FEMA Modernization Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3060 To provide for reform and reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 3, 2019 Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com- mittees on Small Business, Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for reform and reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘FEMA Modernization Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3060 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY Sec. 101. Office of Disaster Response; Office of Disaster Recovery; Office of Long-Term Recovery. Sec. 102. Medical disaster response and recovery training facility. Sec. 103. Labor training program. Sec. 104. Disaster Emergency Housing Assistance Grant Program. Sec. 105. Housing post disaster stability. Sec. 106. Prohibition on enforcement of immigration. TITLE II—REPORTS Sec. 201. Federal Emergency Management Agency reports. Sec. 202. Government Accountability Office. Sec. 203. Circumstances which may impact first responders during a terrorist event. TITLE III—DISASTER RECOVERY SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM Sec. 301. Short title. Sec. 302. Definitions. Sec. 303. Office of Disaster Recovery Small Business Grants. Sec. 304. Compensation for victims of a federally declared disaster. Sec. 305. Reports and audits. Sec. 306. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 307. Termination of authority. TITLE IV—ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS Sec. 401. Extension of authorities for pandemic and all-hazards preparedness. Sec. 402. Transfer of the Surge Capacity Force. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 3 trator’’ means the Administrator of FEMA. 4 (2) FEMA.—The term ‘‘FEMA’’ means the 5 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3060 IH TITLE I—DISASTER RESPONSE 1 AND RECOVERY 2 SEC. 101. OFFICE OF DISASTER RESPONSE; OFFICE OF DIS- 3 ASTER RECOVERY; OFFICE OF LONG-TERM 4 RECOVERY. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 7 take such actions as are necessary to ensure that the Of- 8 fice of Response and Recovery of the Agency is divided 9 into an Office of Disaster Response and an Office of Dis- 10 aster Recovery, subject to the requirements of this section. 11 (b) OFFICE OF DISASTER RESPONSE.— 12 (1) DUTIES.—The duties of the Office of Dis- 13 aster Response shall be as follows: 14 (A) Lead Federal disaster response. 15 (B) Prepare for, coordinate, and facilitate 16 Federal support for State managed and locally 17 executed multi-stakeholder engagement in plan- 18 ning and coordinating of disaster response. 19 (C) Coordinate and manage Federal Emer- 20 gency Management Agency assigned staff and 21 maintain awareness of other Federal agency 22 disaster response assigned staff or other per- 23 sonnel deployments to Tribal and Territorial, 24 State, or local government offices to better col- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3060 IH laborate and coordinate Federal efforts in sup- 1 port of State managed and locally executed dis- 2 aster preparedness and response activities. 3 (D) Conduct public education on the dis- 4 aster response roles of Federal, Tribal and Ter- 5 ritorial, State, and local governments. 6 (E) Any other duty determined appropriate 7 by the Administrator. 8 (2) OFFICERS.—Not later than 1 year after the 9 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 10 shall appoint an Associate Administrator of the Of- 11 fice of Disaster Response and deputy associate ad- 12 ministrators, as determined appropriate. 13 (3) ADDITIONAL POSITIONS.—The Adminis- 14 trator may create, and appoint individuals to, such 15 positions as are considered necessary by the Admin- 16 istrator, including— 17 (A) a military liaison officer to work with 18 the defense coordinating officer; and 19 (B) a Liaison Officer for Asset Acquisition 20 and Deployment in Federal supported, State 21 managed, and locally executed plan to support 22 the delivery of funds, equipment, and resources 23 to local jurisdictions in advance of pending dis- 24 asters by facilitating engagement by the private 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3060 IH sector with Tribal and Territorial and State 1 and local governments in support of meeting 2 the pending disaster response needs. 3 (c) OFFICE OF DISASTER RECOVERY.— 4 (1) DUTIES.—The duties of the Office of Dis- 5 aster Recovery shall be as follows: 6 (A) Assess recovery following a disaster 7 and make recommendations on the estimated 8 time for recovery. 9 (B) Provide definitions of what constitutes 10 a short-term recovery and a long-term recovery, 11 and how this determination shall be made in as- 12 sessing post disaster recovery periods. 13 (C) Coordinate and manage Federal as- 14 signed staff from the Federal Emergency Man- 15 agement Agency to be sent to work in Tribal 16 and Territorial and State or local government 17 agencies. 18 (D) Carry out the accurate collection, re- 19 tention, and reporting of data related to Fed- 20 eral disaster recovery and shall act as a re- 21 source on post-disaster recovery efforts. 22 (E) Submit to the Committee on Oversight 23 and Government Reform of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3060 IH Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 1 ate an annual report on the status of all recov- 2 ery projects during the prior year, including 3 whether Federal projects are on time, within 4 cost, and meeting the needs and objectives of 5 recovery. 6 (F) Provide for civil engineers that make 7 recommendations to the Administrator and 8 partnering Federal agencies on the scope and 9 severity of damage, projections on rehabilita- 10 tion, demolition, repair, and reconstruction of 11 critical infrastructure deemed essential to Fed- 12 eral, Tribal and Territorial, State, and local 13 government, accessing impacted areas, or 14 achieving stability in the recovery process. 15 (G) Any other duty determined appropriate 16 by the Administrator. 17 (2) OFFICERS.—Not later than 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 19 shall appoint an Associate Administrator of the Of- 20 fice of Disaster Recovery and deputy associate ad- 21 ministrators, as determined appropriate. 22 (3) ADDITIONAL POSITIONS.—The Adminis- 23 trator may create, and appoint individuals to, such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3060 IH positions as are considered necessary by the Admin- 1 istrator. 2 (d) OMBUDSMAN.