REAADI for Disasters Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1049 To ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities are prepared for disasters, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 29, 2023 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities are prepared for disasters, 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 ‘‘Real Emergency Ac- 4 cess for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘REAADI for Disasters Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 8 ings: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1049 IS (1) In the United States, according to the Cen- 1 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 2 more than 61,000,000 adults who are individuals 3 with disabilities and, according to the Bureau of the 4 Census, there are more than 54,000,000 adults age 5 65 or older. 6 (2) There have been more than 145 hurricanes, 7 resulting in over 2,000 deaths, in the United States 8 since 2000. 9 (3) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 10 ministration estimates that— 11 (A) the cumulative damage from weather- 12 and climate-related disasters in 2022 cost the 13 United States over $165,000,000,000; and 14 (B) 18 of the disasters in 2022 cost over 15 $1,000,000,000 each. 16 (4) Individuals with disabilities and older adults 17 have been found to die at higher rates, compared to 18 the general population, during disasters. 19 (5) According to the Federal Emergency Man- 20 agement Agency, in 2022— 21 (A) the United States experienced 90 de- 22 clared disasters affecting more than 54,000,000 23 people; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1049 IS (B) more than 16,000,000 of those people 1 were adults who were individuals with disabil- 2 ities. 3 (6) Failure to provide accessibility for, or plan 4 for accommodating, individuals with physical or sen- 5 sory disabilities, chronic illness, or mental disabilities 6 decreases the ability of those individuals to evacuate 7 prior to or during a disaster. 8 (7) Households of individuals with disabilities 9 are more likely to need assistance and are less likely 10 to be able to evacuate in advance of disasters. 11 (8) Less than a third of individuals with intel- 12 lectual disabilities and individuals needing personal 13 care attendants have planned with their personal 14 care providers what to do in a disaster. 15 (9) Evacuation information, including orders, is 16 not uniformly communicated in ways and via media 17 that are accessible to individuals with disabilities, in- 18 cluding being communicated in ways that lack use of 19 American Sign Language, captions, and plain lan- 20 guage on websites, instructional materials, and tele- 21 vision and radio announcements. 22 (10) Displaced individuals with disabilities 23 served in general population shelters have better ac- 24 cess to information and material resources than indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1049 IS viduals with disabilities in specially designed shel- 1 ters. 2 (11) Despite better access to information and 3 resources, personnel in general population shelters 4 often do not have the resources or training to ad- 5 dress the needs of individuals with disabilities and 6 older adults. 7 (12) Public shelters often do not have dis- 8 ability-related accommodations, often forcing individ- 9 uals with disabilities and older adults to be seg- 10 regated, sometimes apart from their families and 11 natural supports during disasters. 12 (13) Households with individuals with disabil- 13 ities sustain more costly property damage from dis- 14 asters than households without individuals with dis- 15 abilities. 16 (14) Historically, disaster-related recommenda- 17 tions for individuals with disabilities and older 18 adults have been typically aimed at caregivers and 19 service providers, not individuals with disabilities 20 and older adults themselves. 21 (15) Thousands of individuals with disabilities 22 have been denied their civil rights because they do 23 not receive accessible notice during disasters— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1049 IS (A) of spoken instructions via phone or 1 video; or 2 (B) of instructions regarding evacuations, 3 sheltering, and other procedures during disas- 4 ters. 5 (16) Disaster shelters and services do not rou- 6 tinely have American Sign Language interpreters 7 nor procedures written or presented in plain lan- 8 guage. 9 (17) Individuals with disabilities and older 10 adults are more at risk for loss of life, loss of inde- 11 pendence, or violation of civil rights than the general 12 population during times of disasters, response, and 13 recovery. 14 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 15 gress that— 16 (1) individuals with disabilities and older adults 17 should be supported during times of disasters, and 18 during disaster preparedness, response, recovery, 19 and mitigation in order to— 20 (A) ensure maintenance of and access to 21 services and supports; and 22 (B) enable those individuals and adults to 23 return to their communities in a timely manner 24 as compared with the general population; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1049 IS (2) during the recovery and mitigation phases 1 of disaster response, all buildings and services 2 should be designed, and constructed or recon- 3 structed, according to principles of universal design 4 and to the standards established by the Architec- 5 tural and Transportation Barriers Compliance 6 Board in order to ensure access for individuals with 7 disabilities, older adults, and all individuals; 8 (3) individuals with disabilities and older adults 9 should have access to shelters and other services 10 during disasters in the same locations and settings 11 as the general population; 12 (4) individuals with disabilities and older adults 13 should receive information about preparation for, re- 14 sponse to, recovery from, and mitigation of disasters 15 in formats accessible to them, including in American 16 Sign Language, Braille, and plain language, as well 17 as captioned video messages; 18 (5) individuals with disabilities and older adults 19 must be included as key speakers, essential stake- 20 holders, and decisionmakers in the preparation (in- 21 cluding planning), response, recovery, and mitigation 22 phases of disasters; 23 (6) local, State (including territorial), Tribal, 24 and Federal disaster planning must include robust 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1049 IS representation of individuals with disabilities and 1 older adults; and 2 (7) individuals with disabilities and older adults 3 must be included in the evaluation of governmental, 4 VOAD, and other nongovernmental preparation (in- 5 cluding planning), response, recovery, and mitigation 6 of disasters. 