FEMA Tribal Coordinator Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6785 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to ensure appointment of a Tribal response coordinator whenever a multi-State major disaster or emergency is declared. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. RUIZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- gency Assistance Act to ensure appointment of a Tribal response coordinator whenever a multi-State major dis- aster or emergency is declared. 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 ‘‘FEMA Tribal Coordi- 4 nator Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6785.IH H6785 lotter on DSK9F5VC42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6785 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE COORDINATOR FOR FED- 1 ERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES. 2 Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 3 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) 4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 328. EMERGENCY RESPONSE COORDINATOR FOR 6 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Immediately following the dec- 8 laration of a multi-State major disaster or emergency, in- 9 cluding a public health emergency, the President shall ap- 10 point a Tribal response coordinating officer. 11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE TRIBAL EMERGENCY RE- 12 SPONSE COORDINATOR.—The duties of the Tribal re- 13 sponse coordinating officer shall include the following: 14 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—Conduct an assessment of 15 relief most urgently needed in consultation with all 16 affected Indian tribal governments and in the case 17 of a public health emergency, work with the Indian 18 Health Service to conduct outreach to tribally oper- 19 ated health programs to assess needs. 20 ‘‘(2) LIAISON.—Establish a liaison within each 21 Bureau of Indian Affairs Regional Office and each 22 Indian Health Service Area Office. 23 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Coordinate adminis- 24 tration of relief to Indian tribal governments and 25 tribal healthcare providers (including Urban Indian 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6785.IH H6785 lotter on DSK9F5VC42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6785 IH Health Programs, tribally operated health programs, 1 and Indian Health Service-operated facilities), in- 2 cluding— 3 ‘‘(A) in the event of a public health emer- 4 gency, distributions from the Strategic National 5 Stockpile; and 6 ‘‘(B) establish a single point of contact for 7 tribal requests for assistance, including emer- 8 gency response personnel, equipment, and med- 9 ical supplies. 10 ‘‘(4) REIMBURSEMENT.—Coordinate assistance 11 with submission of reimbursement requests and 12 grant applications, including outstanding reimburse- 13 ment requests or applications related to a major dis- 14 aster or emergency after such disaster or emergency 15 is closed. Notwithstanding any other provision in 16 this Act, the Tribal response coordinator shall work 17 with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 18 Agency to continue to provide assistance with such 19 applications until funds are disbursed. 20 ‘‘(c) TRIBAL REQUESTS.—The Administrator shall 21 consider a request from an Indian tribal government in 22 the same manner as a request from a State.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6785.IH H6785 lotter on DSK9F5VC42PROD with BILLS