[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2382 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 951
110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2382

                          [Report No. 110-453]

To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
  to quickly and fairly address the abundance of surplus manufactured 
 housing units stored by the Federal Government around the country at 
                           taxpayer expense.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2007

   Mr. Pryor introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

                           September 11, 2008

              Reported by Mr. Lieberman, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
  to quickly and fairly address the abundance of surplus manufactured 
 housing units stored by the Federal Government around the country at 
                           taxpayer expense.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``FEMA Accountability Act of 
2007''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress finds that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) more than 19,000 mobile homes and travel 
        trailers sit unused at the storage site in Hope, 
        Arkansas;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agency spends 
        $25,000 each month to store the unused manufactured homes in 
        Hope, Arkansas;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency spends 
        in excess of $3,000,000 each year to store unused manufactured 
        homes at 15 storage sites across the country;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) these manufactured housing units were 
        purchased to aid disaster victims during the 2005 hurricane 
        season;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) it is anticipated that the number of unused 
        mobile homes and trailers could continue to increase as 
        residents find permanent housing;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) many of these manufactured homes are now 
        severely damaged or may contain potentially harmful levels of 
        formaldehyde; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) the Federal Emergency Management Agency has 
        had ample time to assess the need for on-hand manufactured 
        housing.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. STORAGE, SALE, TRANSFER, AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSING 
              UNITS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (in this section referred to as the 
``Administrator'') shall complete an assessment of the number of 
manufactured housing units it finds necessary to stock to respond to 
disasters occurring after the date of enactment of this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Plan.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2), not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Administrator shall establish a well developed 
        plan for permanently storing manufactured housing units 
        necessary to stock, selling or transferring usable surplus 
        units, and disposing of unusable units.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Exception.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--If the Administrator 
                submits to Congress a written certification that the 
                Administrator is unable to determine the safe level of 
                exposure to formaldehyde for purposes of travel 
                trailers, the Administrator may exclude from the plan 
                under paragraph (1) any travel trailer that the 
                Administrator determines may contain 
                formaldehyde.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Duration.--The authority to exclude 
                travel trailers under this paragraph shall terminate on 
                the date on which the Administrator of the 
                Environmental Protection Agency promulgates regulations 
                regarding exposure levels for formaldehyde that are 
                applicable to travel trailers.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Implementation.--Not later than 9 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall implement the 
plan described in subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 
report on the status of the distribution, sale, transfer, or disposal 
of unused manufactured housing units.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``FEMA 
Accountability Act of 2008''.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        FEMA;
            (2) the term ``FEMA'' means the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency; and
            (3) the term ``major disaster'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
        and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).

SEC. 2. STORAGE, SALE, TRANSFER, AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSING UNITS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall--
            (1) complete an assessment to determine the number of 
        temporary housing units purchased by FEMA that FEMA needs to 
        maintain in stock to respond appropriately to major disasters 
        occurring after the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) establish criteria for determining whether individual 
        temporary housing units stored by FEMA are in usable condition, 
        which shall include appropriate criteria for formaldehyde 
        testing and exposure.
    (b) Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a plan 
        for--
                    (A) storing the number of temporary housing units 
                that the Administrator has determined under subsection 
                (a)(1) that FEMA needs to maintain in stock;
                    (B) selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing 
                of the temporary housing units in the inventory of FEMA 
                that--
                            (i) are in excess of the number of 
                        temporary housing units that the Administrator 
                        has determined under subsection (a)(1) that 
                        FEMA needs to maintain in stock; and
                            (ii) are in usable condition, based on the 
                        criteria established under subsection (a)(2); 
                        and
                    (C) disposing of the temporary housing units in the 
                inventory of FEMA that the Administrator determines are 
                not in usable condition, based on the criteria 
                established under subsection (a)(2).
            (2) Applicability of disposal requirements.--The plan 
        established under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the 
        requirements of section 408(d)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford 
        Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
        5174(d)(2)) and other applicable provisions of law.
    (c) Implementation.--Not later than 9 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall implement the plan 
described in subsection (b).
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the appropriate 
committees of the House of Representatives a report on the status of 
the distribution, sale, transfer, or other disposal of the unused 
temporary housing units purchased by FEMA.
                                                       Calendar No. 951

110th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2382

                          [Report No. 110-453]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
  to quickly and fairly address the abundance of surplus manufactured 
 housing units stored by the Federal Government around the country at 
                           taxpayer expense.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 11, 2008

                       Reported with an amendment