Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3702 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 19, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment to provide disaster assistance to States, Puerto Rico, units of general local government, and Indian tribes under a community development block grant disaster re- covery program, 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 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 3702 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reforming Disaster 2 Recovery Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT DIS- 4 ASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Housing and Com- 6 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) 7 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 8 ‘‘SEC. 123. CDBG-DISASTER RECOVERY ASSISTANCE. 9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY; USE.—The Secretary may provide 10 assistance under this section to States, including Puerto 11 Rico, units of general local government, and Indian tribes 12 for necessary expenses for activities authorized under this 13 title related to disaster relief, resiliency, long-term recov- 14 ery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, mitigation, 15 and economic revitalization in the most impacted and dis- 16 tressed areas (as such term shall be defined by the Sec- 17 retary by regulation) resulting from a major disaster de- 18 clared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 19 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 20 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION; COORDINATION.— 21 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FOR MITIGATION.—In deter- 22 mining the amount allocated under this section for 23 any grantee, the Secretary shall include an addi- 24 tional amount for mitigation that is not less than 45 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 3702 RFS percent of the amount allocated for such grantee for 1 unmet needs. 2 ‘‘(2) DEADLINES FOR ALLOCATION.—Except as 3 provided in paragraph (3), after the enactment of an 4 Act making funds available for assistance under this 5 section, the Secretary shall allocate for grantees, 6 based on the best available data all funds provided 7 for assistance under this section within 60 days of 8 the date of the enactment of such Act. 9 ‘‘(3) INAPPLICABILITY OF DEADLINES BASED 10 ON INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION.—The deadlines 11 under paragraph (2) for allocation of funds shall not 12 apply in the case of funds made available for assist- 13 ance under this section if Federal Emergency Man- 14 agement Agency has not made sufficient information 15 available to the Secretary regarding relevant unmet 16 recovery needs to make allocations in accordance 17 with such deadlines. The Secretary shall notify the 18 Congress of progress on or delay in receiving the 19 necessary information within 60 days following dec- 20 laration of such a major disaster and monthly there- 21 after until all necessary information is received. 22 ‘‘(4) OBLIGATION OF AMOUNTS BY THE SEC- 23 RETARY.—Subject to subsection (c)(1), the Sec- 24 retary shall provide for the disbursement of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 3702 RFS amounts allocated for a grantee, but shall require 1 the grantee to be in substantial compliance with the 2 requirements of this section before each such dis- 3 bursement. 4 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION OF DISASTER BENEFITS 5 AND DATA WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 6 ‘‘(A) COORDINATION OF DATA.—The Sec- 7 retary shall coordinate with other agencies to 8 obtain data on recovery needs, including the 9 Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- 10 agement Agency and the Administrator of the 11 Small Business Administration, and other agen- 12 cies when necessary regarding disaster benefits. 13 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH FEMA.—The 14 Secretary shall share with the Administrator of 15 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 16 and make publicly available, all data collected, 17 possessed, or analyzed during the course of a 18 disaster recovery for which assistance is pro- 19 vided under this section including— 20 ‘‘(i) all data on damage caused by the 21 disaster; 22 ‘‘(ii) information on how any Federal 23 assistance provided in connection with the 24 disaster is expended; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 3702 RFS ‘‘(iii) information regarding the effect 1 of the disaster on education, transportation 2 capabilities and dependence, housing 3 needs, health care capacity, and displace- 4 ment of persons. 5 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ELIGI- 6 BILITY FOR DIRECT ASSISTANCE AND DUPLICA- 7 TION OF BENEFITS.— 8 ‘‘(i) COMPLIANCE.—Funds made 9 available under this subsection shall be 10 used in accordance with section 312 of the 11 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 12 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 13 5155), as amended by section 1210 of the 14 Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (di- 15 vision D, Public Law 115–254), and such 16 rules as may be prescribed under such sec- 17 tion. 18 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—Households having 19 the lowest incomes shall be prioritized for 20 assistance under this subsection until all 21 unmet needs are satisfied for families hav- 22 ing an income up to 120 percent of the 23 median for the area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 3702 RFS ‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF DUPLICATIVE BENE- 1 FITS.—In any case in which a grantee provides 2 assistance that duplicates benefits available to a 3 person for the same purpose from another 4 source, the grantee itself shall either (i) be sub- 5 ject to remedies for noncompliance under sec- 6 tion 111, or (ii) bear responsibility for absorb- 7 ing such cost of duplicative benefits and return- 8 ing an amount equal to any duplicative benefits 9 paid to the grantee’s funds available for use 10 under this section or to the Community Devel- 11 opment Block Grant Disaster Recovery Reserve 12 Fund under section 124, unless the Secretary 13 issues a public determination by publication in 14 the Federal Register that it is not in the best 15 interest of the Federal Government to pursue 16 such remedies. 17 ‘‘(E) PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY IDEN- 18 TIFIABLE INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 19 paragraph, the Secretary and the grantee shall 20 take such actions as may be necessary to ensure 21 that personally identifiable information regard- 22 ing recipients of assistance provided from funds 23 made available under this section is not made 24 publicly available by the Department of Hous- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 3702 RFS ing and Urban Development or any agency with 1 which information is shared pursuant to this 2 paragraph. 3 ‘‘(c) PLAN FOR USE OF ASSISTANCE.