Climate Resilient Communities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1936 To require the Comptroller General to evaluate and issue a report on the structural and economic impacts of climate resiliency at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including recommendations on how to improve the building codes and standards that the Agency uses to pre- pare for climate change and address resiliency in housing, public build- ings, and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Comptroller General to evaluate and issue a report on the structural and economic impacts of cli- mate resiliency at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including recommendations on how to improve the building codes and standards that the Agency uses to prepare for climate change and address resiliency in housing, public buildings, and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1936.IH H1936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1936 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Resilient Com- 2 munities Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CLIMATE RESILIENCY REPORT BY GAO. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 5 date of enactment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, 6 the Comptroller General shall evaluate and issue a report 7 to Congress on the economic benefits, including avoided 8 impacts on property and life, of the use of model, con- 9 sensus-based building codes, standards, and provisions 10 that support resilience to climate risks and impacts, in- 11 cluding— 12 (1) flooding; 13 (2) wildfires; 14 (3) hurricanes; 15 (4) heat waves; 16 (5) droughts; 17 (6) rises in sea level; and 18 (7) extreme weather. 19 (b) REPORT ISSUES.—The report required under 20 subsection (a) shall include the following: 21 (1) Assesses the status of adoption of building 22 codes, standards, and provisions within the States, 23 territories, and tribes at the State or jurisdictional 24 level; including whether the adopted codes meet or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1936.IH H1936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1936 IH exceed the most recent published edition of a na- 1 tional, consensus-based model code. 2 (2) Analysis of the extent to which pre-disaster 3 mitigation measures provide benefits to the nation 4 and individual States, territories and tribes, includ- 5 ing— 6 (A) an economic analysis of the benefits to 7 the design and construction of new resilient in- 8 frastructure; 9 (B) losses avoided, including economic 10 losses, number of structures (buildings, roads, 11 bridges), and injuries and deaths by utilizing 12 building codes and standards that prioritize re- 13 siliency; and 14 (C) an economic analysis of the benefits to 15 using hazard resistant building codes in rebuild- 16 ing and repairing infrastructure following a dis- 17 aster. 18 (3) An assessment of the building codes and 19 standards referenced or otherwise currently incor- 20 porated into Federal policies and programs, includ- 21 ing but not limited to grants, incentive programs, 22 technical assistance and design and construction cri- 23 teria, administered by the Federal Emergency Man- 24 agement Agency (FEMA), and— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1936.IH H1936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1936 IH (A) the extent to which such codes and 1 standards contribute to increasing climate resil- 2 iency; 3 (B) recommendations for how FEMA could 4 improve their use of codes and standards to 5 prepare for climate change and address resil- 6 iency in housing, public buildings, and infra- 7 structure such as roads and bridges; and 8 (C) how FEMA could increase efforts to 9 support the adoption of hazard resistant codes 10 by the States, territories, and tribes. 11 (4) Recommendations for FEMA on how to bet- 12 ter incorporate climate resiliency into efforts to re- 13 build after natural disasters. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1936.IH H1936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS