Union Calendar No. 473
116th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 116–575]
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessment and to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes.
September 17, 2019
Mr. Katko (for himself and Mr. Cunningham) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
November 16, 2020
Additional sponsors: Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Mr. Sablan, and Mr. Delgado
November 16, 2020
Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 17, 2019]
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessment and to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2020”.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Preliminary damage assessments play a critical role in assessing and validating the impact and magnitude of a disaster.
(2) Through the preliminary damage assessment process, representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency validate information gathered by State and local officials that serves as the basis for disaster assistance requests.
(3) Various factors can impact the duration of a preliminary damage assessment and the corresponding submission of a major disaster request, however, the average time between when a disaster occurs, and the submission of a corresponding disaster request has been found to be approximately twenty days longer for flooding disasters.
(a) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to Congress a report describing the preliminary damage assessment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the 5 years before the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Contents.—The report described in subsection (a) shall contain the following:
(1) The process of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for deploying personnel to support preliminary damage assessments.
SEC. 4. Preliminary damage assessment.
(a) In general.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish a training regime under section 206.33(b) of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, within the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure preliminary damage assessments are conducted and reviewed under consistent guidelines.
(b) Annual report.—The Administrator shall annually submit to Congress a report on the number and type of instances under which Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel have overturned decisions made by personnel in the field.
(c) Report to Congress.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report—
(1) describing the establishment of disaster guidelines from Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel described under subsection (a);
(d) Definition of State and local government.—For purposes of this Act, the terms “State” and “local government” have the meanings given such terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
Union Calendar No. 473 | |||||
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[Report No. 116–575] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessment and to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. | |||||
November 16, 2020 | |||||
Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed |