[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3157 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 3157


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2003

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To provide for the designation of a Department of Agriculture disaster 
   liaison to assist State and local employees of the Department in 
 coordination with other disaster agencies in response to a federally 
           declared disaster area as a result of a disaster.

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

SECTION 1. LIAISON FOR DISASTER EMERGENCIES.

    (a) Deployment of Disaster Liaison.--The Secretary of Agriculture 
shall deploy disaster liaisons to State and local Department of 
Agriculture Service Centers in a federally declared disaster area 
whenever Federal Emergency Management Agency Personnel are deployed in 
that area, to coordinate Department programs with the appropriate 
disaster agencies designated under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
    (b) Qualifications.--Disaster liaisons shall be selected from among 
Department employees who have experience providing emergency disaster 
relief in federally declared disaster areas.
    (c) Duties.--A disaster liaison shall--
            (1) serve as a liaison to State and Federal Emergency 
        Services;
            (2) be deployed to a federally declared disaster area to 
        coordinate Department interagency programs in assistance to 
        agricultural producers in the declared disaster area;
            (3) facilitate the claims and applications of agricultural 
        producers who are victims of the disaster that are forwarded to 
        the Department by the appropriate State Department of 
        Agriculture agency director; and
            (4) coordinate with the Director of the State office of the 
        appropriate Department agency to assist with the application 
        for and distribution of economic assistance.
    (d) Duration of Deployment.--The deployment of a disaster liaison 
under subsection (a) may not exceed 30 days.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``federally declared disaster area'' means--
            (1) an area covered by a Presidential declaration of major 
        disaster, including a disaster caused by a wildfire, issued 
        under section 301 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); or
            (2) determined to be a disaster area, including a disaster 
        caused by a wildfire, by the Secretary

        under subpart A of part 1945 of title 7, Code of Federal 
        Regulations.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.