[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``(2) transfer the financial assistance withdrawn under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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