DISASTER Act
Bill: H.R.6115 | Sponsor: Rep. Peters, Scott H. (D-CA)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Disclosing All Spending That Ensures Relief Act or the DISASTER Act
This bill requires federal agencies to track and disclose on a centralized website certain data on funding, outlays, and financial damages relating to disasters and emergencies.

To amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
2006 to require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and 
the Secretary of the Treasury to track and disclose funding and outlays 
relating to disasters and emergencies on a centralized website, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disclosing All Spending That Ensures 
Relief Act'' or the ``DISASTER Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) At a time of constrained budgets, it is fiscally 
        prudent to understand the amount and the scope of the Federal 
        Government's funding and outlays relating to disasters and 
        emergencies affecting communities in need.
            (2) Understanding the funding and outlays of Federal 
        agencies relating to disasters and emergencies will help better 
        inform the congressional funding process and presidential 
        budget requests.
            (3) Knowledge about funding and outlay trends relating to 
        disasters and emergencies will guide mitigation efforts that 
        reduce vulnerabilities to future disasters and emergencies.
            (4) Any accounting mechanism to track outlays relating to 
        disasters and emergencies should account for all funding 
        sources, including both procurement and financial assistance 
        funding, regardless of how that funding is appropriated.
            (5) The Federal Government's fiscal exposure to disasters 
        and emergencies is not limited to the funding and outlays of 
        Federal agencies and should also include financial damages 
        associated with disasters and emergencies. For example, 
        financial damages associated with wildfires may exceed the 
        amount that Federal agencies actually spend in response to 
        wildfires. The difference in damages and outlays illustrates 
        the Federal Government's fiscal exposure to wildfires. Although 
        some Federal agencies currently track financial damages 
        associated with disasters and emergencies, this tracking should 
        be consistent and standardized across all relevant Federal 
        agencies.
            (6) Data quality issues in business systems used by Federal 
        agencies and recipients of Federal awards hinder analysis and 
        learning opportunities about funding and outlays relating to 
        disasters and emergencies.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to require--
            (1) relevant Federal agencies and components of Federal 
        agencies to track and report to the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Treasury data on 
        funding, outlays, and, to the extent practicable, financial 
        damages relating to disasters and emergencies for publication 
        on a centralized website;
            (2) the Comptroller General to study and recommend data 
        quality remediation measures for the data sources of the 
        website described in paragraph (1); and
            (3) if applicable, the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget and the Secretary of the Treasury to implement the 
        data quality remediation measures described in paragraph (2).

SEC. 4. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF FUNDING RELATING TO DISASTERS OR 
              EMERGENCIES.

    (a) Definition.--
            (1) In general.--Section 2(a) of the Federal Funding 
        Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
        note) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (8) as 
                paragraphs (4) through (10), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Disaster or emergency.--The term `disaster or 
        emergency' means--
                    ``(A) any major disaster or emergency declared by 
                the President under section 401 or 501, respectively, 
                of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                34 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191);
                    ``(B) any fire for which assistance is provided 
                under section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
                Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187);
                    ``(C) any fire for which fire suppression 
                activities are carried out by the Department of the 
                Interior or the Department of Agriculture;
                    ``(D) any national emergency declared by the 
                President under section 201 of the National Emergencies 
                Act (50 U.S.C. 1621);
                    ``(E) any disaster or emergency relating to 
                assistance provided under section 7(b) of the Small 
                Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b));
                    ``(F) any natural disaster declared by the 
                Secretary of Agriculture under section 321(a) of the 
                Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
                1961(a));
                    ``(G) any public health emergency declared by the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 
                319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d);
                    ``(H) any commercial fishery failure due to a 
                fishery resource disaster or catastrophic regional 
                fishery disaster determined by the Secretary of 
                Commerce under section 312(a) or 315(a), respectively, 
                of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a), 1864(a)); and
                    ``(I) any other potential or actual disaster or 
                emergency identified by the Director, in consultation 
                with the head of any relevant Federal agency.
