IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2016 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 16, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assess- ments, and for other purposes. 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 01:45 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2016.RFS H2016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2016 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Disaster As- 2 sistance Coordination Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. STUDY TO STREAMLINE AND CONSOLIDATE INFOR- 4 MATION COLLECTION AND PRELIMINARY 5 DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1223 of the Disaster Re- 7 covery Reform Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254) is 8 amended to read as follows: 9 ‘‘SEC. 1223. STUDY TO STREAMLINE AND CONSOLIDATE IN- 10 FORMATION COLLECTION AND PRELIMINARY 11 DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS. 12 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION COLLECTION.—Not later than 2 13 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad- 14 ministrator, in coordination with the Small Business Ad- 15 ministration, the Department of Housing and Urban De- 16 velopment, the Disaster Assistance Working Group of the 17 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Effi- 18 ciency, and other appropriate agencies, shall— 19 ‘‘(1) conduct a study and develop a plan, con- 20 sistent with law, under which the collection of infor- 21 mation from disaster assistance applicants and 22 grantees will be modified, streamlined, expedited, ef- 23 ficient, flexible, consolidated, and simplified to be 24 less burdensome, duplicative, and time consuming 25 for applicants and grantees; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2016.RFS H2016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2016 RFS ‘‘(2) develop a plan for the regular collection 1 and reporting of information on Federal disaster as- 2 sistance awarded, including the establishment and 3 maintenance of a website for presenting the informa- 4 tion to the public. 5 ‘‘(b) PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS.—Not 6 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 7 tion, the Administrator, in consultation with the Council 8 of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, 9 shall convene a working group on a regular basis with the 10 Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Manage- 11 ment and Budget, the Secretary of Health and Human 12 Services, the Administrator of the Small Business Admin- 13 istration, the Secretary of Transportation, the Assistant 14 Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, and 15 other appropriate agencies as the Administrator considers 16 necessary, to— 17 ‘‘(1) identify and describe the potential areas of 18 duplication or fragmentation in preliminary damage 19 assessments after disaster declarations; 20 ‘‘(2) determine the applicability of having one 21 Federal agency make the assessments for all agen- 22 cies; and 23 ‘‘(3) identify potential emerging technologies, 24 such as unmanned aircraft systems, consistent with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2016.RFS H2016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2016 RFS the requirements established in the FEMA Account- 1 ability, Modernization and Transparency Act of 2 2017 (42 U.S.C. 5121 note), to expedite the admin- 3 istration of preliminary damage assessments. 4 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVE REPORT.—The Administrator 5 shall submit one comprehensive report that comprises the 6 plans developed under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) and 7 a report of the findings of the working group convened 8 under subsection (b), which may include recommenda- 9 tions, to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 10 ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 11 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 12 Senate. 13 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The comprehensive re- 14 port developed under subsection (c) shall be made avail- 15 able to the public and posted on the website of the Federal 16 Emergency Management Agency— 17 ‘‘(1) in pre-compressed, easily downloadable 18 versions that are made available in all appropriate 19 formats; and 20 ‘‘(2) in machine-readable format, if applicable. 21 ‘‘(e) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In preparing the 22 comprehensive report, any publication, database, or web- 23 based resource, and any information compiled by any gov- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2016.RFS H2016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2016 RFS ernment agency, nongovernmental organization, or other 1 entity that is made available may be used. 2 ‘‘(f) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after sub- 3 mission of the comprehensive report, the Administrator of 4 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or a des- 5 ignee, and a member of the Council of the Inspectors Gen- 6 eral on Integrity and Efficiency, or a designee, shall brief, 7 upon request, the appropriate congressional committees on 8 the findings and any recommendations made in the com- 9 prehensive report.’’. 10 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 11 section 1223 in the table of contents of the FAA Reau- 12 thorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254) is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 ‘‘Sec. 1223. Study to streamline and consolidate information collection and pre- liminary damage assessments.’’. Passed the House of Representatives June 15, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2016.RFS H2016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS