[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1619 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1619
To provide for an online repository for certain reporting requirements
for recipients of Federal disaster assistance, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 6, 2025
Mr. Lankford (for himself and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for an online repository for certain reporting requirements
for recipients of Federal disaster assistance, 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 ``Post-Disaster Assistance Online
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. SUBPAGE FOR TRANSPARENCY OF DISASTER ASSISTANCE.
(a) Establishment of Repository for Reporting Requirements.--The
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with
the Secretary of the Treasury and the head of each covered Federal
agency, shall establish a subpage within the website established under
section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) to publish the information required to be
made available to the public under this section.
(b) Submission of Information by Federal Agencies.--Not later than
30 days after the end of a calendar quarter, the head of each covered
Federal agency that made disaster assistance available to an eligible
recipient during such quarter shall, in coordination with the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, make available to the public on
the subpage established under subsection (a) the information described
in subsection (c), and ensure that any data asset of the covered
Federal agency is machine readable.
(c) Information Required.--The information described in this
subsection is, with respect to disaster assistance provided by a
covered Federal agency--
(1) the total amount of disaster assistance provided by the
covered Federal agency during such quarter;
(2) the amount of disaster assistance provided by the
covered Federal agency that was expended or obligated to
projects or activities; and
(3) a detailed list of all projects or activities for which
disaster assistance dispersed by the agency was expended,
obligated, or used, including--
(A) the name of the project or activity;
(B) a description of the project or activity;
(C) an evaluation of the completion status of the
project or activity;
(D) any award identification number assigned to the
project;
(E) the Catalog for Disaster Assistance number
assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(F) the location of the project, including ZIP
Codes; and
(G) any reporting requirement information being
collected by a covered Federal agency with respect to
that covered Federal agency's disaster assistance.
(d) Guidance.--The head of each covered Federal agency, in
coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue such guidance as is
necessary to meet the requirements of this Act.
(e) Agreement With Private Entity.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, if necessary for purposes of transparency, may
enter into an agreement with a private entity, including a nonprofit
organization, to develop the subpage required under this section.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Covered federal agency.--The term ``covered Federal
agency'' means--
(A) any agency providing assistance under the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.);
(B) the Small Business Administration; and
(C) the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
(2) Disaster assistance.--The term ``disaster assistance''
means any funds that are made available by the Federal
Government in response to a specified natural disaster,
including--
(A) any assistance provided by the Administrator of
the Small Business Administration as a result of a
disaster declared under section 7(b) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b));
(B) any assistance provided by the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development for activities authorized
under title I of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) related to
disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of
infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization
in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting
from a major disaster declared pursuant to the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.);
(C) flood insurance coverage provided under the
National Flood Insurance Program pursuant to the
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et
seq.); and
(D) any assistance provided under the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
(3) Eligible recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient''--
(A) means any entity that receives disaster
assistance directly from the Federal Government
(including disaster assistance received through a
grant, loan, or contract), other than an individual;
and
(B) includes a State that receives disaster
assistance.
(4) Specified natural disaster.--The term ``specified
natural disaster'' means--
(A) a fire on public or private forest land or
grassland described in section 420 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5187);
(B) a major disaster declared by the President
under section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5170);
(C) an emergency declared by the President under
section 501 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); and
(D) any other natural disaster for which a disaster
declaration is made by the Federal Government.
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