            ``(3) Disaster-related financial damages.--The term 
        `disaster-related financial damages' means any financial or 
        economic loss determined by the Director that may inform 
        necessary Federal outlays relating to any disaster or 
        emergency.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated--
                            (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) search and aggregate Federal funding and 
                outlays relating to disasters or emergencies and other 
                relevant information.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 2 of the Federal 
        Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 
        6101 note), as amended by paragraph (1), is further amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(9)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (2)(A)(i)'' and inserting 
                        ``paragraph (6)(A)(i)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting 
                        ``paragraph (6)(A)(ii)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ``subsection 
                (a)(2)(A)(i) and those described in subsection 
                (a)(2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting ``subsection (a)(6)(A)(i) 
                and those described in subsection (a)(6)(A)(ii)''.
    (b) Funding Relating to Disasters and Emergencies.--Section 3 of 
the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 
U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
                subparagraph (E); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following:
                    ``(D) from which accounts and in what amount--
                            ``(i) appropriations are obligated relating 
                        to any disaster or emergency, which shall be 
                        accompanied by the information described in 
                        subsection (c)(2)(A); and
                            ``(ii) outlays are made relating to any 
                        disaster or emergency, which shall be 
                        accompanied by the information described in 
                        subsection (c)(2)(A); and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Full Disclosure of Funding and Outlays Relating to Disasters 
and Emergencies.--
            ``(1) Pilot program.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of enactment of the DISASTER Act, the Director 
                and the Secretary shall establish a pilot program to--
                            ``(i) test and evaluate the collection and 
                        accession of data involving and associated with 
                        amounts obligated or outlayed relating to any 
                        disaster or emergency, as those data are 
                        reported under subsection (b)(1)(D), which may 
                        include--
                                    ``(I) outlays in the wake of any 
                                disaster or emergency;
                                    ``(II) outlays in advance of any 
                                potential or actual disaster or 
                                emergency;
                                    ``(III) administrative outlays 
                                associated with outlays described in 
                                subclause (I) or (II); or
                                    ``(IV) any other category of 
                                outlays relating to any disaster or 
                                emergency determined by the Director 
                                and the Secretary;
                            ``(ii) test and evaluate the collection and 
                        accession of data involving and associated with 
                        disaster-related financial damages, as those 
                        data are reported under paragraph (2)(A)(iii), 
                        which shall be provided as ancillary data to 
                        the data described in clause (i);
                            ``(iii) determine the proper scope and 
                        standardization of data elements for the data 
                        described in clauses (i) and (ii);
                            ``(iv) determine the proper frequency of 
                        reporting for the data described in clauses (i) 
                        and (ii), which shall be not less frequently 
                        than once every 2 weeks;
                            ``(v) produce a strategic plan, which shall 
                        be made publicly available not later than 90 
                        days after the date on which the pilot program 
                        terminates, for implementing a program across 
                        the Federal Government for reporting the data 
                        described in clauses (i) and (ii) using the 
                        scope and standardization determined under 
                        clause (iii) and the frequency determined under 
                        clause (iv); and
                            ``(vi) identify and propose solutions for 
                        any challenges in implementing the program 
                        described in clause (v), including--
                                    ``(I) as appropriate, 
                                recommendations for proposed 
                                legislation; and
                                    ``(II) challenges in reporting 
                                funding or outlays that--
                                            ``(aa) have been 
                                        reprogrammed from an existing 
                                        program;
                                            ``(bb) have been subject to 
                                        a reporting requirement waiver;
                                            ``(cc) involve a need for 
                                        cost allocation methodology 
                                        within any individual 
                                        appropriations account in order 
                                        to identify outlays associated 
                                        with any disaster or emergency, 
                                        such as an outlay for salaries 
                                        of Federal employees who are 
                                        engaged in response to any 
                                        disaster or emergency; or
                                            ``(dd) relate to any 
                                        disaster or emergency that 
                                        lacks a clear start or end 
                                        date.
