STRONG Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 855 To minimize the economic and social costs resulting from losses of life, property, well-being, business activity, and economic growth associated with extreme weather events by ensuring that the United States is more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather events in the short- and long-term, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. TONKO, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. QUIGLEY) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To minimize the economic and social costs resulting from losses of life, property, well-being, business activity, and economic growth associated with extreme weather events by ensuring that the United States is more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather events in the short- and long-term, 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 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 855 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening The Re- 2 siliency of Our Nation on the Ground Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘STRONG Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 6 ings: 7 (1) Extreme weather has serious economic costs 8 for Americans, American businesses, and State and 9 local governments. Hurricanes, droughts, floods, tor- 10 nadoes, extreme heat, and extreme cold cause death, 11 result in loss of property and well-being, especially 12 among the most vulnerable populations, and nega- 13 tively impact business activity and economic growth. 14 (2) In the past 10 years, there have been more 15 than 109 weather-related disasters in the United 16 States, generating $715.8 billion in total losses. 17 (3) According to NOAA, in 2018 there were 11 18 weather and climate disaster events that each caused 19 $1 billion in damage across the United States. 20 (4) These events and natural disaster trends, 21 when combined with the volatility of weather, ongo- 22 ing demographic changes, and development in high 23 risk areas, indicate that the negative impacts of ex- 24 treme weather events and natural disasters have the 25 potential to increase over time. The fact that a sig- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 855 IH nificant number of people and assets continue to be 1 located in areas prone to volatile and extreme weath- 2 er indicates that these events will continue to be ex- 3 pensive and deadly if the United States fails to en- 4 hance its resiliency to such events. Recent studies 5 show that the intensity and frequency of some types 6 of, but not all, extreme weather events will likely in- 7 crease in the future. 8 (5) Economic savings can be achieved by con- 9 sidering the impacts of extreme weather over the 10 short- and long-term in the planning process. For 11 example, a 2017 review of the Federal Emergency 12 Management Agency’s hazard mitigation programs, 13 conducted by the National Institute of Building 14 Sciences’ Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council, found 15 that on average, society saves $6 for every $1 spent 16 on mitigation projects, such as elevating floodprone 17 buildings, improving stormwater management sys- 18 tems, following practices to reduce fire hazards, and 19 building earthquake-resistant structures. 20 (6) There are several efforts currently under- 21 way at the Federal, regional, tribal, State, and local 22 levels that have helped lay the foundation for a fed- 23 erally coordinated effort to increase the Nation’s re- 24 siliency to extreme weather events, such as the Hur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 855 IH ricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, the Presi- 1 dential Policy Directive on National Preparedness 2 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘PPD–8’’), the National 3 Preparedness System, the whole community ap- 4 proach led by the Department of Homeland Secu- 5 rity, and the Silver Jackets Program by the Army 6 Corps of Engineers. Other recent reports on this 7 subject include the National Academies of Sciences’ 8 reports ‘‘Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative’’ 9 and ‘‘Building Community Disaster Resilience 10 through Public-Private Collaboration’’. 11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to mini- 12 mize the economic and social costs and future losses of 13 life, property, well-being, business activity, and economic 14 growth by making the United States more resilient to the 15 impacts of extreme weather events over the short- and 16 long-term, thereby creating business and job growth op- 17 portunities by— 18 (1) ensuring that the Federal Government is 19 optimizing its use of existing resources and funding 20 to support State and local officials, businesses, tribal 21 nations, and the public to become more resilient, in- 22 cluding— 23 (A) encouraging the consideration of, and 24 ways to incorporate, extreme weather resilience 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 855 IH across Federal operations, programs, policies, 1 and initiatives; 2 (B) promoting improved coordination of 3 existing and planned Federal extreme weather 4 resilience and adaptation efforts that impact ex- 5 treme weather resilience and ensuring their co- 6 ordination with, and support of, State, local, re- 7 gional, and tribal efforts; 8 (C) minimizing Federal policies that may 9 unintentionally hinder or reduce resilience, such 10 as damaging wetlands or other critical green in- 11 frastructure, or lead Federal agencies to oper- 12 ate at cross-purposes in achieving extreme 13 weather resilience; and 14 (D) building upon existing related efforts, 15 such as the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task 16 Force, the PPD–8, the National Preparedness 17 System, and the whole community approach; 18 (2) communicating the latest understanding 19 and likely short- and long-term human and economic 20 impacts and risks of extreme weather to businesses 21 and the public; 22 (3) supporting decisionmaking that improves 23 resilience by providing forecasts and projections, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 855 IH data decision-support tools, and other information 1 and mechanisms; and 2 (4) establishing a consistent vision and strategic 3 plan for extreme weather resilience across the Fed- 4 eral Government. 5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 8 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 9 Policy. 10 (2) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 11 weather’’ includes severe and unseasonable weather, 12 heavy precipitation, hurricanes, storm surges, torna- 13 does, other windstorms (including derechos), extreme 14 heat, extreme cold, and other qualifying weather 15 events as determined by the interagency group es- 16 tablished under section 4(a)(1). 17 (3) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ means 18 the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover 19 from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events 20 in a timely manner. 21 SEC. 4. EXTREME WEATHER RESILIENCE GAP AND OVER- 22 LAP ANALYSIS. 23 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 24 (1) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 855 IH (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director, with 1 input from the Department of Homeland Secu- 2 rity, shall establish and chair an interagency 3 working group with Cabinet-level representation 4 from all relevant Federal agencies. 5 (B) DUTIES.—The working group shall— 6 (i) come together to provide a stra- 7 tegic vision of extreme weather resilience; 8 (ii) conduct a gap and overlap anal- 9 ysis of Federal agencies’ current and 10 planned activities related to achieving 11 short- and long-term resilience to extreme 12 weather and its impacts on the Nation, 13 such as storm surge, flooding, drought, 14 and wildfires; and 15 (iii) develop a National Extreme 16 Weather Resilience Plan in accordance 17 with section 5(a). 18 (2) ADDITIONAL REPRESENTATION FROM EXEC- 19 UTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.—The inter- 20 agency working group established under paragraph 21 (1) shall include representatives of the relevant of- 22 fices and councils within the Executive Office of the 23 President, including— 24 (A) the Office of Management and Budget; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 855 IH (B) the National Security Staff; 1 (C) the Council of Economic Advisors; 2 (D) the Council on Environmental Quality; 3 and 4 (E) the Domestic Policy Council. 5 (3) CONSULTATION WITH TRIBAL, STATE, AND 6 LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal inter- 8 agency working group established under para- 9 graph (1) shall work closely with an advisory 10 group to take into account the needs of State 11 and local entities across all regions of the 12 United States. The advisory group shall consist 13 of— 14 (i) 1 representative from the National 15 Emergency Management Association; 16 (ii) 7 representatives from States and 17 State associations; and 18 (iii) 8 representatives from local enti- 19 ties and associations, including representa- 20 tion from a tribal nation and at least 1 21 major metropolitan area. 22 (B) KEY SECTORS.—The representatives 23 described in subparagraph (A) shall, in the ag- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 855 IH gregate, represent all of the key sectors set 1 forth in subsection (b)(1). 2 (C) MEETINGS.—The Director shall meet 3 with the representatives described in subpara- 4 graph (A) not fewer than 9 times during the 5 development of— 6 (i) the gap and overlap analysis under 7 this section; and 8 (ii) the National Extreme Weather 9 Resilience Action Plan under section 5. 10 (4) COOPERATION BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In 11 carrying out the activities described in subsection 12 (b), Federal agency representatives participating in 13 the working group shall be forthright and shall fully 14 cooperate with the Office of Science and Technology 15 Policy. 16 (5) DETAILEES.—Upon the request of the Di- 17 rector, each agency or entity referred to in para- 18 graph (1) shall provide the working group with a 19 detailee, without reimbursement from the working 20 group, to support the activities described in sub- 21 section (b), section 5, and section 7(a). Such detailee 22 shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his 23 or her regular employment without interruption. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 855 IH (6) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding 1 section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the 2 working group may investigate and use such vol- 3 untary services as the working group determines to 4 be necessary. 5 (b) GAP AND OVERLAP ANALYSIS.—In conducting 6 the gap and overlap analysis required under subsection 7 (a)(1), Federal agency representatives shall— 8 (1) develop a Federal Government-wide working 9 vision for resilience to the impacts of extreme weath- 10 er events in the short- and long-term, in accordance 11 with the purpose set forth in section 2(b), through 12 an effort led by the Director and the interagency 13 working group, which includes goals and objectives 14 for key sectors. Key sectors shall include— 15 (A) agriculture; 16 (B) forestry and natural resources man- 17 agement; 18 (C) water management, including supply 19 and treatment; 20 (D) energy supply and transmission; 21 (E) infrastructure, including natural and 22 built forms of water and wastewater, transpor- 23 tation, coastal infrastructure, and other land- 24 scapes and ecosystems services; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 855 IH (F) public health and healthcare delivery, 1 including mental health and hazardous mate- 2 rials management; 3 (G) communications, including wireless 4 communications; 5 (H) housing and other buildings; 6 (I) national security; 7 (J) emergency preparedness; 8 (K) insurance; and 9 (L) other sectors that the Director con- 10 siders appropriate; 11 (2) consider and identify the interdependencies 12 among the key sectors when developing the vision re- 13 ferred to in paragraph (1); 14 (3) create summaries of the existing and 15 planned efforts and programmatic work underway or 16 relevant to supporting State and local stakeholders 17 in achieving greater extreme weather resilience in 18 the short- and long-term for each sector identified 19 under paragraph (1) and across the sectors, specifi- 20 cally including summaries of— 21 (A) individual Federal agency programs, 22 policies, regulations, and initiatives, and re- 23 search and data collection and dissemination ef- 24 forts; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H855.IH H855 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 855 IH (B) areas of collaboration and coordination 1 across Federal agencies; and 2 (C) areas of coordination with State and 3 local agencies, private entities, and regional co- 4 operation; 5 (4) identify specific Federal programs, statutes, 6 regulations, policies, and initiatives which may unin- 7 tentionally hinder resilience efforts, including an 8 analysis of disincentives, barriers, and incompatible 9 programs, policies, or initiatives across agencies and 10 sectors; 11 (5) examine how the severity and frequency of 12 extreme weather events at the local and regional 13 level may change in the future and communicate 14 these potential risks to stakeholders; 15 (6) work together to identify and evaluate exist- 16 ing Federal tools and data to describe, analyze, fore- 17 cast, and model the potential impacts identified 18 under paragraph (5) and develop recommendations 19 to strengthen their ability to provide reliable and ac- 20 cura [Text truncated for display. 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