— 4 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 days 5 after the allocation pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of 6 all of the funds made available by an appropriations 7 Act for assistance under this section and before the 8 Secretary obligates any of such funds for a grantee, 9 the grantee shall submit a plan to the Secretary for 10 approval detailing the proposed use of all funds, 11 which shall include, at a minimum— 12 ‘‘(A) criteria for eligibility for each pro- 13 posed use of funds, including eligibility limits 14 on income and geography, and a description of 15 how each proposed use of such funds will com- 16 ply with all civil rights and fair housing laws 17 and will address unmet needs relating to dis- 18 aster relief, resiliency, long-term recovery, res- 19 toration of infrastructure and housing, mitiga- 20 tion, and economic revitalization in the most 21 impacted and distressed areas, including assist- 22 ance to impacted households experiencing home- 23 lessness as defined by section 103 of the 24 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 3702 RFS U.S.C. 11302) or at risk of homelessness as de- 1 fined by section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2 11360); 3 ‘‘(B) an agreement to share data, 4 disaggregated by the smallest census tract, 5 block group, or block possible for the data set, 6 with Federal agencies and other providers of 7 disaster relief, which shall include information 8 the grantee has regarding the matters described 9 in subsection (b)(4)(B); 10 ‘‘(C) identification of officials and offices 11 responsible for administering such funds and 12 processes and procedures for identifying and re- 13 covering duplicate benefits; and 14 ‘‘(D) a plan for ensuring compliance with 15 the Fair Housing Act, which may include, at 16 the election of the grantee, providing for part- 17 nerships with local fair housing organizations 18 and funding set-aside for local fair housing or- 19 ganizations to handle complaints relating to as- 20 sistance with amounts made available for use 21 under this section. 22 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall, by regu- 23 lation, specify criteria for approval of plans under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 3702 RFS paragraph (1), including approval of substantial 1 amendments to such plans. 2 ‘‘(3) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall dis- 3 approve a plan or substantial amendment to a plan 4 if— 5 ‘‘(A) the plan or substantial amendment 6 does not meet the approval criteria; 7 ‘‘(B) based on damage and unmet needs 8 assessments of the Secretary and the Federal 9 Emergency Management Administration or 10 such other information as may be available, the 11 plan or amendment does not address equitable 12 allocation of resources— 13 ‘‘(i) between infrastructure and hous- 14 ing activities; and 15 ‘‘(ii) between homeowners, renters, 16 and persons experiencing homelessness; 17 ‘‘(C) the plan or amendment does not pro- 18 vide an adequate plan for ensuring that funding 19 provided under this section is used in compli- 20 ance with the Fair Housing Act; 21 ‘‘(D) the plan or amendment does not 22 prioritize the one-for-one replacement, with cost 23 adjustment where appropriate, of damaged 24 dwelling units in public housing, in projects re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 3702 RFS ceiving tax credits pursuant to section 42 of the 1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or in projects 2 assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act 3 of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q), under section 811 4 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 5 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013), under the 6 HOME Investment Partnerships Act (42 7 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.), under the community 8 development block grant program under this 9 title, or by the Housing Trust Fund under sec- 10 tion 1338 of the Housing and Community De- 11 velopment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); or 12 ‘‘(E) the plan or amendment does not pro- 13 vide a process to provide applicants— 14 ‘‘(i) notice by grantee of applicant’s 15 right to appeal any adverse action or inac- 16 tion; 17 ‘‘(ii) right to full discovery of appli- 18 cant’s entire application file; and 19 ‘‘(iii) right to appeal to a court of 20 competent jurisdiction in the vicinage of 21 the applicant’s residence at the time of the 22 appeal. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 3702 RFS ‘‘(4) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.—In developing 1 the plan required under paragraph (1), a grantee 2 shall, at a minimum— 3 ‘‘(A) consult with affected residents, stake- 4 holders, local governments, and public housing 5 authorities to assess needs; 6 ‘‘(B) publish the plan in accordance with 7 the requirements set forth by the Secretary, in- 8 cluding a requirement to prominently post the 9 plan on the website of the grantee for not less 10 than 14 days; 11 ‘‘(C) ensure equal access for individuals 12 with disabilities and individuals with limited 13 English proficiency; and 14 ‘‘(D) publish the plan in a manner that af- 15 fords citizens, affected local governments, and 16 other interested parties a reasonable oppor- 17 tunity to examine the contents of the plan and 18 provide feedback. 19 ‘‘(5) RESUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall per- 20 mit a grantee to revise and resubmit a disapproved 21 plan or plan amendment. 22 ‘‘(6) TIMING.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 24 approve or disapprove a plan not later than 60 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 HR 3702 RFS days after submission of the plan to the Sec- 1 retary. The Secretary shall immediately notify 2 the applicant of the Secretary’s decision. 3 ‘‘(B) DISAPPROVAL.—If the Secretary dis- 4 approves a plan, not later than 15 days after 5 such disapproval the Secretary shall inform the 6 applicant in writing of (A) the reasons for dis- 7 approval, and (B) actions that the applicant 8 could take to meet the criteria for approval. 9 ‘‘(C) AMENDMENTS; RESUBMISSION.—The 10 Secretary shall, for a period of not less than 45 11 days following the date of disapproval, permit 12 amendments to, or the resubmission of, any 13 plan that is disapproved. The Secretary shall 14 approve or disapprove a plan amendment not 15 less than 30 days after receipt of such amend- 16 ments or resubmission. 17 ‘‘(D) GRANT AGREEMENTS.—Subject to 18 subsection (b)(3), the Secretary shall ensure 19 that all grant agreements necessary for prompt 20 disbursement of funds allocated to a grantee 21 are executed within 60 days of approval of 22 grantee’s plan. 23 ‘‘(d) FINANCIAL CONTROLS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3702.RFS H3702 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 HR 3702 RFS ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE SYSTEM.—The Secretary 1 shall develop and maintain a system to [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]