                    ``(B) Consultation with experts.--In establishing 
                the pilot program under subparagraph (A), the Director 
                and the Secretary shall consult with individuals who 
                are--
                            ``(i) representatives of relevant 
                        governmental and nongovernmental organizations, 
                        including Federal agencies and components of 
                        Federal agencies of diverse sizes and missions; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) experts in--
                                    ``(I) disaster relief and 
                                preparedness; or
                                    ``(II) Federal Government 
                                accounting.
                    ``(C) Termination.--The pilot program established 
                under subparagraph (A) shall terminate not later than 2 
                years after the date of the establishment of the pilot 
                program.
            ``(2) Reporting of disaster- and emergency-related 
        funding.--Using information learned from the pilot program 
        established under paragraph (1)(A) and not later than 1 year 
        after the date of the termination of the pilot program, the 
        Director and the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) establish data standards by which to 
                identify, categorize, and describe each disaster or 
                emergency, including--
                            ``(i) a label for the identification and 
                        categorization of the disaster or emergency;
                            ``(ii) to the extent practicable--
                                    ``(I) each State or locality 
                                affected by the disaster or emergency; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) the start and end dates of 
                                the disaster or emergency;
                            ``(iii) to the extent practicable, the 
                        estimated disaster-related financial damages, 
                        which shall be--
                                    ``(I) disaggregated by affected 
                                States or localities;
                                    ``(II) itemized by standardized 
                                categories to demonstrate the need for 
                                specific types of Federal outlays; and
                                    ``(III) collected on an ongoing 
                                basis; and
                            ``(iv) any other information or category 
                        determined by the Director and the Secretary; 
                        and
                    ``(B) issue guidance to Federal agencies and 
                components of Federal agencies to--
                            ``(i) require the tracking and reporting of 
                        funds obligated or outlayed relating to any 
                        disaster or emergency in accordance with 
                        subsection (b)(1)(D);
                            ``(ii) require the tracking and publishing 
                        on the website established under section 
                        2(b)(1) of--
                                    ``(I) to the extent practicable, 
                                any disaster-related financial damages, 
                                which shall be provided as ancillary 
                                data to the data described in clause 
                                (i); and
                                    ``(II) information relating to any 
                                disaster or emergency identified, 
                                categorized, and described under 
                                subsection (c)(2)(A);
                            ``(iii) eliminate any tracking, publishing, 
                        or reporting that would be duplicative of the 
                        information tracked under clauses (i) and (ii); 
                        and
                            ``(iv) not less frequently than annually, 
                        give feedback to, and receive updated guidance 
                        from, the Director and the Secretary relating 
                        to any outlays by Federal agencies and 
                        components of Federal agencies that--
                                    ``(I) are not tracked under clause 
                                (i); and
                                    ``(II) may qualify as outlays 
                                relating to any disaster or emergency.
            ``(3) Comptroller general report.--Not later than 3 years 
        after the date on which the Director and the Secretary issue 
        guidance under paragraph (2)(B), the Comptroller General of the 
        United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 
        Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
        Representatives a report that--
                    ``(A) assesses the completeness, timeliness, 
                quality, accuracy, and usefulness of the information 
                described in paragraph (2)(B); and
                    ``(B) if appropriate, includes any recommendations 
                to improve the information described in paragraph 
                (2)(B).''.

SEC. 5. DATA QUALITY REPORTS AND REMEDIATION PLANS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 
                House of Representatives.
            (2) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General'' 
        means the Comptroller General of the United States.
            (3) Data quality issue.--The term ``data quality issue'' 
        means a situation in which a collection of quantitative or 
        qualitative data represent or suggest inaccurate, misleading, 
        or insufficiently clear information in a common way.
