zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from: (1) increasing flood insurance risk premium rates to reflect the current risk of flood for certain property located in specified areas subject to a certain mandatory premium adjustment, or (2) reducing such subsidies for any property not insured by the flood insurance program as of July 6, 2012, or any policy that has lapsed in coverage as a result of the policyholder's deliberate choice (Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map or pre-FIRM properties). Sets forth expiration dates for such prohibitions.

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to prohibit the Administrator from providing flood insurance to prospective insureds at rates less than those estimated for any property purchased after the expiration of such six-month period (currently, any property purchased after July 6, 2012).

Directs FEMA to: (1) restore during such six-month period specified estimated risk premium rate subsidies for flood insurance for pre-FIRM properties and properties purchased after such six-month period, and (2) submit to certain congressional committees a draft affordability framework addressing the affordability of flood insurance sold under the National Flood Insurance Program.

Prescribes procedures for expedited congressional consideration of legislation on FEMA affordability authorities.

Permits FEMA to enter into an agreement with another federal agency either to: (1) complete the affordability study, or (2) prepare the draft affordability framework.

 Directs FEMA submit to certain congressional committees the affordability study and report.

Amends NFIA to authorize FEMA to reimburse homeowners for successful map appeals.

Makes any community that has made adequate progress on the construction (as under current law) or reconstruction (new) of a flood protection system which will afford flood protection for the one-hundred year frequency flood eligible for flood insurance at premium rates not exceeding those which would apply if such flood protection system had been completed.

Revises guidelines governing availability of flood insurance in communities restoring disaccredited flood protection systems to include riverine and coastal levees.

Requires FEMA to: (1) rate a covered structure using the elevation difference between the floodproofed elevation of the covered structure and the adjusted base flood elevation of the covered structure; and (2) designate a Flood Insurance Advocate to advocate for the fair treatment of policy holders under the National Flood Insurance Program and property owners in the mapping of flood hazards, the identification of risks from flood, and the implementation of measures to minimize the risk of flood.

Date: 2013-10-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Earthquake Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to guarantee holders of debt against loss of principal or interest, or both, on debt issued by eligible state programs designed to: (1) promote the availability of private capital to provide liquidity and capacity to state earthquake (specifically, residential property) insurance programs, and (2) expedite the payment of claims under such programs and better assist financial recovery from significant earthquakes.

Prescribes operational requirements for eligible state programs which include an established earthquake insurance program that: (1) offers residential property insurance coverage for insured losses to property, contents, and additional living expenses; (2) is prohibited from requiring insurers to pool resources to provide property insurance coverage for earthquakes; (3) is based upon the best available scientific information for assessing the risk of earthquake frequency, severity, and loss; and (4) incorporates the sum of the modeled expected loss, risk financing costs, loss adjustment expense, and any other expenses necessary to operate the state program.

Includes among such operational requirements that the state: (1) has in effect and enforces, or the appropriate local governments within the state have in effect and enforce, nationally recognized building, seismic-design, and safety codes and consensus-based standards; and (2) has taken actions to establish an insurance rate structure that takes into account measures to mitigate insured losses.

Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for annual certification of an eligible state program.

Restricts to $3 billion, including interest, the aggregate principal amount of outstanding debt obligations guaranteed by the Secretary.

Makes appropriations to satisfy debt guarantee commitments.

Requires the Secretary, upon request of an eligible state program, to provide such debt guarantees.

Restricts to $1.5 billion the amount of a debt guarantee that an eligible state program receives to secure or provide claim-payment capacity for paying the insured losses and loss adjustment expenses from all events relating to a single earthquake.

Pledges the full faith and credit of the United States to the payment of all guarantees issued under this Act.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2013 - 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.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act of 2014 - Requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to amend the rules concerning the factors FEMA 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).

Date: 2014-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Disaster Savings Accounts Act of 2014 - 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.

Date: 2014-02-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from refunding any flood insurance premium collected in excess of mandatory rates cited in the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, if the premium refund is for flood insurance coverage for a residential property that is not the primary residence of an individual.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Establishes in the Treasury the Emergency Watershed Protection Disaster Assistance Fund to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to carry out emergency watershed protection activities in natural disaster-affected areas.

Sets forth limitations on per disaster obligations.

Date: 2014-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to shield a health care professional from liability under federal or state law for harm caused by any act or omission if: (1) the professional is serving as a volunteer in response to a disaster; and (2) the act or omission occurs during the period of the disaster, in the professional's capacity as such a volunteer, and in a good faith belief that the individual being treated is in need of health care services.

Makes exceptions where: (1) the harm was caused by an act or omission constituting willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed; or (2) the professional rendered the health care services under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or an intoxicating drug.

Declares that, nothing in this Act shall supplant any other provision of federal, state, local, or tribal law that establish liability schemes or liability protections that exceed those provided by this Act, including without limitation the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Date: 2014-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Health
National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for disasters declared in 2012 and 2013 by:

 extending through 2013 the election to expense qualified disaster expenses (i.e., for removal of debris, demolition, and repair of business-related property); increasing the tax deduction for charitable contributions for disaster relief for individual and corporate taxpayers; allowing through 2013 the deduction of losses attributable to disasters; allowing waivers of requirements relating to mortgage revenue bonds; extending through 2013 the additional allowance for depreciation of business property (bonus depreciation); allowing an increase in 2012 and 2013 of the new markets tax credit limitation amount within a federally-declared disaster area; permitting the use of tax-exempt retirement plan funds in federally-declared disasters without penalty; allowing an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced as a result of a federally-declared disaster; allowing an exclusion from gross income of imputed income from the cancellation of indebtedness resulting from federally-declared disasters; providing a special rule to allow individuals affected by a disaster in 2012 or 2103 to claim a full earned income tax credit; increasing the rehabilitation tax credit for buildings affected by a federally-declared disaster; permitting one additional advance refunding of a tax-exempt bond that is outstanding on the date on which a federally-declared disaster occurs; allowing the issuance of qualified disaster area recovery bonds; allowing an additional allocation of the low-income housing tax credit in 2014 to states affected by a federally-declared disaster occurring in 2012 or 2013;   allowing payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status; allowing an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments; and allowing a tax deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund.

Date: 2014-04-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act of 2014 - Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to redefine "private flood insurance" to include a policy issued by an insurance company that is eligible as a nonadmitted insurer to provide insurance in the state or jurisdiction where the property to be insured is located.

Date: 2014-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for disasters declared in 2012, 2013, and 2014 by:

 extending through 2014 the election to expense qualified disaster expenses (i.e., for removal of debris, demolition, and repair of business-related property); increasing the tax deduction for charitable contributions for disaster relief for individual and corporate taxpayers; allowing through 2014 the deduction of losses attributable to disasters; allowing waivers of requirements relating to mortgage revenue bonds; extending through 2014 the additional allowance for depreciation of business property (bonus depreciation); allowing an increase through 2016 of the new markets tax credit limitation amount within a federally-declared disaster area; permitting the use of tax-exempt retirement plan funds in federally-declared disasters without penalty; allowing an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced as a result of a federally-declared disaster; allowing an exclusion from gross income of imputed income from the cancellation of indebtedness resulting from federally-declared disasters; providing a special rule to allow individuals affected by a disaster in 2012, 2013, or 2014 to claim a full earned income tax credit; increasing the rehabilitation tax credit for buildings affected by a federally-declared disaster; permitting one additional advance refunding of a tax-exempt bond that is outstanding on the date on which a federally-declared disaster occurs; allowing the issuance of qualified disaster area recovery bonds; allowing an additional allocation of the low-income housing tax credit in 2015 to states affected by a federally-declared disaster occurring in 2012 2013, or 2014;   allowing payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status; allowing an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments; and allowing a tax deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund.

Date: 2014-07-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Emergency Information Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, with respect to entities that are eligible to receive certain disaster assitance, to include: (1) broadcasting facilities within the definition of a "private nonprofit facility" that provides essential services of a governmental nature to the general public, and (2) broadcast and telecommunications communications within the definition of "critical services" provided by such a facility.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Storm Shelter Affordability Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer a refundable tax credit, through December 31, 2017, for the lesser of 50% of qualified storm shelter costs or $1,000. Requires such a storm shelter to be placed on property adjacent to a dwelling unit owned by the taxpayer.

Date: 2014-09-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
Flood Insurance Premium Parity Act of 2015

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to prohibit the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from estimating reduced (subsidized) risk premium rates for flood insurance for residential property that is neither the primary residence of an individual (as under current law) nor the secondary residence of the property owner.

Directs FEMA to establish standards for a residential property to qualify as a secondary residence eligible for subsidized risk flood insurance premium rates that: (1) require the owner to occupy the property for an appropriate minimum period of time each year, and (2) limit subsidized risk premium rates to but a single property of the owner.

Repeals the prohibition against estimating subsidized risk premium rates for business property (thus qualifying business property 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. Write Your Own companies shall have between six and eight months following issuance of final guidance and rate tables to implement the changes required by them.

Directs FEMA to refund directly to insureds any flood insurance premiums collected in excess of the rates required under this Act.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Wildfire Disaster Funding Act 

This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require specified adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2015-FY2022 to accommodate appropriations for wildfire suppression operations in the Wildland Fire Management accounts at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of the Interior.

If USDA or Interior determines that supplemental appropriations are necessary for wildfire suppression operations, the bill requires the relevant department to submit to Congress a request for the funding and a plan for obligating the funds.

