US Codex
Bill
Notes

Title II — Reports

H.R. 3060 · 116th Congress · Jun 3, 2019 · Lineage

II Reports

Sec. 201 Federal Emergency Management Agency reports

(a)
Casework management system report— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a report on the ability of FEMA to support a State managed and locally executed casework management system to coordinate and deliver direct assistance to disaster survivors in placing applications for Federal post disaster assistance to the following:
(1)
The Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.
(2)
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
(3)
The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
(4)
The Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
(5)
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(6)
The Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives.
(7)
The Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs of the Senate.
(8)
The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(9)
The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(10)
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate.
(11)
The Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.
(b)
After-Action reports— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of FEMA shall submit to the committees listed in subsection (a) an after-action report on the activities of the Office of Disaster Response and the Office of Disaster Recovery, including—
(1)
the types of disasters responded to;
(2)
the resources needed;
(3)
strengths and weaknesses of the response or mitigation effort;
(4)
lessons learned; and
(5)
recommendations on how to improve.
(c)
Catastrophic resource reports—
(1)
In general— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of FEMA shall develop and submit to the committees listed in subsection (a) an estimate of the resources of FEMA and other Federal agencies that are needed for and devoted specifically to developing the disaster response capabilities of Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments.
(2)
Classified annex— At the discretion of the Secretary, the Administrator may include in the estimate under paragraph (1) a classified annex that reports on what the Federal Government has on hand to meet a range of response or recovery needs related to specific types of events, which may include floods, wildfires, earth movements, windstorms, disease outbreaks, manmade disasters such as chemical attacks, cyberattacks, or radiological incidents.
(3)
Contents— Each estimate under paragraph (1) shall include an estimate of the resources both necessary for and devoted to—
(A)
planning;
(B)
training and exercises;
(C)
Regional Office enhancements;
(D)
staffing, including for surge capacity during a catastrophic incident;
(E)
additional logistics capabilities;
(F)
other responsibilities under the catastrophic incident annex and the catastrophic incident supplement of the National Response Framework;
(G)
reporting on the costs of support of State, local, and Tribal governments’ catastrophic incident preparedness planning; and
(H)
covering increases in the fixed costs or expenses of FEMA, including rent or property acquisition costs or expenses, taxes, contributions to the working capital fund of the Department of Homeland Security, and security costs for the year after the year in which such estimate is submitted.
(d)
Report on technology— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of FEMA shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a study on what technology may provide better predictive information on the detection of pending disasters and what technology may better measure the scope of a disaster.
(e)
Volunteers and disaster response report— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of the Office of Disaster Response shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a volunteers and disaster response report that specifies—
(1)
the role that volunteers fill in disaster response and rescue; and
(2)
recommendations on the contributions of volunteers and best practices for official disaster response, without formalizing the role of volunteers in disaster response.
(f)
Compilation of fatality and missing persons data— Not later than 1 year after the date on which the President declares a major disaster or emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the Administrator of FEMA shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that compiles the number of fatalities and missing persons as a result of such major disaster or emergency, including the causes of such fatalities, based on data from—
(1)
local and State jurisdictions;
(2)
mortuary services that operated in the area of such major disaster or emergency; and
(3)
forensics experts, anthropologists, and other resources the Administrator deems appropriate for determining accurate and complete fatality and missing persons data.
(g)
Federal reimbursements— Not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of FEMA shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the status of Federal reimbursements owed to local and State governments for activities related to disaster recovery incurred following a presidential declaration of a major disaster or emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) in the years 2010 through 2017.
(h)
Long-Term recovery—
(1)
In general— Not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of FEMA, acting through the Office of Long-Term Recovery, shall submit to the committees specified in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a) a report that assesses the means of providing short- and long-term housing for people impacted by federally declared disasters following September 11, 2001, Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Maria, and the Camp Fire (Paradise, California).
(2)
Considerations— The report required under paragraph (1) shall consider—
(A)
how mucking out of homes or property post disaster occurred;
(B)
how long it took for construction repairs to be performed; and
(C)
the adequacy of labor and materials to meet demand and note any challenges to a rapid recovery of housing and critical infrastructure posed by materials supply, labor supply or contracting expertise in the disaster area.
(3)
Assessment— The report required under paragraph (1) shall—
(A)
assess the feasibility and efficiency of providing long-term housing at hotels or other equivalent daily rate accommodation;
(B)
consider alternatives that may include private residences, mass construction of temporary housing, Federal property, or planned communities for occupancy for under 5 years in the event of significant loss of housing stock; and
(C)
make recommendations on how best to resettle individuals who will be displaced from homes permanently or for a long-term recovery that will last 3 or more years.

Sec. 202 Government Accountability Office

(a)
Biennial reports— Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the activities of the Office of Disaster Response and the Office of Disaster Recovery, including recommendations and assessments of the effectiveness of the offices.
(b)
Office of Disaster recovery efforts report—
(1)
In general— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on long-term recovery efforts following Hurricane Andrew, the attacks of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Florence, and California wild fires.
(2)
Content of report— The report shall contain the following:
(A)
Information on defining a long-term recovery, the stages of a long-term recovery, and the transition from Federal Government responsibilities for long-term recovery efforts to State and local leadership.
(B)
An assessment of the personnel needed, and the types of expertise or certifications required, to accomplish the administration and management of recovery efforts for each of the disasters described in subsection (a).
(C)
An analysis of the success and efficiency of the long-term disaster recovery, and best practices learned that may be applied to future long-term disaster recovery plans.
(D)
Recommendations of the Comptroller General for what should be defined as a long-term disaster recovery project using existing authority and responsibility of FEMA to advise and make recommendations to the President regarding Presidential Disaster Declarations.
(E)
Recommendations of FEMA on the capacity and competence of FEMA to manage multiple major Presidential Disaster Declarations simultaneously of the magnitude of 3, 4, or all 5 of the disasters described in subsection (a) occurring within weeks of each other.
(F)
FEMA’s capability (as such term is defined in section 741 of title 6, United States Code) and capacities of the Federal Government to respond to a range of catastrophic events occurring either singularly or concurrently, including an assessment of the capacities of each Federal agency and the total capacity of the Federal Government.
(c)
Pets— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report assessing the activity of the Federal Government relating to—
(1)
the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–308);
(2)
disaster response resources for pets; and
(3)
the activity of the Federal Government during the 2017 hurricane season with respect to—
(A)
evacuation, rescue, and boarding facilities for animals;
(B)
feeding and housing of animals; and
(C)
transition to post-disaster placement of animals.
(d)
National all-Hazards disaster insurance program— Not later than 320 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on—
(1)
the feasibility and design of a national all-hazards disaster insurance program;
(2)
the risk of property owners continuing to underinsure or have no insurance on homes and the implications of those actions on the financial stability of the housing market;
(3)
the challenge of developing actuarial tables to determine premiums and the setting options for premium payments for disaster declaration policies to be collected annual, quarterly, or monthly; and
(4)
the challenges and feasibility of selling policies at the same time a property casualty policy is purchased.
(e)
Homelessness— Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on homelessness that contains a collection of data based upon registrations for disaster assistance, information provided by National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, Bureau of the Census data, and other sources that provide information on the state of homelessness in an area impacted by a disaster. Such report shall—
(1)
include an analysis of individuals who were housed or receiving housing assistance at the time of the disaster and because of the disaster may be at risk of homelessness;
(2)
determine the best measures for assessing the potential for homelessness during the long-term recovery from a disaster; and
(3)
make recommendations on how local and State jurisdictions can identify the homeless during disaster response and how to structure recovery efforts to minimize homelessness.
(f)
Peer-to-Peer lodging— Not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the use of emergency disaster housing provided by peer-to-peer lodging or short-term rental by FEMA staff and other owners of peer-to-peer lodging who donate, rent, or lease housing to individuals impacted by disasters during 2017 and 2018.
(g)
Post-Disaster civic engagement— Not later than 8 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on civic engagement following a disaster, including 9/11 and Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Michael, Marie, and Florence. The report shall—
(1)
analyze how jurisdictions provided support for citizen voting after those events;
(2)
include analysis of the role that Federal, Tribal and Territorial, State, and local governments play in facilitating disaster survivors’ reconnection with the public election voting process;
(3)
state any actions governments have taken that have impeded civic participation in the form of registering to vote and casting a ballot in a public election; and
(4)
make recommendations on what can be done to protect voting by persons impacted by disasters.

Sec. 203 Circumstances which may impact first responders during a terrorist event

(a)
In general— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 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 describes select State and local programs and policies, as appropriate, related to the preparedness and protection of first responders. The report may include information on—
(1)
the degree to which such programs and policies include consideration of the presence of a first responder’s family in an area impacted by a terrorist attack;
(2)
the availability of personal protective equipment for first responders;
(3)
the availability of home Medkits for first responders and their families for biological incident response; and
(4)
other related factors.
(b)
Context— In preparing the report required under subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States may, as appropriate, provide information—
(1)
in a format that delineates high risk urban areas from rural communities; and
(2)
on the degree to which the selected State and local programs and policies included in such report were developed or are being executed with funding from the Department of Homeland Security, including grant funding from the State Homeland Security Grant Program or the Urban Area Security Initiative under sections 2002 and 2003, respectively, of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 603; 604).
(c)
Homeland security consideration— After issuance of the report required under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider such report’s findings and assess its applicability for Federal first responders.