            (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Treasury.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a publicly available 
report to the appropriate congressional committees relating to current 
and ongoing data quality issues in the data sources of the website 
established under section 2(b)(1) of the Federal Funding Accountability 
and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note), including data 
quality issues of--
            (1) the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 
        Subaward Reporting System;
            (2) the Federal Procurement Data System;
            (3) any business system operated by a Federal agency or a 
        component of a Federal agency identified by the Comptroller 
        General;
            (4) any successor system of a system described in this 
        subsection; and
            (5) any other data source identified by the Comptroller 
        General.
    (c) Contents.--The report submitted under subsection (b) shall 
include--
            (1) an identification of data quality issues of the data 
        systems described in subsection (b), as applicable, including 
        situations in which--
                    (A) outlayed amounts exceed obligated amounts;
                    (B) subaward amounts exceed prime award amounts;
                    (C) inappropriate variations exist for how a single 
                entity or location is identified, such as a situation 
                in which--
                            (i) the same legal entity possesses 
                        multiple different unique identifiers; or
                            (ii) the same geographic location possesses 
                        intentional or unintentional variations in 
                        spelling;
                    (D) open text fields are insufficiently 
                informative, such as in award descriptions;
                    (E) required or relevant information is missing, 
                including--
                            (i) as a result of a reporting requirement 
                        waiver; and
                            (ii) any information that is collected 
                        inconsistently across Federal award types or 
                        Federal program types, such an industry 
                        information or demographic information;
                    (F) labels and other identifiers are incorrectly or 
                inappropriately assigned, including--
                            (i) any failure to produce or update labels 
                        and other identifiers for funding that has been 
                        reprogrammed from an existing program; and
                            (ii) any inaccurate identification of funds 
                        obligated or outlayed relating to any disaster 
                        or emergency; and
                    (G) any other potential or actual problem is 
                identified by the Comptroller General; and
            (2) for each data quality issue identified under paragraph 
        (1)--
                    (A) a list of each relevant system in which the 
                data quality issue is created and propagated;
                    (B) a list of the stakeholder groups involved in 
                creating and reviewing the data in which the data 
                quality issue is found;
                    (C) an explanation of known and accepted exceptions 
                to instances of the data quality issue that--
                            (i) may appear problematic; and
                            (ii) are justified in some cases;
                    (D) an assessment of the root cause of the data 
                quality issue;
                    (E) a discussion of any tradeoffs on data quality 
                versus cost or effort;
                    (F) a list of existing mechanisms to detect or 
                prevent instances of the data quality issue; and
                    (G) any recommendations for relevant business 
                systems and stakeholder groups to remediate the data 
                quality issue and explain to public data consumers the 
                known and accepted exceptions, including--
                            (i) a proposed timeline for implementation 
                        and evaluation by relevant stakeholder groups, 
                        which shall not exceed 2 years from the date of 
                        the submission of the report, unless justified 
                        in writing;
                            (ii) metrics to determine success;
                            (iii) proposed solutions that may involve 
                        technological, behavioral, institutional, 
                        cultural, educational, regulatory, legislative, 
                        or resource allocation changes; and
                            (iv) any other recommendation relating to 
                        the efficiency or effectiveness of the data 
                        systems described in subsection (b).
    (d) Updates.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the 
report required under subsection (b) is submitted, and every 2 years 
thereafter until not less than 6 years after such date, the Comptroller 
General shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
updated and publicly available report that includes--
            (1) the information required to be included in the report 
        under subsection (c);
            (2) any newly identified data quality issues;
            (3) information relating to the success of the remediation 
        recommendations included in previous reports; and
            (4) a determination of whether any additional updated 
        reports with the same submission schedule and requirements as 
        the report required under this subsection are needed.
    (e) Implementation Plans.--Not later than 90 days after the date on 
which the Comptroller General submits a report required under 
subsection (b) or (d), the Director and the Secretary shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a publicly available report 
that explains, with respect to a recommendation described in subsection 
(c)(2)(G)--
            (1) whether and how each relevant stakeholder group should 
        implement the recommendation, including any comments on the 
        recommendation; and
            (2) if applicable, any challenges and related solutions to 
        implementing the recommendation.
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