SAFER Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4764 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a pilot program for public-private partnerships for disaster mitigation projects, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 Mr. TILLIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a pilot program for public-private partner- ships for disaster mitigation projects, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Strategic Acquisition 4 and Floodplain Efficiency Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFER 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4764 IS (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 1 means the Department of Housing and Urban De- 2 velopment. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means a private entity with the consent of the 5 local government— 6 (A) in which a project to be carried out by 7 the entity under the Program is located; or 8 (B) that is otherwise affected by a project 9 to be carried out by the entity under the Pro- 10 gram. 11 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 12 the pilot program established under section 3. 13 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 15 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 17 pilot program to evaluate the cost effectiveness and project 18 delivery efficiency of allowing eligible entities to carry out 19 pre-disaster mitigation activities, such as property acquisi- 20 tion and relocations, under the Community Development 21 Block Grant Disaster Recovery program authorized under 22 title I of the Housing and Community Development Act 23 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Program are— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4764 IS (1) to identify cost-saving project delivery alter- 1 natives that accelerate the pre-disaster mitigation 2 activities of the Department through the Community 3 Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery pro- 4 gram authorized under title I of the Housing and 5 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 6 5301 et seq.); and 7 (2) to evaluate the technical, financial, and or- 8 ganizational benefits of allowing eligible entities to 9 carry out and manage pre-disaster mitigation 10 projects. 11 (c) SUBSEQUENT APPROPRIATIONS.—Any activity 12 undertaken under the Program is authorized only to the 13 extent specifically provided for in subsequent appropria- 14 tions Acts. 15 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out the Program, 16 the Secretary shall— 17 (1) identify for inclusion in the Program not 18 fewer than 5 pre-disaster mitigation projects; 19 (2) in consultation with the eligible entity asso- 20 ciated with each project identified under paragraph 21 (1), develop a detailed project management plan for 22 the project that outlines the scope, estimated Fed- 23 eral direct and indirect cost estimates, financing, 24 budget, and other resource requirements, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4764 IS any data the eligible entity deems necessary to exe- 1 cute the project; 2 (3) at the request of the eligible entity associ- 3 ated with each project identified under paragraph 4 (1), enter into a project partnership agreement with 5 the eligible entity under which the eligible entity is 6 provided full project management control for the fi- 7 nancing and execution (or any combination thereof) 8 of the project, in accordance with plans approved by 9 the Secretary; 10 (4) following execution of a project partnership 11 agreement under paragraph (3), issue payment, in 12 accordance with subsection (h), to the relevant eligi- 13 ble entity for that work; and 14 (5) regularly monitor and audit each project 15 carried out under the Program to ensure that— 16 (A) all activities related to the project are 17 carried out in compliance with plans approved 18 by the Secretary; and 19 (B) activity delivery costs are reasonable. 20 (e) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In identifying projects 21 under subsection (d)(1), the Secretary shall consider the 22 extent to which the project— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4764 IS (1) reduces future damages from natural disas- 1 ters such as hurricanes and extraordinary rainfall 2 events; 3 (2) reduces the number of severe repetitive loss 4 and repetitive loss properties; 5 (3) reduces risk to life and property; 6 (4) provides opportunities to restore lost func- 7 tions and values of floodplains; 8 (5) promotes opportunities to improve social 9 and environmental justice; and 10 (6) accelerates property acquisitions and reloca- 11 tions to reduce future risk. 12 (f) DETAILED PROJECT SCHEDULE.—Not later than 13 180 days after entering into a project partnership agree- 14 ment under subsection (d)(3), an eligible entity, to the 15 maximum extent practicable, shall submit to the Secretary 16 a detailed project schedule for the relevant project, based 17 on estimated Federal funding levels, that specifies dead- 18 lines for each milestone with respect to the project, includ- 19 ing— 20 (1) negotiation of buyout contracts; and 21 (2) the acquisition of contracted buyout prop- 22 erties, resulting in the fee simple transfer of title to 23 the State in which the project is carried out or a 24 designee of the State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4764 IS (g) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Following execution of a 1 project partnership agreement under subsection (d)(3), 2 and subject to milestones established in that agreement, 3 payments to eligible entities may be made from— 4 (1) amounts appropriated in response to a 5 major disaster declaration under section 401 of the 6 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 7 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); and 8 (2) other amounts appropriated to the Sec- 9 retary, subject to the condition that the total 10 amount transferred to the eligible entity may not ex- 11 ceed the estimate of the Federal cost of the pre-dis- 12 aster mitigation project. 