Title: Resilient AMERICA Act
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act or the Resilient AMERICA Act
This bill addresses the issue of U.S. disaster resilience and expands coverage for hazard mitigation.
The bill
Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must (1) set aside 10% of funds made available for any given year to further the implementation of the latest published editions of relevant consensus-based building codes, and (2) carry out a pilot program through which states and localities award grants to individuals for retrofitting their residences with appropriate hazard mitigation measures.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5689 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5689

 To improve the provision of Federal resources to help build capacity 
and fund risk-reducing, cost-effective mitigation projects for eligible 
 State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and certain private 
            nonprofit organizations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 22, 2021

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Ms. Titus, and Mr. 
 Webster of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
         to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve the provision of Federal resources to help build capacity 
and fund risk-reducing, cost-effective mitigation projects for eligible 
 State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and certain private 
            nonprofit organizations, 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 ``Resilient Assistance for Mitigation 
for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by 
Americans Act'' or the ``Resilient AMERICA Act''.

SEC. 2. UNSPENT FUNDS.

    (a) Redistribution of Unclaimed Amounts.--Section 404 of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170c) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections 
        (g) and (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Redistribution of Unclaimed or Unobligated Amounts.--The 
President may--
            ``(1) withdraw any portion of financial assistance made 
        available to a State or Indian tribal government under 
        subsection (a) for which the State or Indian tribal government 
        has failed to submit an application upon the expiration of the 
        application submission time limit or that remains unobligated 
        for a major disaster or event eligible for assistance pursuant 
        to section 420 upon the expiration of 84 months or the closeout 
        of the grant, whichever is sooner; and
            ``(2) transfer the financial assistance withdrawn under 
        paragraph (1) to any other amounts otherwise available to be 
        awarded under section 203.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to any major disaster declared by the President under the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on or after 
November 23, 1988.

SEC. 3. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.

    Section 203(i) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by striking ``6 
percent'' and inserting ``15 percent''.

SEC. 4. NONPROFIT FACILITIES.

    Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b) by striking ``and local governments'' 
        and inserting ``, local governments, and private nonprofit 
        facilities'';
            (2) in subsection (c) by striking ``or local government'' 
        in each place it appears and inserting ``, local government, or 
        private nonprofit facility'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking ``local 
                governments'' and inserting ``local governments and 
                private nonprofit facilities''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``local governments'' in 
                        each place it appears and inserting ``local 
                        governments or private nonprofit facilities''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B) by striking 
                        ``local government'' and inserting ``local 
                        government or private nonprofit facility''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3) by inserting ``or private 
                nonprofit facilities'' after ``any local governments of 
                the State'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking ``and local 
                governments'' and inserting ``, local governments, and 
                private nonprofit facilities''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ``or local 
                government'' in each place it appears and inserting ``, 
                local government, or private nonprofit facility'';
            (5) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2) by inserting ``or private 
                nonprofit facilities located in the State'' after 
                ``local governments of the State''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)(A) by inserting ``or private 
                nonprofit facilities located in the State'' after 
                ``local governments of a State''; and
            (6) in subsection (g) by striking ``or local government'' 
        in each place it appears and inserting ``, local government, or 
        private nonprofit facility''.

SEC. 5. BUILDING CODE IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT SET ASIDE.

    (a) In General.--Section 203(f) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(m)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Building code implementation and enforcement set-
        aside.--Of the amounts made available under this section for 
        any given year, the Administrator may use not less than 10 
        percent to carry out eligible activities that further the 
        implementation and enforcement of the latest published editions 
        of relevant consensus-based codes, specifications, and 
        standards, including any amendments made by State, local, 
        Tribal, or territorial governments to such codes, 
        specifications, and standards, that incorporate the latest 
        hazard-resistant designs and establish minimum acceptable 
        criteria for the design, construction, and maintenance of 
        facilities and residential structures that may be eligible for 
        assistance under this Act. In any fiscal year in which requests 
        for assistance for such activities do not total at least 10 
        percent of assistance under this section, any remaining funds 
        may be used as additional assistance for the purposes of 
        paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Latest Published Editions.--Section 203(m) of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5133(m)) is amended by inserting ``, (f)(3),'' after ``subsections 
(e)(1)(B)(iv)''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1234 of the Disaster Recovery 
Reform Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5133 note) is amended by striking 
subsection (d).

SEC. 6. RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE.

