Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act
This bill modifies the pre-disaster mitigation grant program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Specifically, the bill
FEMA must
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3655 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3655
To enhance predisaster mitigation to prevent future natural disasters,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 24, 2023
Mr. Swalwell (for himself, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, and Mr. Panetta)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance predisaster mitigation to prevent future natural disasters,
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 ``Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 203(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(a)) is amended to read as
follows:
``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions
apply:
``(1) High hazard risk.--The term `high hazard risk' means
high rating of a natural hazard risk according to a tool such
as the National Risk Index or another tool developed by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(2) Environmental justice community.--The term
`environmental justice community' means a community primarily
composed of communities of color, low-income communities, or
Tribal and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is at
risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse human health or
environmental effects than most communities.
``(3) Small impoverished community.--The term `small
impoverished community' means a community that is comprised of
50,000 or fewer individuals and that is economically
disadvantaged, as determined by the State in which the
community is located and based on criteria established by the
President.''.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
Section 203(e) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(e)) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(3) Guidance.--The Administrator may develop guidance
regarding how to incorporate climate change into--
``(A) the National Risk Index;
``(B) cost-benefit analyses; and
``(C) adopting improved relevant consensus-based
codes, specifications, and standards to address natural
hazards.
``(4) Building, restoration, or rehabilitation.--The
Administrator may issue guidance to ensure that funds provided
under this section are used to support the building,
restoration, or rehabilitation of hazard mitigation projects
that are--
``(A) planned and designed around the future
projections of climate change over the life cycle of
the project; and
``(B) built to withstand future flooding.''.
SEC. 4. CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE AWARDS.
Section 203(g) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(g)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (11);
(2) by redesignating paragraph (12) as paragraph (13); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (11) the following:
``(12) and prioritize communities that are in high hazard
risk communities, environmental justice communities,
communities with low tax revenue base per capita, and
communities with a low rate of code adoption and enforcement
and infrastructure maintenance expenditures (the Administrator
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish
guidelines to develop measurable criteria to determine such
priority for high hazard risk communities and integrate the
data into a tool such as the National Risk Index and use the
Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool to help target the
communities with the greatest need of assistance); and''.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL SHARE.
Section 203(h)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(h)(2) is amended to read as
follows:
``(2) Small impoverished communities and environment
justice communities.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the
President may contribute up to 90 percent of the total cost of
a mitigation activity carried out in a small impoverished
community or an environmental justice community.''.
SEC. 6. NATIONAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PREDISASTER MITIGATION
ASSISTANCE.
Section 203(i)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(i)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``6 percent'' and inserting ``15 percent'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ``From such total
amount made available from the Disaster Relief Fund, with
respect to each major disaster, the President may set aside 2
percent of the estimated aggregate amount of the grants to be
made pursuant to sections 403, 406, 407, 408, 410, 416, and 428
for the major disaster for community planning and capacity
building assistance.''.
SEC. 7. COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(n) Community Outreach Assistance.--The Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with
organizations, such as the United States Cooperative Extension System
and the Extension Disaster Education Network, shall provide community
outreach to communities under this section, with a goal of increasing
applications from communities with high hazard risk, environmental
justice communities, communities with low tax revenue base per capita,
and communities with a low rate of code adoption and enforcement and
infrastructure maintenance expenditures, regarding how to plan and
prioritize projects based on current climate conditions, future hazard
risk, and social vulnerability assessments as well as how to
successfully develop, submit, and administer a grant under this
section.''.
SEC. 8. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION.
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall
establish a central Federal database at the Agency, in coordination
with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environment
Protection Agency, the Economic Development Administration, the Small
Business Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and any other
relevant agencies the Administrator chooses to include, to consolidate
funding data collected by all local, State, and Federal agencies
involved in post-disaster response and predisaster mitigation spending
and categorize the data by type of project, funding source, and hazard
types using an user friendly database and interactive map. Such
database shall also include--
(1) the collection and posting of census track data and
post aggregate demographic data, pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) as well as any future
guidance by such office on data equity on the impact of natural
disaster and Federal recovery efforts to better allocate and
trace funds; and
(2) post-project evaluations by the Agency to analyze
disaster spending and report findings on what may have been
saved by proper predisaster mitigation.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
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