1.This Act may be cited as the
Strengthening The Resiliency of Our
Nation on the Ground Act
or the STRONG Act
.
2.
(a)Congress
makes the following findings:
(1)Extreme weather
has serious economic costs for Americans, American businesses, and State,
local, and tribal governments. Droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme
heat, and extreme cold cause death, result in loss of property and well-being,
especially among the most vulnerable populations, and negatively impact
business activity and economic growth.
(2)In the past 30
years, there have been more than 130 weather-related disasters in the United
States that each generated at least $1,000,000,000 in damages or more than
$880,000,000,000 in total standardized loss. In addition, there have been many
other extreme weather events that generated less than $1,000,000,000 in
damages, but still caused immeasurable harm to the Nation’s citizens,
infrastructure, and economy.
(3)Hurricane Sandy,
which devastated the eastern United States in late October 2012, resulted in
more than 100 deaths, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from
their homes, power outages affecting more than 8,500,000 homes, massive
flooding, gasoline shortages, and a crippled regional energy and transportation
infrastructure. The estimated total economic losses could exceed
$70,000,000,000.
(4)Hurricane Katrina
led to more than 1,800 deaths, property damage exceeding $80,000,000,000, more
than $120,000,000,000 in Federal spending, and long-term impacts on the economy
and livelihoods of those living in the Gulf Coast region.
(5)In 2011, one of
the most severe and costly years for weather and climate on record, extreme
weather hit every region in the United States, resulting in—
(A)prolonged
droughts in the South and the West;
(B)deadly floods in
the Southeast and Midwest;
(C)hundreds of
devastating tornadoes across the United States;
(D)Hurricane Irene
in the Northeast;
(E)more than
$50,000,000,000 in weather-related damages;
(F)14 extreme
weather events, which resulted in more than $1,000,000,000 in damages each and
caused a combined death toll of hundreds of people; and
(G)many other
extreme weather events with lesser, but still significant, impacts.
(6)There have been
many similar extreme weather events in 2012. During the 10-month period ending
in October 2012, there have been—
(A)drought
conditions in more than 60 percent of the contiguous United States at the peak
of the drought, including more than 2,200 counties that have received disaster
designations from the Secretary of Agriculture due to the drought;
(B)deadly floods in
Minnesota, Tropical Storm Debby in Florida, and Hurricane Isaac in
Louisiana;
(C)destructive
wildfires on more than 9,000,000 acres across 37 States;
(D)power outages
affecting more than 3,400,000 homes due to severe storms during the summer;
and
(E)deadly heat
waves, highlighted by July as the warmest month on record for the contiguous
United States and more than 9,600 daily high temperature records broken during
June, July, and August.
(7)These events and
natural disaster trends, when combined with the volatility of weather, ongoing
demographic changes, and development in high risk areas, indicate that the
negative impacts of extreme weather events and natural disasters have the
potential to increase over time. The fact that a significant number of people
and assets continue to be located in areas prone to volatile and extreme
weather indicates that these events will continue to be expensive and deadly if
the United States fails to enhance its resiliency to such events. Recent
studies show that the intensity and frequency of some types of, but not all,
extreme weather events will likely increase in the future.
(8)Economic savings
can be achieved by considering the impacts of extreme weather over the short-
and long-term in the planning process. For example, a review of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s hazard mitigation programs found that every
dollar spent on hazard mitigation yields a savings of $4 in future losses.
Other studies point to even higher levels of savings.
(9)There are several
efforts currently underway at the Federal, regional, tribal, State, and local
levels that have helped lay the foundation for a federally coordinated effort
to increase the Nation’s resiliency to extreme weather events, such as the
Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, the Presidential Policy Directive on
National Preparedness (referred to in this Act as PPD–8
), the
National Preparedness System, the whole community approach led by the
Department of Homeland Security, and the Silver Jackets Program by the Army
Corps of Engineers. Other recent reports on this subject include the National
Academies of Sciences’ reports Disaster Resilience: A National
Imperative
and Building Community Disaster Resilience through
Public-Private Collaboration
.
(b)The
purpose of this Act is to minimize the economic and social costs and future
losses of life, property, well-being, business activity, and economic growth by
making the United States more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather
events over the short- and long-term, thereby creating business and job growth
opportunities by—
(1)ensuring that the
Federal Government is optimizing its use of existing resources and funding to
support State, local, and tribal officials, businesses, and the public to
become more resilient, including—
(A)encouraging the
consideration of, and ways to incorporate, extreme weather resilience across
Federal operations, programs, policies, and initiatives;
(B)promoting
improved coordination of existing and planned Federal extreme weather
resilience and adaptation efforts that impact extreme weather resilience and
ensuring their coordination with, and support of, State, local, regional, and
tribal efforts;
(C)minimizing
Federal policies that may unintentionally hinder or reduce resilience, such as
damaging wetlands or other critical green infrastructure, or lead Federal
agencies to operate at cross purposes in achieving extreme weather resilience;
and
(D)building upon
existing related efforts, such as the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force,
the PPD–8, the National Preparedness System, and the whole community
approach;
(2)communicating the
latest understanding and likely short- and long-term human and economic impacts
and risks of extreme weather to businesses and the public;
(3)supporting
decisionmaking that improves resilience by providing forecasts and projections,
data decision-support tools, and other information and mechanisms; and
(4)establishing a
consistent vision and strategic plan for extreme weather resilience across the
Federal Government.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term extreme weather includes severe and
unseasonable weather, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, storm surges, tornadoes,
other windstorms (including derechos), extreme heat, extreme cold, and other
qualifying weather events as determined by the interagency group established
under section 4(a)(1).
(2)The
term resilience means the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb,
recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events in a timely
manner.
4.Extreme weather
resilience gap and overlap analysis
(a)Interagency
working group
(1)
(A)The Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy (referred to in this section as the Director
),
with input from the Department of Homeland Security, shall establish and chair
an interagency working group with Cabinet-level representation from all
relevant Federal agencies.
(B)The working group shall—
(i)come together to provide a strategic vision
of extreme weather resilience;
(ii)conduct a gap and overlap analysis of
Federal agencies’ current and planned activities related to achieving short-
and long-term resilience to extreme weather and its impacts on the Nation, such
as storm surge, flooding, drought, and wildfires; and
(iii)develop a
National Extreme Weather Resilience Plan in accordance with section
5(a).
(2)Additional
representation from executive office of the presidentThe interagency working group established
under paragraph (1) shall include representatives of the relevant offices and
councils within the Executive Office of the President, including—
(A)the Office of Management and Budget;
(B)the National Security Staff;
(C)the Council of Economic Advisors;
(D)the Council on Environmental Quality;
and
(E)the Domestic Policy Council.
(3)Consultation
with state, local, and tribal representatives
(A)The Federal interagency working group established under
paragraph (1) shall work closely with an advisory group to take into account
the needs of State, local, and tribal entities across all regions of the United
States. The advisory group shall consist of—
(i)1
representative from the National Emergency Management Association;
(ii)7
representatives from States and State associations; and
(iii)8
representatives from local entities and associations, including representation
from a tribal nation and at least 1 major metropolitan area.
(B)The representatives described in subparagraph (A) shall,
in the aggregate, represent all of the key sectors set forth in subsection
(b)(1).
(C)The
Director shall meet with the representatives described in subparagraph (A) not
fewer than 9 times during the development of—
(i)the
gap and overlap analysis under this section; and
(ii)the National
Extreme Weather Resilience Action Plan under section 5.
(4)Cooperation by
federal agenciesIn carrying
out the activities described in subsection (b), Federal agency representatives
participating in the working group shall be forthright and shall fully
cooperate with the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(5)Upon
the request of the Director, each agency or entity referred to in paragraph (1)
shall provide the working group with a detailee, without reimbursement from the
working group, to support the activities described in subsection (b), section
5, and section 7(a). Such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and
privileges of his or her regular employment without interruption.
(6)Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States
Code, the working group may investigate and use such voluntary services as the
working group determines to be necessary.
(b)In conducting the gap and overlap analysis required
under subsection (a)(1), Federal agency representatives shall—
(1)develop a Federal
Government-wide working vision for resilience to the impacts of extreme weather
events in the short- and long-term, in accordance with the purpose set forth in
section 2(b), through an effort led by the Director and the interagency working
group, which includes goals and objectives for key sectors. Key sectors shall
include—
(A)agriculture;
(B)forestry and
natural resources management;
(C)water management,
including supply and treatment;
(D)energy supply and
transmission;
(E)infrastructure,
including natural and built forms of water and wastewater, transportation,
coastal infrastructure, and other landscapes and ecosystems services;
(F)public health and
healthcare delivery, including mental health and hazardous materials
management;
(G)communications,
including wireless communications;
(H)housing and other
buildings;
(I)national
security;
(J)emergency
preparedness;
(K)insurance;
and
(L)other sectors
that the Director considers appropriate;
(2)consider and
identify the interdependencies among the key sectors when developing the vision
referred to in paragraph (1);
(3)create summaries
of the existing and planned efforts and programmatic work underway or relevant
to supporting State, local, and tribal stakeholders in achieving greater
extreme weather resilience in the short and long term for each sector
identified under paragraph (1) and across the sectors, specifically including
summaries of—
(A)individual
Federal agency programs, policies, regulations, and initiatives, and research
and data collection and dissemination efforts;
(B)areas of
collaboration and coordination across Federal agencies; and
(C)areas of
coordination with State, local, and tribal agencies, private entities, and
regional cooperation;
(4)identify specific
Federal programs, statutes, regulations, policies, and initiatives which may
unintentionally hinder resilience efforts, including an analysis of
disincentives, barriers, and incompatible programs, policies, or initiatives
across agencies and sectors;
(5)examine how the
severity and frequency of extreme weather events at the local and regional
level may change in the future and communicate these potential risks to
stakeholders;
(6)work together to
identify and evaluate existing Federal tools and data to describe, analyze,
forecast, and model the potential impacts identified under paragraph (5) and
develop recommendations to strengthen their ability to provide reliable and
accurate forecasts at the national, regional, State, and local levels;
