DISASTER Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2052 | Sponsor: Rep. Peters, Scott H. (D-CA)
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
Disclosing Aid Spent to Ensure Relief Act of 2021 or the DISASTER Act of 2021
This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to submit an annual report to Congress on all disaster-related assistance provided by the federal government. The report must include all federal obligations related to disaster response, recovery, mitigation efforts, and administrative costs associated with these activities for specified agencies and programs.

To amend chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, to require the 
 Director of the Office of Management and Budget to annually submit to 
 Congress a report on all disaster-related assistance provided by the 
                          Federal Government.

    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 Aid Spent to Ensure 
Relief Act of 2021'' or the ``DISASTER Act of 2021''.

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 involvement in providing disaster-related 
        assistance to communities in need.
            (2) The Federal Government does not provide a single, 
        publicly available estimate of the amount it is spending on 
        disaster-related assistance.
            (3) Because recovery is a long-term process, providing 
        disaster-related assistance requires significant Federal 
        resources to support a multi-agency, multi-year restoration of 
        infrastructure and commerce in affected communities.
            (4) Understanding the expenditures of individual Federal 
        agencies for disaster-related assistance will help better 
        inform the congressional appropriations process, as well as 
        presidential budget requests.
            (5) Knowledge about disaster-related expenses will 
        illustrate opportunities for reducing these expenses through 
        efforts to reduce vulnerabilities to future natural disasters.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to require the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget to annually submit to Congress a report on all 
disaster-related assistance provided by the Federal Government.

SEC. 4. REPORTING OF DISASTER-RELATED ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1127. Reporting of disaster-related assistance
    ``(a) In General.--On the same day that the President makes the 
annual budget submission to the Congress under section 1105(a) for a 
fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
submit to Congress a report on Federal disaster-related assistance for 
the fiscal year ending in the calendar year immediately preceding the 
calendar year in which the annual budget submission is made. Disaster-
related assistance encompasses Federal obligations related to disaster 
response, recovery, and mitigation efforts, as well as administrative 
costs associated with these activities, including spending by the 
following agencies and programs:
            ``(1) Department of Agriculture:
                    ``(A) Agriculture Research Service.
                    ``(B) Farm Service Agency.
                    ``(C) Food and Nutrition Service.
                    ``(D) Natural Resource Conservation Service.
                    ``(E) Forest Service.
                    ``(F) Rural Housing Service.
                    ``(G) Rural Utilities Service.
            ``(2) Department of Commerce:
                    ``(A) National Marine Fisheries Service of the 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                    ``(B) Economic Development Administration Economic 
                Adjustment Assistance.
            ``(3) Army Corps of Engineers of the Department of Defense 
        (Civil).
            ``(4) Department of Defense (Military):
                    ``(A) Military Personnel.
                    ``(B) Operations and Maintenance.
                    ``(C) Procurement.
                    ``(D) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation.
                    ``(E) Military Construction (MILCON) and Family 
                Housing.
                    ``(F) Management Funds.
                    ``(G) Other Department of Defense Programs.
            ``(5) Department of Education:
                    ``(A) Elementary and Secondary Education.
                    ``(B) Higher Education.
            ``(6) Department of Health and Human Services:
                    ``(A) Administration for Children and Families.
                    ``(B) Public Health and Medical Assistance.
                    ``(C) Public Health Emergency Fund.
            ``(7) Department of Homeland Security:
                    ``(A) Federal Emergency Management Agency:
                            ``(i) Emergency Declarations.
                            ``(ii) Fire Management Assistance Grants.
                            ``(iii) Major Disaster Declarations.
                            ``(iv) Administrative Assistance.
                    ``(B) FEMA Missions Assignments by Federal Agency.
                    ``(C) Community Disaster Loan Program.
            ``(8) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
                    ``(A) Community Development Block Grants.
                    ``(B) Rental Assistance/Section 8 Vouchers.
                    ``(C) Supportive Housing.
                    ``(D) Public Housing Repair.
                    ``(E) Inspector General.
            ``(9) Department of the Interior:
                    ``(A) Bureau of Indian Affairs.
                    ``(B) United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
                    ``(C) National Park Service.
                    ``(D) Wildland Fire Management.
            ``(10) Department of Justice:
                    ``(A) Legal Activities.
                    ``(B) United States Marshals Service.
                    ``(C) Federal Bureau of Investigation.
                    ``(D) Drug Enforcement Administration.
                    ``(E) Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
                    ``(F) Federal Prison System (Bureau of Prisons).
                    ``(G) Office of Justice Programs.
            ``(11) Department of Labor:
                    ``(A) National Emergency Grants for Dislocation 
                Events.
                    ``(B) Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Dislocated 
                Worker Program.
            ``(12) Department of Transportation:
                    ``(A) Federal Highway Administration: Emergency 
                Relief Program (ER).
                    ``(B) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
                    ``(C) Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
            ``(13) Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue 
        Service.
            ``(14) Department of Veterans Affairs.
            ``(15) Corporation for National and Community Service.
            ``(16) Environmental Protection Agency:
                    ``(A) Hurricane Emergency Response Authorities.
                    ``(B) EPA Hurricane Response.
                    ``(C) EPA Regular Appropriations.
            ``(17) The Federal Judiciary.
            ``(18) Disaster Assistance Program of the Small Business 
        Administration.
            ``(19) Department of Energy:
                    ``(A) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and 
                Emergency Response.
                    ``(B) Office of Petroleum Services.
            ``(20) General Services Administration.
            ``(21) Other authorities as appropriate.
    ``(b) Content.--The report shall detail the following:
            ``(1) Overall amount of disaster-related assistance 
        obligations during the fiscal year.
            ``(2) Disaster-related assistance obligations by agency and 
        account.
            ``(3) Disaster for which the spending was obligated.
            ``(4) Obligations by disaster.
            ``(5) Disaster-related assistance by disaster type.
            ``(6) Response and recovery spending.
            ``(7) Mitigation spending.
            ``(8) Spending in the form of loans.
            ``(9) Spending in the form of grants.
    ``(c) Availability of Report.--The report shall be made publicly 
available on the website of the Office of Management and Budget and 
should be searchable, sortable and downloadable.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapters for chapter 11 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``1127. Reporting of disaster-related assistance.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The reporting requirement under the amendment made by section 3(a) 
shall take effect with the budget submission of the President under 
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2023.
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