Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 152) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 152

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 ``Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act''. SEC. 2. STUDY TO STREAMLINE AND CONSOLIDATE INFORMATION COLLECTION AND PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS.

(a) In General.--Section 1223 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-254) is amended to read as follows: ``SEC. 1223. STUDY TO STREAMLINE AND CONSOLIDATE INFORMATION COLLECTION AND PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS.

``(a) Information Collection.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator, in coordination with the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Disaster Assistance Working Group of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, and other appropriate agencies, shall--

``(1) conduct a study and develop a plan, consistent with law, under which the collection of information from disaster assistance applicants and grantees will be modified, streamlined, expedited, efficient, flexible, consolidated, and simplified to be less burdensome, duplicative, and time consuming for applicants and grantees; and

``(2) develop a plan for the regular collection and reporting of information on Federal disaster assistance awarded, including the establishment and maintenance of a website for presenting the information to the public.

``(b) Preliminary Damage Assessments.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator, in consultation with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, shall convene a working group on a regular basis with the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the Secretary of Transportation, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, and other appropriate agencies as the Administrator considers necessary, to--

``(1) identify and describe the potential areas of duplication or fragmentation in preliminary damage assessments after disaster declarations;

``(2) determine the applicability of having one Federal agency make the assessments for all agencies; and

``(3) identify potential emerging technologies, such as unmanned aircraft systems, consistent with the requirements established in the FEMA Accountability, Modernization and Transparency Act of 2017 (42 U.S.C. 5121 note), to expedite the administration of preliminary damage assessments.

``(c) Comprehensive Report.--The Administrator shall submit one comprehensive report that comprises the plans developed under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) and a report of the findings of the working group convened under subsection (b), which may include recommendations, to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.

``(d) Public Availability.--The comprehensive report developed under subsection (c) shall be made available to the public and posted on the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency--

``(1) in pre-compressed, easily downloadable versions that are made available in all appropriate formats; and

``(2) in machine-readable format, if applicable.

``(e) Sources of Information.--In preparing the comprehensive report, any publication, database, or web-based resource, and any information compiled by any government agency, nongovernmental organization, or other entity that is made available may be used.

``(f) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after submission of the comprehensive report, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or a designee, and a member of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or a designee, shall brief, upon request, the appropriate congressional committees on the findings and any recommendations made in the comprehensive report.''.

(b) Technical Amendment.--The item relating to section 1223 in the table of contents of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-254) is amended to read as follows: ``Sec. 1223. Study to streamline and consolidate information collection and preliminary damage assessments.''.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRAVES. 152.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 152, the Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act, is a commonsense bill that is going to streamline and consolidate the collection of information following a disaster.

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the lead Federal agency on disasters, there are often many Federal agencies involved in disaster response and recovery.

I have experienced firsthand just how frustrating it can be when these Federal agencies fail to work together following a natural disaster.

That is why I am proud to support H.R. 152, which would address this concern by amending the FEMA-led working group created in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018.

Specifically, the working group is going to develop a plan to make the collection of information from disaster survivors less burdensome, duplicative, and time consuming. This working group is also going to coordinate with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to identify ways to reduce duplication and streamline the Federal damage assessment process.

I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell) for his leadership on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 152 is a good government bill that will help improve disaster recovery efforts. It has previously passed the House in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source