— 3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Office of Disaster 4 Response and the Office of Disaster Recovery shall 5 each establish an office of a Federal ombudsman 6 that shall be an independent and impartial office 7 that examines complaints that arise from disaster 8 response or disaster assistance provided to individ- 9 uals, organizations, or local, State, Tribal or Terri- 10 torial governments the activities of which are funded 11 by the Federal Government. 12 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 360 days 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 14 thereafter, the ombudsman of each office described 15 in paragraph (1) shall submit to Congress a report 16 on the activities of the office, including— 17 (A) the number of complaints submitted to 18 the office; 19 (B) a description of any investigation con- 20 ducted pursuant to such complaints; 21 (C) the resolution of any such investiga- 22 tion; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3060 IH (D) the disposition of matters found to not 1 be under the jurisdiction of the office or a De- 2 partment of Homeland Security component; and 3 (E) recommendations on best practices or 4 ways to improve the work of the office. 5 (e) OFFICE OF LONG-TERM RECOVERY.—Not later 6 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 7 the Administrator shall establish an Office of Long Term 8 Recovery. The duties of such Office shall be determined 9 by the Administrator. 10 SEC. 102. MEDICAL DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY 11 TRAINING FACILITY. 12 Section 303 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 13 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5143) is 14 amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(c) MEDICAL DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY 16 TRAINING FACILITY.— 17 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 18 18 months after the date of enactment of the FEMA 19 Modernization Act of 2019, the President, acting 20 through the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 21 ices in consultation with the Administrator of the 22 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall es- 23 tablish a medical disaster response and recovery 24 training facility in accordance with this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3060 IH ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT.—The medical facility es- 1 tablished under paragraph (1) shall be managed by 2 the Secretary of Health and Human Services and in 3 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal 4 Emergency Management Agency. 5 ‘‘(3) CAPACITY.—The facility established under 6 this subsection shall have a capacity to train 800 7 medical personnel annually, which shall increase to 8 1,200 annually on the date that is 5 years after the 9 date of enactment of the FEMA Modernization Act 10 of 2019. 11 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after 12 the date of enactment of the FEMA Modernization 13 Act of 2019 the Administrator shall submit to the 14 Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on 15 Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee 16 on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Ways 17 and Means, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 18 of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 19 Homeland Security and Government Affairs, the 20 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- 21 fairs, and the Committee on Health, Education, 22 Labor, Pensions, and the Committee on Veterans’ 23 Affairs of the Senate a report containing a plan to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3060 IH engage local and State government partners in pro- 1 motion of the development of surge teams. 2 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL TRIAGE.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting 4 through the Administrator of the Federal Emer- 5 gency Management Agency, in consultation with the 6 National Association of Emergency Medical Techni- 7 cians and the Military Health System, shall establish 8 a National Disaster Medical Triage capacity that 9 shall include the development of guidelines for Tac- 10 tical Disaster Casualty Care which shall be used for 11 medical evacuation protocols to be implemented by 12 local and State governments in advance of certain 13 major disasters, as designated by the Administrator 14 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 15 Human Services and the Secretary of Veterans Af- 16 fairs to— 17 ‘‘(A) remove individuals with requisite 18 health conditions, including dialysis patients, 19 heart patients, diabetics, physically impaired in- 20 dividuals, pregnant individuals, those who have 21 recently delivered a child, and individuals recov- 22 ering from surgery, out of the path of danger; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3060 IH ‘‘(B) establish medical priorities policies 1 for certain disaster situations, as determined by 2 the Administrator, to reduce loss of life and 3 human suffering. 4 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EFFORTS.—In carrying out this 5 subsection, the Administrator shall promote local ef- 6 forts to develop compacts with medical systems to 7 take patients for short-term disaster evacuation or 8 to host locations for field hospitals when needed. 9 ‘‘(3) LIABILITY PROTECTIONS.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to this para- 11 graph, a covered person shall be immune from 12 suit and liability under Federal and State law 13 with respect to all claims for medical care by a 14 board certified or accredited practitioner arising 15 out of medical services provided to an individual 16 in the course of a medical evacuation protocol 17 described in paragraph (1). 18 ‘‘(B) COVERED PERSON.—The term ‘cov- 19 ered person’ means a person— 20 ‘‘(i) who is a health care provider li- 21 censed under the laws of the State in 22 which the action giving rise to the claim 23 described in subparagraph (A) occurred; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3060.IH H3060 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3060 IH ‘‘(ii) who was providing medical serv- 1 ices that are within the scope of the per- 2 son’s license; 3 ‘‘(iii) was acting in accordance with a 4 protocol described in paragraph (1); and 5 ‘‘(iv) is acting in a volunteer capacity. 6 ‘‘(C) WILLFUL MISCONDUCT.—This para- 7 graph shall not apply in the case of willful mis- 8 conduct (as such term is defined in section 9 319F–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 10 [Text truncated for display. 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