7 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 8 The purposes of this Act are to— 9 (1) improve the inclusion of individuals with 10 disabilities and older adults in the preparation for, 11 response to, recovery from, and mitigation of disas- 12 ters; 13 (2) ensure that individuals with disabilities and 14 older adults with disabilities are free from discrimi- 15 nation on the basis of disability or age in programs 16 and activities, are protected during and included in 17 all phases of disaster preparation, response, recov- 18 ery, and mitigation; 19 (3) ensure compliance with the Americans with 20 Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 21 1973, and other disability laws during preparation 22 for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of 23 disasters; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1049 IS (4) improve coordination among the commu- 1 nities of individuals with disabilities and older 2 adults, including multiply marginalized BIPOC and 3 LGBTQ+ communities, government agencies, cen- 4 ters for independent living, VOADs, and other non- 5 governmental organizations, including organizations 6 that represent and are comprised of covered individ- 7 uals; in preparing (including planning) for, respond- 8 ing to, recovery from, and mitigation of disasters; 9 (5) improve outcomes for all individuals, includ- 10 ing individuals with disabilities and older adults, who 11 are affected by disasters, and increase community 12 resilience in responding to disasters; and 13 (6) enact into Federal law standards of care 14 and standards for protection of civil rights, for older 15 adults and people with disabilities, to be applied for 16 disasters and public health emergencies. 17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) ACCESS AND FUNCTIONAL NEEDS.—The 20 term ‘‘access and functional needs’’, used with re- 21 spect to an individual, means an individual with 22 needs such as— 23 (A) an individual with a disability; 24 (B) an older adult; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1049 IS (C) an individual with limited English pro- 1 ficiency; 2 (D) an individual with limited access to 3 transportation that would enable the individual 4 to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and 5 mitigate a disaster; or 6 (E) an individual with limited access to the 7 financial resources that would enable the indi- 8 vidual to prepare for, respond to, recover from, 9 and mitigate a disaster. 10 (2) ALL HAZARDS APPROACH.—The term ‘‘all 11 hazards approach’’ means planning for natural, 12 technological, or human-caused incidents that war- 13 rant action to— 14 (A) protect life, property, the environment, 15 or the public health or safety; and 16 (B) minimize disruptions of school activi- 17 ties. 18 (3) CIVIL RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘civil rights’’, 19 used with respect to an individual, means the exist- 20 ing (as of the date of enactment of this Act) legal 21 rights of an individual to be free from discrimination 22 on the basis of disability or age in programs and ac- 23 tivities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1049 IS (4) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 1 individual’’ means an individual with a disability, an 2 older adult, and an individual with access and func- 3 tional needs. 4 (5) DISABILITY INCLUSIVE EMERGENCY MAN- 5 AGEMENT EXPERIENCE.—The term ‘‘disability inclu- 6 sive emergency management experience’’, used with 7 respect to an individual or entity— 8 (A) means an individual or entity that 9 has— 10 (i) demonstrated disability leadership 11 experience, including working with non- 12 governmental entities; and 13 (ii) subject matter expertise in leading 14 disability inclusive preparedness, response, 15 recovery, and mitigation initiatives that 16 focus on meeting the civil rights of covered 17 individuals who are affected by disasters, 18 to be free from discrimination on the basis 19 of disability or age in programs and activi- 20 ties; and 21 (B) includes an individual or entity that 22 has demonstrated favorable outcomes that 23 measure the effective communication access, 24 physical access, program access, health, safety, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1049 IS and independence of individuals affected by dis- 1 asters and their communities. 2 (6) DISASTER.—The term ‘‘disaster’’ means an 3 emergency or major disaster (as such terms are de- 4 fined under section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 5 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 6 U.S.C. 5122)) that results in severe property dam- 7 age, deaths, or multiple injuries. 8 (7) DISASTER SERVICES.—The term ‘‘disaster 9 services’’ means the process of responding to a dis- 10 aster and providing humanitarian aid to individuals 11 and communities who are affected by a disaster. 12 (8) DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED.—The 13 term ‘‘disproportionately affected’’, used with re- 14 spect to a group, means a group of individuals with 15 protected status, including individuals with disabil- 16 ities or older adults, who are excessively adversely 17 affected by disaster-related harms. 18 (9) INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 19 ‘‘Indian Tribal government’’ has the meaning given 20 the term ‘‘Indian tribal government’’ in section 102 21 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 22 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 23 (10) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1049.IS S1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1049 IS (A) SINGLE.—The term ‘‘individual with a 1 disability’’ means an individual with a dis- 2 ability, as defined in section 3 of the Americans 3 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 4 12102). 5 (B) PLURAL.—The term ‘‘individuals with 6 disabilities’’ means more than one individual 7 with a disability, as defined in subparagraph 8 (A). 9 (11) OLDER ADULT.—The term ‘‘older adult’’ 10 means a resident who is age 50 or older. 11 (12) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The term 12 ‘‘public health emergency’’ means a public health 13 emergency declared under section 319 of the Public 14 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d). 15 (13) RESIDENT.—The term ‘‘resident’’ 16 means— 17 (A) in the case of an individual receiving 18 assistance through an Indian Tribal Govern- 19 ment or other Indian entity, a resident of an 20 area or member of a community governed by an 21 Indian Tribal Gove [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]