13 (h) PAYMENT.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon meeting the milestones 15 established in the project partnership agreement 16 with an eligible entity under subsection (d)(3), pay- 17 ment to the eligible entity shall be made to cover 18 documented— 19 (A) administrative costs; 20 (B) operational costs; 21 (C) other related direct costs, including ac- 22 quisition buyout contracting costs; and 23 (D) other related indirect costs, including 24 debt expenses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Oct 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4764 IS (2) ESCROW ACCOUNT.—Upon initiation of ac- 1 quisition buyout closings, the Secretary shall fund a 2 project-specific escrow account administered by the 3 eligible entity to purchase contracted acquisition 4 buyouts. 5 (i) SAVINGS.—Upon completion of a project under 6 the Program by an eligible entity, if any savings based 7 on the estimated Federal direct and indirect cost estimates 8 are realized by the participation of the eligible entity, the 9 savings shall be equally divided between— 10 (1) the Secretary; and 11 (2) the eligible entity as a return on investment. 12 (j) IDENTIFICATION OF IMPEDIMENTS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 14 (A) except as provided in paragraph (2), 15 identify any procedural requirements under the 16 authority of the Secretary that impede greater 17 use of public-private partnerships and private 18 investment in pre-disaster mitigation projects; 19 (B) develop and implement, on a project- 20 by-project basis, procedures and approaches 21 that— 22 (i) address such impediments; and 23 (ii) protect the public interest and any 24 public or private investment in pre-disaster 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4764 IS mitigation projects that involve public-pri- 1 vate partnerships or private investment in 2 pre-disaster mitigation projects; and 3 (iii) not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this section, issue 5 rules to carry out the procedures and ap- 6 proaches developed under this subpara- 7 graph. 8 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 9 section shall be construed to allow the Secretary to 10 waive any requirement under— 11 (A) sections 3141 through 3148 and sec- 12 tions 3701 through 3708 of title 40, United 13 States Code; 14 (B) the National Environmental Policy Act 15 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 16 (C) any other provision of Federal law. 17 (k) PUBLIC BENEFIT ASSESSMENTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before entering into a 19 project partnership agreement with an eligible entity 20 under subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall conduct 21 an assessment of whether, and provide justification 22 in writing to Congress that, the proposed agreement 23 provides better public and financial benefits than a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4764 IS similar transaction using traditional public funding, 1 financing, or administration. 2 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—An assessment under 3 paragraph (1) shall— 4 (A) be completed in a period of not more 5 than 90 days; 6 (B) take into consideration any supporting 7 materials and data submitted by the relevant el- 8 igible entity and other stakeholders; and 9 (C) determine whether the proposed 10 project partnership agreement is in the public 11 interest by determining whether the agreement 12 will provide public and financial benefits, in- 13 cluding accelerated or expedited project deliv- 14 ery, residual risk reduction, and savings for tax- 15 payers. 16 (l) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL LAW.—Any provi- 17 sion of Federal law that would apply to the Secretary if 18 the Secretary were carrying out a project shall apply to 19 an eligible entity carrying out a project under the Pro- 20 gram. 21 (m) COST SHARE.—Nothing in this section shall be 22 construed to affect any cost-sharing requirement under 23 Federal law that is applicable to a project carried out 24 under the Program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4764 IS (n) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 2 Congress and make publicly available a report describing 3 the results of the Program, including any recommenda- 4 tions of the Secretary concerning whether the Program or 5 any component of the Program should be implemented 6 across the United States. 7 (o) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 9 $250,000,000 to carry out the Program, which shall re- 10 main available until expended. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Oct 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4764.IS S4764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS