DEBRIS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2758 To provide disaster relief assistance to individuals for the purpose of clearing fallen debris, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2019 Ms. DELAURO (for herself and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To provide disaster relief assistance to individuals for the purpose of clearing fallen debris, 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 ‘‘Diversifying Emer- 4 gency Benchmarks for the Recovery of Individuals after 5 Storms Act’’ or the ‘‘DEBRIS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2758.IH H2758 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2758 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS AND 1 HOUSEHOLDS. 2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Rob- 3 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 5 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6 (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 7 and 8 (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 9 ‘‘(ii) the removal of debris from 10 owner-occupied private residences and 11 property; and’’. 12 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 13 (1) COVERED DISASTER DEFINED.—In this 14 subsection, the term ‘‘covered disaster’’ means a 15 major disaster declared by the President under sec- 16 tion 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 17 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) on 18 or after May 1, 2018. 19 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 20 by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any cov- 21 ered disaster. 22 (3) RESUBMISSION OF REQUESTS FOR ASSIST- 23 ANCE.—If a request for assistance, with respect to 24 a covered disaster, was made under section 408 of 25 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2758.IH H2758 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2758 IH gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174), as in effect 1 before the date of enactment of this Act, for the re- 2 moval of debris from an owner-occupied private resi- 3 dence or property and the request for such assist- 4 ance was denied before the date of enactment of this 5 Act, the request for assistance under such section 6 408, as amended by this Act, may be resubmitted. 7 SEC. 3. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN MAJOR DISASTER 8 DECLARATIONS. 9 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 10 of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 11 Management Agency shall, by rulemaking, amend the fac- 12 tors considered when evaluating a Governor’s request for 13 a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford 14 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 15 5121 et seq.) to include the estimated cost of removing 16 fallen debris from owner-occupied private residences and 17 property. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2758.IH H2758 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS