Title: DEBRIS Act
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
Diversifying Emergency Benchmarks for the Recovery of Individuals after Storms Act or the DEBRIS Act
This bill authorizes disaster relief assistance to individuals for the removal of debris from owner-occupied private residences and property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must consider the estimated cost of such debris removal in evaluating a request for a major disaster declaration.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1484 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1484

To provide disaster relief assistance to individuals for the purpose of 
            clearing fallen debris, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 15, 2019

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Murphy) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide disaster relief assistance to individuals for the purpose of 
            clearing fallen debris, 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 ``Diversifying Emergency Benchmarks 
for the Recovery of Individuals after Storms Act'' or the ``DEBRIS 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(c)(2)(A)) 
is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
            (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) the removal of debris from owner-
                        occupied private residences and property; 
                        and''.
    (b) Applicability.--
            (1) Covered disaster defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``covered disaster'' means a major disaster declared by the 
        President under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
        Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) on or 
        after May 1, 2018.
            (2) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
        shall apply with respect to any covered disaster.
            (3) Resubmission of requests for assistance.--If a request 
        for assistance, with respect to a covered disaster, was made 
        under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174), as in effect before 
        the date of enactment of this Act, for the removal of debris 
        from an owner-occupied private residence or property and the 
        request for such assistance was denied before the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the request for assistance under such 
        section 408, as amended by this Act, may be resubmitted.

SEC. 3. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall, by 
rulemaking, amend the factors considered when evaluating a Governor's 
request for a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 
to include the estimated cost of removing fallen debris from owner-
occupied private residences and property.
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