Disaster Assistance Simplification Act

118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1528 AN ACT To streamline the sharing of information among Federal disaster assistance agencies, to expedite the delivery of life-saving assistance to disaster survivors, to speed the recovery of communities from disasters, to protect the security and privacy of information provided by disaster survivors, and for other purposes. 2 † S 1528 ES 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 ‘‘Disaster Assistance 4 Simplification Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The disaster response and recovery frame- 8 work of the United States relies on a unified, inte- 9 grated, agile, and adaptable whole-of-community ef- 10 fort by Federal, State, and local disaster assistance 11 agencies, and by voluntary organizations, to respond 12 to any natural and man-made disasters that may 13 strike communities. 14 (2) Federal disaster assistance agencies must 15 be ready to support States, Indian Tribes, commu- 16 nities, and volunteer agencies immediately after un- 17 predictable catastrophic disasters that occur without 18 notice. 19 (3) The immediate sharing of information is es- 20 sential to an efficient and effective delivery of dis- 21 aster assistance— 22 (A) when lives and property are at risk; 23 and 24 3 † S 1528 ES (B) as communities seek to recover from 1 disasters as quickly as possible. 2 (4) Section 552a of title 5, United States Code 3 (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’), 4 and subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United 5 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork 6 Reduction Act’’), require multiple layers of review, 7 notice, and publication in the Federal Register be- 8 fore Federal disaster assistance agencies can amend 9 or adapt their information sharing practices. 10 (5) Such extended review processes can have 11 the effect of inhibiting efficiency, innovation, and 12 interoperability among Federal, State, Tribal, terri- 13 torial, local, private, and volunteer partners in deliv- 14 ering disaster assistance within a whole-of-commu- 15 nity disaster assistance effort. 16 (6) Legal, regulatory, and policy limitations on 17 the interagency sharing of information submitted by 18 applicants for disaster assistance may require those 19 applicants to submit separate applications to mul- 20 tiple Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local dis- 21 aster assistance agencies, which increases the burden 22 on those applicants, reduces the efficiency of disaster 23 assistance programs, and places additional costs on 24 taxpayers. 25 4 † S 1528 ES (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 1 (1) streamline the sharing of information 2 among Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local 3 disaster assistance agencies; 4 (2) modernize the legal safeguards against the 5 unauthorized disclosure or misuse of information 6 about applicants for disaster assistance; and 7 (3) modernize, streamline, and consolidate the 8 overlapping requirements of section 552a of title 5, 9 United States Code, subchapter I of chapter 35 of 10 title 44, United States Code, and the agency policies 11 that implement those authorities to improve the 12 speed, convenience, efficiency, and effectiveness of 13 disaster relief programs. 14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIFIED DISASTER ASSIST- 15 ANCE INTAKE PROCESS AND SYSTEM. 16 The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 17 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is amended 18 by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘SEC. 707. ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIFIED DISASTER AS- 20 SISTANCE INTAKE PROCESS AND SYSTEM. 21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis- 23 trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal 24 Emergency Management Agency. 25 5 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(2) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(A) an individual, business, or organiza- 3 tion that applies for disaster assistance from a 4 disaster assistance program; 5 ‘‘(B) an individual, business, or organiza- 6 tion on behalf of which an individual described 7 in subparagraph (A) applies for disaster assist- 8 ance from a disaster assistance program; and 9 ‘‘(C) an individual, business, or organiza- 10 tion that seeks assistance as a beneficiary of a 11 State, local government, or Indian tribal gov- 12 ernment that received assistance under a dis- 13 aster assistance program. 14 ‘‘(3) DISASTER ASSISTANCE AGENCY.—The 15 term ‘disaster assistance agency’ means— 16 ‘‘(A) the Federal Emergency Management 17 Agency; and 18 ‘‘(B) any Federal agency that provides dis- 19 aster assistance to individuals, businesses, orga- 20 nizations, States, local governments, Indian 21 tribal governments, communities, or organiza- 22 tions that the Administrator certifies as a dis- 23 aster assistance agency in accordance with sub- 24 6 † S 1528 ES section (f) to carry out the purposes of a dis- 1 aster assistance program. 