    (a) Use of Assistance.--Subsection (g) of section 404 of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170c(g)) (as redesignated by section 2) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (12)--
                    (A) by inserting ``, wildfire, and ice storm'' 
                after ``windstorm'';
                    (B) by striking ``including replacing'' and 
                inserting the following: ``including--
                    ``(A) replacing'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated)--
                            (i) by inserting ``, wildfire,'' after 
                        ``extreme wind''; and
                            (ii) by adding ``and'' after the semicolon 
                        at the end; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) the installation of fire-resistant wires and 
                infrastructure and the undergrounding of wires;'';
            (2) in paragraph (13) by striking ``and''; and
            (3) by striking paragraph (14) and inserting the following:
            ``(14) replacing water systems that have been burned, 
        caused contamination, or are at risk from wildfire impacts with 
        resilient, non-combustible materials;
            ``(15) repairing, replacing, or retrofitting infrastructure 
        damaged by ice storms to be resilient to the impacts of such 
        storms;
            ``(16) retrofitting or hardening electric grid 
        infrastructure to comply with the latest published strength 
        standards or industry best practices for resiliency, including 
        standards and practices relating to the strength of utility 
        poles in high wind areas, regardless of height; and
            ``(17) implementing technologies to improve infrastructure 
        monitoring and distribution for the purpose of reducing risk 
        and avoiding future disaster impacts and, notwithstanding other 
        requirements related to cost-effectiveness, to avoid any 
        unintended consequences under this section and section 203.''.
    (b) Use of Assistance for Earthquake Hazards.--Subsection (h) of 
section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(h)) (as redesignated by section 2) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``and tsunami'' after ``earthquake'' each 
        place it appears;
            (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in paragraph (3) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) planning, design, or construction of vertical 
        evacuation structures in designated and mapped tsunami danger 
        areas or hazard zones.''.

SEC. 7. RESIDENTIAL RETROFIT AND RESILIENCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency shall carry out a residential resilience pilot 
program through the program established under section 203 of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5133) to make available assistance to State and local governments for 
the purpose of providing grants to individuals for residential 
resilience retrofits.
    (b) Amount of Funds.--The Administrator may use not more than 10 
percent of the assistance made available to applicants on an annual 
basis under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) to provide assistance under 
this section.
    (c) Timeline.--The Administrator shall establish the demonstration 
program under this section not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act and the program shall terminate on September 30, 
2025.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate a report that includes--
            (1) a summary of the grant awards and projects carried out 
        under this section;
            (2) a detailed compilation of results achieved by the grant 
        awards and projects carried out under this section, including 
        the number of homes receiving retrofits, the types and average 
        costs of retrofits, demographic information for participants in 
        the program, and estimate avoidance in disaster impacts and 
        Federal disaster payments as a result of the grant investments; 
        and
            (3) any identified implementation challenges and 
        recommendations for improvements to the pilot program.
    (e) Residential Resilient Retrofits Defined.--
            (1) In general.--In this section, the term ``residential 
        resilient retrofits'' means a project that--
                    (A) is designed to increase the resilience of an 
                existing home or residence using mitigation measures 
                which the administrator determines reduce damage and 
                impacts from natural disaster hazards and risks that 
                are most likely to occur in the area where the home is 
                located; and
                    (B) to the extent applicable, are consistent with 
                the 2 most recently published editions of relevant 
                consensus-based codes, specifications, and standards, 
                including any amendments made by State, local, tribal, 
                or territorial governments to such codes, 
                specifications, and standards that incorporate the 
                latest hazard-resistant designs and establish criteria 
                for the design, construction, and maintenance of 
                residential structures and facilities that may be 
                eligible for assistance under the Robert T. Stafford 
                Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                5121 et seq.) for the purpose of protecting the health, 
                safety, and general welfare of the buildings' users 
                against disasters.
            (2) Inclusion.--In this section, the term ``residential 
        resilient retrofits'' includes--
                    (A) elevations of homes and elevations of utilities 
                within and around structures to mitigate damages;
                    (B) floodproofing measures;
                    (C) the construction of tornado safe rooms;
                    (D) seismic retrofits;
                    (E) wildfire retrofit and mitigation measures;
                    (F) wind retrofits, including roof replacements, 
                hurricane straps, and tie-downs; and
                    (G) any other measures that meet the requirements 
                of paragraph (1), as determined by the Administrator.
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