Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4358 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency to submit to Congress a report on pre- liminary damage assessment and to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Manage- ment 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:18 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4358.RFS H4358 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4358 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preliminary Damage 2 Assessment Improvement Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Preliminary damage assessments play a 6 critical role in assessing and validating the impact 7 and magnitude of a disaster. 8 (2) Through the preliminary damage assess- 9 ment process, representatives from the Federal 10 Emergency Management Agency validate informa- 11 tion gathered by State and local officials that serves 12 as the basis for disaster assistance requests. 13 (3) Various factors can impact the duration of 14 a preliminary damage assessment and the cor- 15 responding submission of a major disaster request, 16 however, the average time between when a disaster 17 occurs, and the submission of a corresponding dis- 18 aster request has been found to be approximately 19 twenty days longer for flooding disasters. 20 (4) With communities across the country facing 21 increased instances of catastrophic flooding and 22 other extreme weather events, accurate and efficient 23 preliminary damage assessments have become criti- 24 cally important to the relief process for impacted 25 states and municipalities. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:18 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4358.RFS H4358 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4358 RFS SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 3 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to 4 Congress a report describing the preliminary damage as- 5 sessment process, as supported by the Federal Emergency 6 Management Agency in the 5 years before the date of en- 7 actment of this Act. 8 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 9 (a) shall contain the following: 10 (1) The process of the Federal Emergency 11 Management Agency for deploying personnel to sup- 12 port preliminary damage assessments. 13 (2) The number of Agency staff participating 14 on disaster assessment teams. 15 (3) The training and experience of such staff 16 described in paragraph (2). 17 (4) A calculation of the average amount of time 18 disaster assessment teams described in paragraph 19 (1) are deployed to a disaster area. 20 (5) The efforts of the Agency to maintain a 21 consistent liaison between the Agency and State, 22 local, Tribal, and territorial officials within a dis- 23 aster area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:18 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4358.RFS H4358 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4358 RFS SEC. 4. PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 3 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish a 4 training regime under section 206.33(b) of title 44, Code 5 of Federal Regulations, within the Federal Emergency 6 Management Agency to ensure preliminary damage as- 7 sessments are conducted and reviewed under consistent 8 guidelines. 9 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall an- 10 nually submit to Congress a report on the number and 11 type of instances under which Federal Emergency Man- 12 agement Agency personnel have overturned decisions 13 made by personnel in the field. 14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 16 shall submit to Congress a report— 17 (1) describing the establishment of disaster 18 guidelines from Federal Emergency Management 19 Agency personnel described under subsection (a); 20 (2) assessing whether the duration of the de- 21 ployment of Federal Emergency Management Agen- 22 cy personnel to conduct a preliminary damage as- 23 sessment is longer based on specific disaster condi- 24 tions; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:18 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4358.RFS H4358 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4358 RFS (3) containing legislative recommendations to 1 improve the operation, deployment, and staffing of 2 disaster personnel. 3 (d) DEFINITION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN- 4 MENT.—For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘State’’ and 5 ‘‘local government’’ have the meanings given such terms 6 in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 7 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 8 Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:18 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4358.RFS H4358 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS