Findings and Purposes

(a)

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)in the aftermath of the 4 hurricanes that occurred within 6 weeks in the southeast United States during 2004, many of the inspectors and managers employed to inspect and document disaster-related damage in that area had criminal records; (2)preliminary damage assessments provide important information about the impact and magnitude of damage and the needs of individuals, businesses, the public sector, and the community as a whole; and (3)the failure to conduct a preliminary damage assessment can result in Federal funds being provided to areas that have not suffered the level of damage that would qualify an area for Federal disaster assistance. (b)

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are— (1)to ensure the appropriate use of public funds; (2)to protect disaster victims; and (3)to require more stringent background checks for contractors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Preliminary damage assessments

Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) is amended— (1)by striking All requests for and inserting the following:

(a)

In general

All requests for

; and

(2)by adding at the end the following:

(b)

Preliminary damage assessments

(1)

Definitions

In this subsection: (A)

Assessment

The term assessment means a preliminary damage assessment described in paragraph (2)(A). (B)

Director

The term Director means the Director of FEMA. (C)

FEMA

The term FEMA means the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (D)

Incident

The term incident means a condition or occurrence that causes such damage or hardship as may result in a Presidential declaration of a major disaster or emergency. (E)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Director. (2)

Preliminary damage assessment

(A)

Preassessment by the State

Except as provided in subparagraph (E), on occurrence of an incident, or if a State determines that the occurrence of an incident is imminent, and the State official responsible for disaster operations determines that the State and local governments may lack the capability to adequately respond to the incident, the State shall— (i)verify the information of the State used to make the determination; and (ii)request the Regional Director to perform a joint FEMA-State preliminary damage assessment of the type, extent, and location of any damage caused by the incident. (B)

Damage assessment teams

Each State shall appoint a damage assessment team to carry out assessments described in subparagraph (A) that is composed of— (i)at least 1 representative of the Federal Government; (ii)a least 1 representative of the State; (iii)if practicable, a local government representative who is familiar with the extent and location of damage or potential damage in any applicable communities; and (iv)such additional representatives from Federal and State agencies and voluntary relief organizations as are necessary, as determined by the State. (C)

Responsibility of state

A State shall assume responsibility for— (i)coordination of State and local participation in an assessment conducted under this paragraph; and (ii)ensuring that participants in the assessment receive timely notification concerning the schedule of activities for the assessment. (D)

Responsibility of fema

The Secretary shall designate an official of FEMA— (i)to brief members of the assessment team on— (I)damage criteria; (II)the kind of information to be collected for the particular incident that is the subject of the assessment; and (III)applicable reporting requirements; and (ii)on completion of the assessment, to consult with State officials to discuss findings and reconcile any differences. (E)

Waiver

(i)

In general

The State, in consultation with the Regional Director or FEMA, may elect not to carry out an assessment— (I)in the case of an incident of unusual severity and magnitude that does not require any field damage assessments to determine the need for supplemental Federal assistance under this Act; or (II)in other appropriate cases, as determined by the State, in consultation with the Regional Director of FEMA. (ii)

Managerial response

Nothing in this subparagraph prevents the conduct of an assessment to determine unmet needs for managerial response purposes.

Fraud

(a)

Penalties

Section 314(d) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5157(d)) is amended by striking $5,000 and inserting $10,000. (b)

Fraud investigations

Section 318 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5161) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(d)

Fraud investigations

(1)

In general

The President shall— (A)vigorously investigate allegations and instances of fraud under this Act, including fraud relating to the handling and approval of claims for Federal emergency assistance; and (B)refer to the Attorney General of the United States, in accordance with section 314(c), such allegations, instances, and results of investigations described in subparagraph (A) as the President determines to be appropriate. (2)

Attorney general

The Attorney General of the United States shall— (A)give serious consideration to any allegations or instances of fraud referred under paragraph (1)(B); (B)not later than 10 days after the date of receipt of such a referral, begin an investigation into the allegation; and (C)not later than 45 days after the date of receipt of the referral, submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security a report describing the progress and results of the investigation. (3)

Federal Emergency Management Agency

(A)

Procedures and guidelines

Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (referred to in this paragraph as the Director) shall— (i)propose new inspection procedures that more accurately identify disaster-related losses of household items for which applicants should be compensated; (ii)modify guidelines relating to individual and housing inspections to require inspectors to specify any item that was not available for inspection; (iii)develop eligibility criteria for funding vehicle damage, taking into consideration damage to a vehicle sustained as a result of a disaster; (iv)propose new inspection guidelines that prohibit inspectors from entering into a contract with any individual or entity for whom the inspector performs an inspection for purposes of determining eligibility for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; (v)modify guidelines to require contract inspectors to— (I)document vehicle damage to allow the Director to justify an award based on disaster-related need; and (II)base any funding recommendation of the contract inspector for miscellaneous items on disaster-related need; (vi)modify guidelines to establish a reasonable replacement value for destroyed vehicles, as determined by the Director, taking into consideration the cost of acquiring a comparable vehicle; (vii)develop criteria and guidelines for defining the term disaster-related death, including a requirement that an employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency document each request for funeral expenses assistance in order to support the approval or disapproval of the assistance; (viii)modify home inspection procedures to require contract inspectors to document— (I)any reason why the contractor determined a home was unsafe; and (II)any instance of deferred maintenance, including an evaluation of the severity of housing conditions; (ix)modify inspection guidelines for repair and replacement of homes to require inspectors to justify a determination that a home is destroyed by identifying and documenting each type of damage sustained by the home; and (x)review and modify each inspection contract to require contractors to— (I)review the quality of work of an inspector before submitting inspection data to the Director; (II)certify the independence of the contractor during each inspection; (III)recuse themselves from any inspections that present a possible conflict of interest; and (IV)consent to a criminal background check in accordance with subparagraph (B). (B)

Report

Not later than 180 days after the Director develops procedures and guidelines under subparagraph (A), the Director shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report that describes any change to the procedures and guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (C)

Background checks

The Director shall include in any contract with an inspector the requirements that— (i)a background check shall be performed on the inspector; (ii)the results of the background check shall be submitted to the Director not later than 7 days after the date on which the inspector is hired by the Director; and (iii)an inspector who has been convicted of criminal misconduct (including fraud, robbery, burglary, forgery, and felony drug possession) shall not be employed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an inspector.