[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1670 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1670

 To improve hazard mitigation and relocation assistance in connection 
                 with flooding, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            November 18 (legislative day, November 2), 1993

Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Danforth, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mr. Grassley, 
and Mr. Simon) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve hazard mitigation and relocation assistance in connection 
                 with flooding, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hazard Mitigation and Relocation 
Assistance Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. HAZARD MITIGATION.

    (a) Federal Share and Total Contributions.--Section 404 of The 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5170c) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``50 percent'' and 
        inserting ``75 percent''; and
            (2) in the last sentence, by striking ``10 percent'' and 
        all that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting 
        ``15 percent of the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be 
        made (less any associated administrative costs) under this Act 
        with respect to the major disaster.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
to any major disaster declared by the President pursuant to The Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5121 et seq.) on or after June 10, 1993.

SEC. 3. PROPERTY ACQUISITION AND RELOCATION ASSISTANCE.

    Section 404 of The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``The 
        President''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Property Acquisition and Relocation Assistance.--
            ``(1) General authority.--In providing hazard mitigation 
        assistance under this section in connection with flooding, the 
        Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may provide 
        property acquisition and relocation assistance for projects 
        that meet the requirements of paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Terms and conditions.--An acquisition or relocation 
        project shall be eligible to receive assistance pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) only if--
                    ``(A) the applicant for the assistance is otherwise 
                eligible to receive assistance under the hazard 
                mitigation grant program established under subsection 
                (a); and
                    ``(B) on or after the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, the applicant for the assistance enters 
                into an agreement with the Director that provides 
                assurances that--
                            ``(i) any property acquired, accepted, or 
                        from which a structure will be removed pursuant 
                        to the project will be dedicated and maintained 
                        in perpetuity for a use that is compatible with 
                        open space, recreational, or wetlands 
                        management practices;
                            ``(ii) no new structure will be erected on 
                        property acquired, accepted or from which a 
                        structure was removed under the acquisition or 
                        relocation program other than--
                                    ``(I) a public facility that is 
                                open on all sides and functionally 
                                related to a designated open space;
                                    ``(II) a rest room; or
                                    ``(III) a structure that the 
                                Director approves in writing before the 
                                commencement of the construction of the 
                                structure; and
                            ``(iii) after receipt of the assistance, 
                        with respect to any property acquired, accepted 
                        or from which a structure was removed under the 
                        acquisition or relocation program--
                                    ``(I) no subsequent application for 
                                additional disaster assistance for any 
                                purpose will be made by the recipient 
                                to any Federal entity; and
                                    ``(II) no assistance referred to in 
                                subclause (I) will be provided to the 
                                applicant by any Federal source.
            ``(3) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        is intended to alter or otherwise affect an agreement for an 
        acquisition or relocation project carried out pursuant to this 
        section that was in effect on the day before the date of 
        enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF REAL PROPERTY BUYOUT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Inapplicability of URA.--The purchase of any real property 
under a qualified buyout program shall not constitute the making of 
Federal financial assistance available to pay all or part of the cost 
of a program or project resulting in the acquisition of real property 
or in any owner of real property being a displaced person (within the 
meaning of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property 
Acquisition Policies Act of 1970).
    (b) Definition of ``Qualified Buyout Program''.--For purposes of 
this section, the term ``qualified buyout program'' means any program 
that--
            (1) provides for the purchase of only property damaged by 
        the major, widespread flooding in the Midwest during 1993;
            (2) provides for such purchase solely as a result of such 
        flooding;
            (3) provides for such acquisition without the use of the 
        power of eminent domain and notification to the seller that 
        acquisition is without the use of such power;
            (4) is carried out by or through a State or a unit of 
        general local government; and
            (5) is being assisted with amounts made available for--
                    (A) disaster relief by the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency; or
                    (B) other Federal financial assistance programs.

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