Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 545 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3709 [Report No. 117–194] IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 15, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs NOVEMBER 14, 2022 Reported by Mr. PETERS, without amendment AN ACT To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency to submit to Congress a report on pre- liminary damage assessments and make necessary im- provements to processes in the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preliminary Damage 4 Assessment Improvement Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3709 RS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Preliminary damage assessments play a 3 critical role in assessing and validating the impact 4 and magnitude of a disaster. 5 (2) Through the preliminary damage assess- 6 ment process, representatives from the Federal 7 Emergency Management Agency validate informa- 8 tion gathered by State and local officials that serves 9 as the basis for disaster assistance requests. 10 (3) Various factors can impact the duration of 11 a preliminary damage assessment and the cor- 12 responding submission of a major disaster request, 13 however, the average time between when a disaster 14 occurs, and the submission of a corresponding dis- 15 aster request has been found to be approximately 16 twenty days longer for flooding disasters. 17 (4) With communities across the country facing 18 increased instances of catastrophic flooding and 19 other extreme weather events, accurate and efficient 20 preliminary damage assessments have become criti- 21 cally important to the relief process for impacted 22 States and municipalities. 23 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 25 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3709 RS Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to 1 Congress a report describing the preliminary damage as- 2 sessment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency 3 Management Agency in the 5 years before the date of en- 4 actment of this Act. 5 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 6 (a) shall contain the following: 7 (1) The process of the Federal Emergency 8 Management Agency for deploying personnel to sup- 9 port preliminary damage assessments. 10 (2) The number of Agency staff participating 11 on disaster assessment teams. 12 (3) The training and experience of such staff 13 described in paragraph (2). 14 (4) A calculation of the average amount of time 15 disaster assessment teams described in paragraph 16 (1) are deployed to a disaster area. 17 (5) The efforts of the Agency to maintain a 18 consistent liaison between the Agency and State, 19 local, tribal, and territorial officials within a disaster 20 area. 21 SEC. 4. PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 24 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall convene an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3709 RS advisory panel consisting of emergency management per- 1 sonnel employed by State, local, territorial, or tribal au- 2 thorities, and the representative organizations of such per- 3 sonnel to assist the Agency in improving critical compo- 4 nents of the preliminary damage assessment process. 5 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—This advisory panel shall 7 consist of at least 2 representatives from national 8 emergency management organizations and at least 1 9 representative from each of the 10 regions of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency, selected 11 from emergency management personnel employed by 12 State, local, territorial, or tribal authorities within 13 each region. 14 (2) INCLUSION ON PANEL.—To the furthest ex- 15 tent practicable, representation on the advisory 16 panel shall include emergency management per- 17 sonnel from both rural and urban jurisdictions. 18 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—The advisory panel convened 19 under subsection (a) shall— 20 (1) consider— 21 (A) establishing a training regime to en- 22 sure preliminary damage assessments are con- 23 ducted and reviewed under consistent guide- 24 lines; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3709 RS (B) utilizing a common technological plat- 1 form to integrate data collected by State and 2 local governments with data collected by the 3 Agency; and 4 (C) assessing instruction materials pro- 5 vided by the Agency for omissions of pertinent 6 information or language that conflicts with 7 other statutory requirements; and 8 (2) identify opportunities for streamlining the 9 consideration of preliminary damage assessments by 10 the Agency, including eliminating duplicative paper- 11 work requirements and ensuring consistent commu- 12 nication and decision making among Agency staff. 13 (d) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 15 shall submit to Congress a report regarding the findings 16 of the advisory panel, steps that will be undertaken by the 17 Agency to implement the findings of the advisory panel, 18 and additional legislation that may be necessary to imple- 19 ment the findings of the advisory panel. 20 (e) RULEMAKING AND FINAL REPORT.—Not later 21 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 22 Administrator shall issue such regulations as are nec- 23 essary to implement the recommendations of the advisory 24 panel and submit to Congress a report discussing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3709 RS (1) the implementation of recommendations 1 from the advisory panel; 2 (2) the identification of any additional chal- 3 lenges to the preliminary damage assessment proc- 4 ess, including whether specific disasters result in 5 longer preliminary damage assessments; and 6 (3) any additional legislative recommendations 7 necessary to improve the preliminary damage assess- 8 ment process. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 545 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3709 [Report No. 117–194] AN ACT To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency to submit to Con- gress a report on preliminary damage assess- ments and make necessary improvements to proc- esses in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. NOVEMBER 14, 2022 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Nov 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3709.RS H3709 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS