Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization Act
A BILL
To enhance local capacity and expand local control over the disaster response, recovery, and preparedness process, to guarantee stable Federal funding streams for disaster-impacted communities, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Appropriate congressional committees— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Chief Executive; Governor; State; Indian tribal government— The terms “Chief Executive”, “Governor”, “State”, and “Indian tribal government” have the meanings given the terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
High-capacity jurisdiction— The term high-capacity jurisdiction means a jurisdiction that has sufficient resources to administer projects funded with assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) with minimal support, as determined by the Governor or Chief Executive of the State or Indian tribal government in which the jurisdiction is located and based on criteria established by the Administrator.
Low-capacity jurisdiction— The term low-capacity jurisdiction means a jurisdiction that faces structural barriers to planning for, securing, implementing, or sustaining public investments in disaster resilience due to limited staffing, institutional partnerships, fiscal resources, or access to technical expertise that make it difficult to administer projects funded with assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.)—
as determined by the Governor or Chief Executive of the State or Indian tribal government in which the jurisdiction is located; and
based on criteria established by the Administrator.
Public assistance— The term public assistance means assistance awarded under the programs under section 403, 406, 407, and 502 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (5170b, 5172, 5173, 5192).