The bill also requires the President's budget to include the average costs for wildfire suppression over the previous 10 years.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Disclosing Aid Spent to Ensure Relief Act or the DISASTER Act 

Requires the Office of Management and Budget to submit an annual report to Congress on all disaster-related assistance provided by the federal government. Requires the report to include all federal obligations related to disaster response, recovery, mitigation efforts, and administrative costs associated with these activities for specified agencies and programs.

Date: 2015-01-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to designate New Jersey Task Force 1 as part of the National Urban Search and Rescue System.

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act of 2015

Prohibits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from taking any actions to recoup from a recipient assistance provided in relation to a major disaster declared by the President on or after January 1, 2012, if: (1) the recipient's application was made in good faith and provided accurate information and the receipt of such assistance could reasonably have been expected by the recipient, or (2) the receipt of such assistance occurred more than three years before FEMA first notifies the recipient of FEMA's intent to recoup.

Requires FEMA, in carrying out a recoupment of disaster assistance that is not prohibited under this Act, to provide documentation that demonstrates that the recipient did not apply in good faith with accurate information or could not reasonably have expected to receive such assistance.

Date: 2015-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act of 2015

Authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to waive a debt owed to the United States related to federal assistance provided under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to individuals and households in relation to a major disaster declared by the President on or after January 1, 2011, if such assistance was distributed based on an error by FEMA, there was no fault on behalf of the debtor, and the collection of the debt would be against equity and good conscience, unless the debt that involves fraud, the presentation of a false claim, or misrepresentation by the debtor or any party having an interest in the claim.

Requires FEMA, in determining whether to waive such a debt, to presume that the debtor should be required to make at least a partial payment if the adjusted gross income of the debtor's household for the last taxable year exceeds $100,000.

Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security: (1) to report, every six months, on the cost-effectiveness of FEMA's efforts to recoup improper payments of such assistance; (2) to monitor the distribution of such assistance to determine the amount distributed based on a FEMA error; and (3) upon determining that such amount exceeds 4% of the total amount distributed, to notify FEMA and publish the determination in the Federal Register. Cancels FEMA's authority to waive debt with respect to any major disaster declared by the President after the date of such a determination.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act of 2015

 Requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to: (1) waive a debt owed to the United States related to federal assistance provided under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to an individual or household in relation to a major disaster declared by the President between January 1, 2012, and the date of enactment of this Act, unless the debt involves fraud, the intentional presentation of a false claim, or intentional misrepresentation by the debtor or any party having an interest in the claim; and (2) reimburse a debtor for any payments already made on such a debt.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to reauthorize the predisaster hazard mitigation program for FY2016-FY2020.

Date: 2015-02-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2015

 Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow local variances for certain residential structures substantially damaged by a fire or other disaster, not including a flood, in a covered area having special flood hazards.

Permits state or local authorities, upon making certain determinations, to grant a variance from compliance with certain mandatory adequate land use and control measures to allow repair and restoration of an eligible structure to its pre-damaged condition without elevation of the structure.

Includes among such determinations that: (1) the repaired and restored structure will be located on the same site as it was before being substantially damaged, and (2) the number of floors of the restored structure will not exceed the number of floors of the original structure.

Restricts the maximum number of such variances to 10 for a covered area during any calendar year. Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from either: (1) finding that land use and control measures are inadequate or inconsistent with the comprehensive criteria for land management and use because they permit granting the variances identified under this Act; or (2) suspending an area or subdivision from participation in the national flood insurance program, or placing it on probation, because its land use and control measures provide for such variances. Prohibits the chargeable flood insurance premium rate for a residential structure granted a variance under this Act from being lower than the rate that otherwise would apply if such structure had not been substantially damaged by a fire or other disaster (except a flood) and repaired and restored pursuant to the variance.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Wildfire Prevention Act of 2015

 Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to provide: (1) hazard mitigation assistance in any area affected by a fire for which assistance was provided, whether or not a major disaster had been declared; and (2) fire management assistance in any area affected by a fire for which hazard mitigation assistance was provided.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
Homeowners' Defense Act of 2015

 Establishes the National Catastrophe Risk Consortium, as a non-federal, non-profit entity, to ensure the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance coverage for catastrophic events.

Directs the Consortium to: (1) maintain an inventory of catastrophe risk obligations held by state reinsurance funds, state residual insurance market entities, and state-sponsored providers of natural catastrophe insurance; (2) issue, on a conduit basis, securities and other financial instruments linked to catastrophe risks insured or reinsured through Consortium members; (3) coordinate reinsurance contracts; (4) act as a centralized repository of state risk information accessible by certain private-market participants; and (5) establish a database to perform research and analysis that encourages standardization of the risk-linked securities market.

 Shields the federal government and the Consortium from liability for Consortium actions.

Date: 2015-03-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
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.

Date: 2015-03-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-04-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-05-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2015-05-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Health
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.

Date: 2015-05-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
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.

Date: 2015-06-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-06-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Emergency management
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.

Date: 2015-06-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Taxation
(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.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
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.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
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.

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Disaster Relief)
Subject: Water resources development