2 ‘‘(4) DISASTER ASSISTANCE INFORMATION.— 3 The term ‘disaster assistance information’ includes 4 any personal, biographical, demographic, geo- 5 graphical, financial, application decision, or other in- 6 formation that a disaster assistance agency, or a re- 7 cipient of a Federal block grant from a disaster as- 8 sistance agency, is authorized to collect, maintain, 9 disclose, or use to— 10 ‘‘(A) process an application for disaster as- 11 sistance from a disaster assistance program; or 12 ‘‘(B) otherwise carry out the purpose of a 13 disaster assistance program. 14 ‘‘(5) DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—The 15 term ‘disaster assistance program’ means— 16 ‘‘(A) a program that provides disaster as- 17 sistance to individuals and households under 18 title IV or V in accordance with sections 408 19 and 502; or 20 ‘‘(B) any other assistance program author- 21 ized by a Federal statute or funded with Fed- 22 eral appropriations under which a disaster as- 23 sistance agency awards or distributes disaster 24 assistance to an individual, household, or orga- 25 7 † S 1528 ES nization, or provides a Federal block grant for 1 these purposes, that arises from a major dis- 2 aster or emergency declared under section 401 3 or 501, respectively, including— 4 ‘‘(i) disaster assistance; 5 ‘‘(ii) long-term disaster recovery as- 6 sistance; 7 ‘‘(iii) the post-disaster restoration of 8 infrastructure and housing; 9 ‘‘(iv) post-disaster economic revitaliza- 10 tion; 11 ‘‘(v) a loan authorized under section 12 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 13 636(b)); and 14 ‘‘(vi) food benefit allotments under 15 section 412 of this Act and section 5(h) of 16 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 17 U.S.C. 2014(h)). 18 ‘‘(6) RECORD.—The term ‘record’ has the 19 meaning given the term in section 552a of title 5, 20 United States Code. 21 ‘‘(b) UNIFIED DISASTER ASSISTANCE INTAKE PROC- 22 ESS AND SYSTEM.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 360 days 24 after the date of enactment of the Disaster Assist- 25 8 † S 1528 ES ance Simplification Act, the Administrator shall, in 1 consultation with appropriate Federal, State, local, 2 and Indian tribal governments and entities, develop 3 and establish a unified intake process and system 4 for applicants for disaster assistance provided by a 5 disaster assistance agency to— 6 ‘‘(A) facilitate a consolidated application 7 for any form of disaster assistance provided by 8 a disaster assistance agency when appropriate 9 to support the nature and purposes of the as- 10 sistance; 11 ‘‘(B) carry out the purposes of disaster as- 12 sistance programs swiftly, efficiently, equitably, 13 and in accordance with applicable laws and pri- 14 vacy and data protections; and 15 ‘‘(C) support the detection, prevention, and 16 investigation of waste, fraud, abuse, or discrimi- 17 nation in the administration of disaster assist- 18 ance programs. 19 ‘‘(2) CAPABILITIES OF THE CONSOLIDATED AP- 20 PLICATION SYSTEM.—The unified intake process and 21 system established under paragraph (1) shall— 22 ‘‘(A) accept applications for disaster assist- 23 ance programs; 24 9 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(B) allow for applicants to receive status 1 updates on applications for disaster assistance 2 programs; 3 ‘‘(C) allow for applicants to update dis- 4 aster assistance information throughout the re- 5 covery journeys of those applicants; 6 ‘‘(D) allow for the distribution of informa- 7 tion on additional recovery resources to disaster 8 survivors that may be available in a disaster- 9 stricken jurisdiction, in coordination with ap- 10 propriate Federal, State, local, and Tribal part- 11 ners; 12 ‘‘(E) provide disaster survivors with infor- 13 mation and documentation on the applications 14 of those disaster survivors for a disaster assist- 15 ance program; 16 ‘‘(F) allow for the distribution of applica- 17 tion data to support faster and more effective 18 distribution of Federal disaster assistance, in- 19 cluding block grant assistance, for disaster re- 20 covery; 21 ‘‘(G) allow for disaster assistance agencies 22 to communicate directly with disaster survivors; 23 and 24 10 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(H) contain other capabilities determined 1 necessary by the heads of disaster assistance 2 agencies. 3 ‘‘(3) UPDATES.—Not later than 30 days after 4 the date on which the Administrator receives a re- 5 quest from a disaster assistance agency to update 6 questions in the consolidated application described in 7 paragraph (1) needed to administer the disaster as- 8 sistance programs of the disaster assistance agency, 9 the Administrator shall make those updates. 10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES OF ADMINISTRATOR.—The Ad- 11 ministrator may— 12 ‘‘(1) collect, maintain, disclose, and use disaster 13 assistance information, including such information 14 received from any disaster assistance agency, with 15 any other disaster assistance agency for purposes of 16 subsection (b)(1); and 17 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (d), authorize the col- 18 lection, maintenance, disclosure, and use of disaster 19 assistance information collected on or after the date 20 of enactment of the Disaster Assistance Simplifica- 21 tion Act by publishing a notice on a public website 22 that— 23 ‘‘(A) includes a detailed description of— 24 11 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(i) the specific disaster assistance in- 1 formation authorized to be collected, main- 2 tained, disclosed, and used; 3 ‘‘(ii) why the collection, maintenance, 4 disclosure, or use of the disaster assistance 5 information is necessary to carry out the 6 purpose of a disaster assistance program; 7 ‘‘(iii) how the collection, maintenance, 8 disclosure, and use of disaster assistance 9 information incorporates fair information 10 practices; and 11 ‘‘(iv) the disaster assistance agencies 12 that will be granted access to the disaster 13 assistance information to carry out the 14 purpose of any disaster assistance pro- 15 gram; and 16 ‘‘(B) provides that the submission of an 17 application through a unified disaster applica- 18 tion constitutes prior written consent to disclose 19 disaster assistance information to disaster as- 20 sistance agencies for the purpose of section 21 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code. 22 ‘‘(d) COLLECTION AND SHARING OF RECORDS AND 23 INFORMATION.— 24 12 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(1) EFFECT OF PUBLICATION OF NOTICE ON 1 PUBLIC WEBSITE.—The publication of a notice by 2 the Administrator on a public website of a revision 3 to the system of records of the unified intake process 4 and system established under subsection (b)(1) prior 5 to any new collection, maintenance, disclosure, or 6 use of records to carry out the purposes of a disaster 7 assistance program with respect to a major disaster 8 or emergency declared by the President under sec- 9 tion 401 or 501, respectively, of this Act shall be 10 deemed to satisfy the notice and publication require- 11 ments of section 552a(e)(4) of title 5, United States 12 Code, for the entire period of performance for any 13 assistance provided under a disaster assistance pro- 14 gram. 15 ‘‘(2) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT WAIVER.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the declaration 17 of a major disaster or emergency pursuant to 18 section 401 or 501, respectively, of this Act, the 19 Administrator may waive the requirements of 20 subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United 21 States Code (commonly known as the ‘Paper- 22 work Reduction Act’), with respect to the vol- 23 untary collection of information specific to the 24 declared major disaster or emergency needed to 25 13 † S 1528 ES carry out the purposes of a disaster assistance 1 program. 2 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A waiver described in 3 subparagraph (A) shall be in effect for the en- 4 tire period of performance for any assistance 5 provided under a disaster assistance program 6 with respect to a declared major disaster or 7 emergency. 8 ‘‘(C) TRANSPARENCY.—If the Adminis- 9 trator waives the requirements described in sub- 10 paragraph (A), the Administrator shall— 11 ‘‘(i) promptly post on a public 12 website— 13 ‘‘(I) a brief justification for the 14 waiver; and 15 ‘‘(II) the agencies and offices to 16 which the waiver shall apply; 17 ‘‘(ii) update the information posted 18 under clause (i), as applicable; and 19 ‘‘(iii) comply with the requirements of 20 subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, 21 United States Code (commonly known as 22 the ‘Paperwork Reduction Act’) upon the 23 expiration of the period of performance of 24 any assistance provided under a disaster 25 14 † S 1528 ES assistance program if the collection of in- 1 formation may be utilized for the purposes 2 of supporting the disaster assistance pro- 3 gram in future major disaster or emer- 4 gency declarations. 5 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVENESS OF WAIVER.—Any 6 waiver under subparagraph (A) shall take effect 7 on the date on which the Administrator posts 8 information on the internet website as provided 9 for under subparagraph (C). 10 ‘‘(e) DATA SECURITY.—The Administrator shall fa- 11 cilitate the collection of disaster assistance information 12 into a unified application only after— 13 ‘‘(1) the Administrator certifies that the unified 14 application substantially complies with the data se- 15 curity standards established pursuant to subchapter 16 II of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and 17 any other applicable Federal information security 18 policy; 19 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Homeland Security pub- 20 lishes a privacy impact assessment for the unified 21 application that is similar to the privacy assessment 22 conducted under section 208(b)(1)(B) of the E-Gov- 23 ernment Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and 24 15 † S 1528 ES ‘‘(3) the Administrator, in consultation with 1 disaster assistance ag [Text truncated for display. 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