[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 684

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to provide assistance to local educational agencies in 
          cases of certain disasters, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 1, 1997

   Mr. Conrad (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Grams, Mr. 
 Johnson, and Mr. Wellstone) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 
                                 Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to provide assistance to local educational agencies in 
          cases of certain disasters, 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. ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN CASES OF 
              CERTAIN DISASTERS.

    The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

  ``TITLE VIII--ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN CASES OF 
                           CERTAIN DISASTERS

``SEC. 801. ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN CASES OF 
              CERTAIN DISASTERS.

    ``(a) Assistance.--
            ``(1) Authority.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency may provide the assistance described in 
        paragraph (2) in any case in which the Director determines with 
        respect to any local educational agency (including for the 
        purpose of this section any other public agency which operates 
        schools providing technical, vocational, or other special 
        education to children of elementary school or secondary school 
        age) that--
                    ``(A) the agency serves in whole or in part an area 
                with respect to which a major disaster has been 
                declared by the President under section 401;
                    ``(B) the Governor of the State in which the agency 
                is located has certified the need for disaster 
                assistance under this section, and has given assurance 
                of expenditure of a reasonable amount of the funds of 
                the government of the State, or of any political 
                subdivision thereof, for the same or similar purposes 
                with respect to the disaster;
                    ``(C) the agency is utilizing or will utilize all 
                State and other financial assistance available to the 
                agency for the purpose of meeting the cost of providing 
                free public education for the children attending the 
                schools of the agency, but as a result of the disaster 
                the agency is unable to obtain sufficient funds for 
                such purpose and requires an amount of additional 
                assistance equal to at least $10,000 or 5 percent of 
                the agency's current expenditures during the fiscal 
                year preceding the fiscal year in which the disaster 
                occurred, whichever is less; and
                    ``(D) in the case of any such disaster to the 
                extent that the operation of private elementary schools 
                and secondary schools in the school attendance area of 
                such local educational agency has been disrupted or 
                impaired by the disaster, the local educational agency 
                has made provisions for the conduct of educational 
                programs under public auspices and administration in 
                which children enrolled in the private elementary 
                schools and secondary schools may attend and 
                participate, except that nothing contained in this 
                section shall be construed to authorize the making of 
                any payment under this section for religious worship or 
                instruction.
            ``(2) Assistance.--The assistance referred to in paragraph 
        (1) is the assistance the Director determines necessary to pay 
        the costs of emergency operating expenses incurred by the local 
        educational agency in educating students in public and private 
        elementary schools and secondary schools who have been 
        displaced by the disaster, including--
                    ``(A) providing transportation costs for busing 
                students to alternative sites;
                    ``(B) replacing instructional and maintenance 
                supplies, equipment, and materials (including 
                textbooks) destroyed or seriously damaged as a result 
                of the disaster, making minor repairs, and leasing or 
                otherwise providing (other than by acquisition of land 
                or erection of facilities) school and cafeteria 
                facilities needed to replace temporarily the facilities 
                which have been made unavailable as a result of the 
                disaster; and
                    ``(C) providing educational services to children 
                who, as a result of damage to schools that the children 
attended prior to the disaster, were required to attend other schools.
            ``(3) Duration.--The Director may provide a local 
        educational agency with assistance under this section for the 
        period beginning on the date the disaster is declared by the 
        President under section 401 with respect to an area served by 
        the local educational agency and ending 18 months after the 
        date.
            ``(4) Payments to other local educational agencies.--A 
        local educational agency may use funds received under this 
        section to make a payment to another local educational agency 
        for the costs of emergency operating expenses incurred by such 
        other local educational agency in educating students who are 
        displaced by the disaster.
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated for each fiscal year such amounts as may be necessary to 
carry out the provisions of this section. Pending such appropriation, 
the Director is authorized to expend (without regard for subchapter II 
of chapter 15 of title 31, United States Code) from any funds 
appropriated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and at that 
time available to the Director, such sums as may be necessary for 
providing immediate assistance under this section. Expenditures 
pursuant to the preceding sentence--
            ``(1) shall be reported by the Director to the Committees 
        on Appropriations and Education and the Workplace of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations and 
        Labor and Human Resources of the Senate within 30 days of the 
        expenditure; and
            ``(2) shall be reimbursed from the appropriations 
        authorized by the first sentence of this subsection.
    ``(c) Report.--The report required under subsection (b)(1) shall 
constitute a budget estimate within the meaning of section 1109 of 
title 31, United States Code.
    ``(d) Application.--No payment may be made to any local educational 
agency under this section except upon application therefor which is 
submitted through the appropriate State educational agency and is filed 
with the Director in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the 
Director. In determining the order in which such applications shall be 
approved, the Director shall consider the relative educational and 
financial needs of the local educational agencies which have submitted 
approvable applications. The Director shall complete action of approval 
or disapproval of an application within 90 days of the filing of an 
application.
    ``(e) Payments.--Amounts paid by the Director to local educational 
agencies under this section may be paid in advance or by way of 
reimbursement and in such installments as the Director may determine. 
Any funds paid to a local educational agency and not expended or 
otherwise used for the purposes for which paid shall be repaid to the 
Treasury of the United States.
    ``(f) Special Rule.--Funds available to carry out this section for 
any fiscal year shall also be available to carry out section 403 with 
respect to assistance for public and private elementary schools and 
secondary schools.
    ``(g) Bureau Funded Schools.--The Director may provide assistance 
to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Bureau funded schools that are 
located in an area with respect to which a major disaster has been 
declared by the President under section 401 in a manner similar to the 
manner in which local educational agencies receive assistance under 
this section.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Bureau funded school.--The term `Bureau funded 
        school' has the meaning given the term in section 1146 of the 
        Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2026).
            ``(2) Current expenditures.--The term `current 
        expenditures' has the meaning given the term in section 8013 of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7713).
            ``(3) Director.--The term `Director' means Director of the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency.
            ``(4) Elementary school; secondary school; local 
        educational agency; state educational agency.--The terms 
        `elementary school', `secondary school', `local educational 
        agency', and `State educational agency' have the meanings given 
        the terms in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).''.
                                 <all>