lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-03-23 00:00:00

Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2015

 Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include public broadcasting facilities within the definition of a "private nonprofit facility" that provides essential services of a governmental nature to the general public, and to include broadcast and telecommunications within the definition of "critical services" provided by such a facility, for purposes of eligibility for certain disaster assistance.

Makes this Act applicable to a major disaster declared by the President under such Act on or after October 28, 2012.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act of 2015

 Requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to amend the rules concerning the factors it considers when evaluating a governor's request for a major disaster declaration to provide that, with respect to the evaluation of the need for public assistance: (1) specific weighted valuations shall be assigned to the estimated cost of the assistance (10%), localized impacts (40%), insurance coverage in force (10%), hazard mitigation (10%), recent multiple disasters (10%), programs of other federal assistance (10%), and economic circumstances (10%); and (2) FEMA shall consider the economic circumstances of both the local economy of the affected area (including the local assessable tax base and local sales tax, median income, and poverty rate) and the state economy (including the unemployment rate).

Requires such rules to provide that, with respect to the evaluation of the severity, magnitude, and impact of the disaster and the evaluation of the need for assistance to individuals: (1) specific weighted valuations shall be assigned to concentration of damages (20%), trauma (20%), special populations (20%), voluntary agency assistance (10%), insurance (20%), average amount of individual assistance by state (5%), and economic considerations (5%); and (2) FEMA shall consider the economic circumstances of the affected area (including the local assessable tax base and local sales tax, median income, and poverty rate).

Makes such rules applicable to any disaster for which a governor requested a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and was denied on or after January 1, 2012.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-04-13 00:00:00

Safe Building Code Incentive Act of 2015

 Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to increase the maximum total of contributions for a major disaster by an amount equal to 4% of the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be made under the Act, if at the time of a declaration of a major disaster the affected state has in effect and is actively enforcing an approved state building code.

Requires a state, to be eligible for the increased federal share, to submit its state building code to the President for approval.

Directs the President to approve a state building code submitted upon determining that it: (1) is consistent with the most recent version of a nationally recognized model building code, (2) has been adopted by the state within six years of the most recent version of the nationally recognized code, and (3) uses the nationally recognized code as a minimum standard.

Requires the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to set appropriate standards for the periodic update, resubmittal, and approval of state building codes, consistent with similar mitigation planning requirements under the Stafford Act.

Authorizes the use by states and local governments of technical and financial assistance to implement predisaster hazard mitigation measures to establish and operate a building department and carry out enforcement activities to implement an approved state building code.

Directs the President, in determining whether to provide technical and financial assistance to a state or local government, to take into account the extent to which that government is carrying out activities to implement an approved state building code.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-04-14 00:00:00

Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to report to Congress regarding its plans to provide: (1) consistent guidance to applicants on FEMA disaster funding procedures during the response to an emergency or disaster, (2) appropriate record maintenance and transfer of documents to new teams during staff transitions, and (3) accurate assistance to applicants and grantees to ease the administrative burden throughout the process of obtaining and monitoring assistance.

Requires the report to: (1) include a plan for implementing operating procedures and document retention requirements to ensure the maintenance of appropriate records throughout the life cycle of the emergency or disaster; and (2) identify new technologies to aid the disaster workforce in partnering with state, local, and tribal governments and private nonprofits in the wake of a disaster or emergency to educate, assist, and inform applicants on the status of their applications and projects.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-05-01 00:00:00

Disaster Savings Accounts Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish tax-exempt disaster savings accounts to pay the expenses of homeowners for disaster mitigation and recovery expenses, (2) allow a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) up to $5,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) in a taxable year for cash contributions to such accounts, (3) exclude from gross income distributions from such accounts to pay disaster mitigation and recovery expenses; and (4) set forth tax rules and penalties for excess contributions to disaster savings accounts and for failure to file required reports on such accounts.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Health
Date: 2015-05-15 00:00:00

Field EMS Modernization and Innovation Act

This bill amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to evaluate the implementation and reimbursement under Medicare of field EMS (emergency medical response and medical care provided outside of a medical facility) other than transportation to the nearest appropriate medical facility.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) must: (1) promote innovative payment models for field EMS, (2) develop and evaluate innovative models of field EMS delivery and reimbursement, and (3) pay providers and suppliers of ground ambulance services for reporting certain quality measures.

The SSA may establish for field EMS an innovative payment model that has been sufficiently demonstrated.

The Public Health Service Act (PHSA) is amended to require the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to: (1) award grants to improve field EMS agency readiness and for field EMS education programs, (2) promote medical oversight of field EMS, (3) make recommendations for improving collection and use of field EMS data that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) must implement, and (4) develop and implement a national emergency medical services strategy to improve patient outcomes in the field and support value-based emergency medical care.

Patient safety improvement activities are expanded to include field EMS agencies, medical directors, and emergency medical technicians.

Responsibility for the National EMS Information System is transferred from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to the ONC.

Emergency medical service providers are health care providers for purposes of title XXX (Health Information Technology and Quality) of the PHSA.

HHS is responsible for improving the emergency medical care system and field EMS.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must conduct or support field EMS research.

Federal field EMS research may be used to determine Medicare coverage.

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund and allow individuals to contribute to the fund when filing a tax return.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-05-18 00:00:00

Tornado Family Safety Act of 2015

This bill amends the Small Business Act to allow Small Business Administration physical disaster loans to be used for the construction of safe rooms or similar storm shelters designed to protect property and occupants from tornadoes or other natural disasters.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2015-05-21 00:00:00

Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2015

 This bill amends the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct and update at least once every seven years an ocean acidification coastal community vulnerability assessment with a corresponding public report. The assessment must identify: (1) U.S. coastal communities that are most dependent on coastal and ocean resources that may be impacted by ocean acidification; (2) the nature of those communities' social and economic vulnerabilities; (3) impacts from changes in ocean and coastal marine resources that are not managed by the federal government; and (4) key knowledge gaps where research could be devoted to better understand the possible ocean acidification impacts, risks, threats, and possible adaptation strategies for the communities.

NOAA's ocean acidification program is expanded to include an ongoing mechanism that allows affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, non-federal resource managers, and outside scientific experts not employed by the federal government to provide input on research, data, and monitoring necessary to support on-the-ground management, decision making, and adaptation related to ocean acidification and its impacts.

The strategic plan for ocean acidification research and monitoring developed by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council must make recommendations for research to address the key knowledge gaps identified in the community vulnerability assessment report.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-06-01 00:00:00

Disaster Survivor Benefit Clarification Act of 2015

Expresses the sense of Congress that disaster loans made by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that carry interest and must be repaid should not be considered the same type of benefit as a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for purposes of calculating duplication of benefits under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

Amends the Stafford Act to provide that an SBA disaster loan made on or after January 1, 2012, shall not be considered financial assistance for purposes of the prohibition on receiving duplicative disaster assistance if: (1) such loan has been repaid in full; or (2) the borrower is making the required payments on time. Deems the borrower of any such loan made by the date of this Act's enactment for which the borrower was not making the required payments on time to be compliant with this Act if, within 60 days, the borrower becomes current on the loan payments.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-06-02 00:00:00

Urban Flooding Awareness Act of 2015

Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on urban flooding.

Defines "urban flooding" as the inundation of property in a built environment, particularly in more densely populated areas, caused by rain falling on increased amounts of impervious surface and overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems. Requires the primary focus of the study to be on urban areas outside of special flood hazard areas.

Directs the NAS to evaluate the latest research, laws, regulations, policies, best practices, procedures, and institutional knowledge regarding urban flooding. Requires the study to include an examination of:

 the prevalence of and costs associated with urban flooding events across the United States, with a focus on the largest metropolitan areas and trends in frequency and severity over the past two decades; the adequacy of federally provided flood risk information and the most cost-effective methods and products to characterize the risk of property damage from urban flooding on a property-by-property basis; the potential for training and certifying local experts in flood risk characterization as a service to property purchasers and owners; the causes of urban flooding and its apparent increase; the most cost-effective strategies, practices, technologies, policies, standards, or rules used to reduce the impacts of urban flooding; the role of the federal and state governments in spurring market innovations based on public-private-nonprofit partnerships; the most sustainable and effective methods for funding flood risk and flood damage reduction at all levels of government; the relevance of the National Flood Insurance Program and Community Rating System to urban flooding areas outside traditional flood plains and strategies for improving compliance, broadening coverage, and increasing participation under the Program; strategies for protecting communities in the lower elevations of a watershed or drainage area from the flooding impacts of development in upstream communities; cost-effective strategies for reducing infiltration/inflow into combined and separate sewer systems; and opportunities to increase coordination between stormwater management programming under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and flood risk management and mitigation programming under various laws.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-06-12 00:00:00

Strengthening Homes and Eliminating Liabilities Through Encouraging Readiness Act or the SHELTER Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual and business taxpayers a tax credit for 25% of their qualified hurricane and tornado mitigation property expenditures up to $5,000 for any taxable year. Defines such expenditures as expenditures in a dwelling unit or place of business for property to improve the strength of a roof deck attachment, create a secondary water barrier, improve the durability of a roof covering, brace gable-end walls, reinforce the connections between a roof and supporting wall, protect against windborne debris, or protect exterior doors and garages.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2015-06-25 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on June 25, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to make technical amendments without substantive change to requirements for flood insurance under either the federal program or private flood insurance.

(Under current law, any building, mobile home or personal property that would be financed by a federally-backed mortgage must have flood insurance if the property is located in an area designated as a special flood hazard.) As under current law, the amount of mandatory flood insurance shall be, for either federal or private flood insurance, equal to the development or project cost of the building, mobile home, or personal property (less estimated land cost), the outstanding principal balance of the loan, or the maximum limit of federal flood insurance coverage available for the particular type of property, whichever is less.

The bill revises without substantive change the flood insurance requirements that apply to home loans or loan guarantees by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). This revision does specify, however, that any requirements established by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac relating to the financial strength of private insurance companies from which they will accept private flood insurance must not affect or conflict with any state law, regulation, or procedure concerning the regulation of the business of insurance.

Private flood insurance shall include, in addition to a policy issued by a company licensed, admitted, or otherwise approved by the state (as in current law), any policy issued by an insurance company eligible as a nonadmitted insurer to provide flood insurance in the state or jurisdiction where the property to be insured is located.

The bill specifies that the federal flood insurance program, with respect to both private and federal flood insurance, extends to Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

FEMA must consider any period during which a property was continuously covered by private flood insurance to be a period of continuous insurance coverage.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2015-06-25 00:00:00

Flood Insurance Fairness Act of 2015

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to repeal provisions that prohibit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from estimating subsidized risk premium rates for flood insurance coverage on: (1) residential property which is not the primary residence of an individual, and (2) any business property. Qualifies those properties for such rates.

Requires FEMA, when developing guidance and rate tables necessary to implement this Act, to consult with Write Your Own companies, which are participating property and casualty insurance companies that write and service standard flood insurance policies in cooperation with FEMA.

Directs Write Your Own companies to implement the changes required by the final guidance and rate tables within six to eight months after their issuance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Water resources development
Date: 2015-07-09 00:00:00

Water Recycling Acceleration Act of 2015

Amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to provide that any water recycling project for which funding may otherwise be available under such Act shall not be required to have been previously specifically authorized by law for such funding, if that project reclaims and reuses: (1) municipal, industrial, domestic, or agricultural wastewater; or (2) naturally impaired ground and surface waters.

Requires the Department of the Interior to give funding priority to such projects:

 that are located in an area that has been identified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as experiencing severe, extreme, or exceptional drought at any time during the previous four-year period or that was designated as a disaster area by the state between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2018; that are likely to provide for a more reliable water supply and to protect, restore, and enhance river or estuarine ecosystems or their immediate tributaries; that are likely to improve water resource flexibility and reduce impacts on environmental resources; that are regional in nature; that have multiple stakeholders; that provide multiple benefits, including water supply reliability, ecosystem benefits, groundwater management and enhancements, and water quality improvements; and for which a feasibility study has been completed and any necessary environmental or public reviews have been initiated. Requires Interior to: (1) issue water recycling project solicitation and evaluation guidelines that include such criteria; (2) solicit water recycling project proposals; and (3) review each proposed water recycling project for the purpose of determining whether or not the proposal, and the process under which the proposal was developed, comply with federal law applicable to the development of water recycling projects.

Terminates Interior's authority under this Act 10 years after its enactment.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-07-09 00:00:00

Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to define a "major disaster for wildfire on federal lands" as any wildfire that, in the determination of the President, warrants assistance under this Act to supplement the efforts and resources of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture: (1) on federal lands, or (2) on non-federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement.

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a request to the President for a declaration that such a major disaster exists. Requires such a request to:

 certify that the amount appropriated in the current fiscal year for wildfire suppression operations of the federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary, net of any concurrently enacted rescissions of wildfire suppression funds, increases the total unobligated balance of amounts available for wildfire suppression by an amount equal to or greater than the average total costs incurred by such agencies per year for wildfire suppression operations over the previous 10 fiscal years; certify that the amount available for wildfire suppression operations of the federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary will be obligated not later than 30 days after such Secretary notifies the President that wildfire suppression funds will be exhausted to fund ongoing and anticipated wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which such request is based; and specify the amount required in the current fiscal year to fund wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which such request is based. Authorizes the President to: (1) declare that such a major disaster exists based on such a request, (2) establish a specific account for assistance pursuant to such a declaration, and (3) transfer funds from such account to the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct wildfire suppression operations on such lands. Requires the respective Secretary to secure reimbursement of transferred amounts used for wildfire suppression operations on non-federal land.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2015-07-15 00:00:00

Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2015

 Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include community centers, including tax-exempt houses of worship, as "private nonprofit facilities" for purposes of disaster relief and emergency assistance eligibility under such Act.

Makes a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of worship, and a private nonprofit facility operated by a religious organization, eligible for federal contributions for the repair, restoration, and replacement of facilities damaged or destroyed by a major disaster, without regard to the religious character of the facility or the primary religious use of the facility.

Makes this Act applicable to the provision of assistance in response to a major disaster or emergency declared on or after October 28, 2012.