operations shall sub-
mit to the Administrator a written statement 
describing why this option was not used.’’. 
SEC. 5. APPEALS PROCESS. 
(a) TIMING.—Section 423(b) of the Robert T. Staf-
ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5189a(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and 
inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue 
rules regarding the information that must be provided to 
an applicant in the event that a project worksheet is de-
nied. The required information shall include, at a min-
imum— 
(1) all reasons for which the project worksheet 
was denied; 
(2) the specific items, if any, in the project 
worksheet that are disputed; and 
(3) a description of any additional information 
the applicant needs to provide. 
SEC. 6. INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE FACTORS. 
In order to provide more objective criteria for evalu-
ating the need for assistance to individuals and to speed 
a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
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ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in co-
operation with representatives of State and local emer-
gency management agencies, shall review, update, and re-
vise through rulemaking the factors considered under sec-
tion 206.48 of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, to 
measure the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster. 
SEC. 7. HOUSEHOLD PETS AND SERVICE ANIMALS. 
Section 502(a) of Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5192(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(7); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) provide assistance for rescue, care, shelter, 
and essential needs— 
‘‘(A) to individuals with household pets 
and service animals; and 
‘‘(B) to such pets and animals.’’. 
Æ 
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