(7)identify gaps and
overlaps in Federal agency work, resources, and authorities that impair the
ability of the United States to meet the vision for short- and long-term
extreme weather resilience, by comparing the goals and objectives identified
for each sector and across sectors with the summaries identified in paragraph
(3), specifically identifying gaps relating to—
(A)individual
Federal agency programs, policies, and initiatives, and research data
collection and dissemination efforts;
(B)areas of
collaboration and coordination across Federal agencies; and
(C)areas of
coordination with State, local, and tribal agencies and private entities, and
regional cooperation;
(8)determine
potential measures to address the issues referred to in paragraph (4) and to
address the gaps and overlaps referred to in paragraph (7) by—
(A)designating
individual or multiple Federal agencies to address these gaps;
(B)building upon
existing delivery mechanisms;
(C)evaluating
options for programs, policies, and initiatives that may particularly benefit
extreme weather resilience efforts, including the role of ecosystem-based
approaches;
(D)recommending
modifications to existing Federal agency programs, statutes, regulations,
policies, and initiatives to better support extreme weather resiliency;
(E)requesting new
authorities and resource requirements, if needed; and
(F)identifying
existing Federal Government processes that can be built upon to address the
purpose of this Act; and
(9)establish, with
the assistance of the General Services Administration or such other Federal
agency as the Director may designate, a Federal advisory working group to
provide ongoing collective input to the process.
(c)The Federal advisory working group established pursuant to
subsection (b)(9) shall consist of relevant private sector, academic, State and
local government, tribal nation, regional organization, vulnerable population,
and nongovernmental representatives, with representation from each sector
described in paragraph (1). The Director may designate an existing Federal
advisory committee under which the working group would operate independently,
with the same rights and privileges held by members of the advisory committee.
The members of the working group established pursuant to subsection (b)(9) may
not simultaneously serve as members of the advisory committee designated
pursuant to this subsection. The activities of the working group should
complement and not duplicate the stakeholder process conducted under
PPD–8.
5.National Extreme
Weather Resilience Action Plan
(a)Based on the results of the gap and overlap analysis
conducted under section 4, the Director, working with the interagency working
group established under such section, and considering the efforts described in
section 2(a)(9), shall develop a National Extreme Weather Resilience Action
Plan (referred to in this section as the Plan
)—
(1)to build upon
existing Federal Government processes referred to in section 4(b)(8)(F)—
(A)to address the
results of the gap and overlap analysis under section 4; and
(B)to incorporate
the activities required under subsection (c);
(2)to best utilize
existing resources and programs through improved interagency coordination and
collaboration;
(3)to improve
Federal coordination with existing regional entities, State, local and tribal
governments, networks, and private stakeholders;
(4)to make data and
tools accessible and understandable and to help facilitate information exchange
for tribal, State, and local officials, businesses, and other stakeholders in a
manner that addresses the needs expressed by these stakeholders;
(5)to facilitate
public-private partnerships;
(6)to improve
Federal agencies’ economic analytical capacity to assess—
(A)the likelihood
and potential costs of extreme weather impacts by region and nationally;
and
(B)the relative
benefits of potential resilience measures to multiple stakeholders;
(7)to provide tools
to stakeholders—
(A)to conduct
analyses similar to those described in paragraph (6); and
(B)to support
decisionmaking;
(8)to support
resiliency plans developed by State and local governments, regional entities,
and tribal nations, to the extent possible; and
(9)to request
further resources, if necessary, to fill in gaps to enable national resilience
to extreme weather, including resilience of tribal nations and particularly
vulnerable populations, and the use of green infrastructure and ecosystem-based
solutions.
(b)Any
Federal agency representative contacted by the Director, in the course of
developing the Plan, shall be forthright and shall fully cooperate with the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, as requested.
(c)
(1)The
Plan shall include specific Federal agency and interagency responsibilities,
identify potential new authorities, if necessary, and employ risk
analysis—
(A)to address the
gaps identified through the gap and overlap analysis; and
(B)to improve
Federal interagency coordination and Federal coordination with State, regional,
local, and tribal partners.
(2)Available
funding opportunities
(A)The
Director shall identify—
(i)existing Federal
grant programs and other funding opportunities available to support State,
local, and tribal government extreme weather resiliency planning efforts;
or
(ii)projects to
advance extreme weather resiliency.
(B)The
Director shall publish the information described in subparagraph (A) in the
information clearinghouse identified in paragraph (3).
(C)Each
participating agency shall—
(i)consider
incorporating criteria or guidance into existing relevant Federal grant and
other funding opportunities to better support State, local, and tribal efforts
to improve extreme weather resiliency; and
(ii)evaluate and
modify existing Federal funding opportunities, as appropriate, to maximize the
return on investment for pre-disaster mitigation activities.
(3)Information
clearinghouse
(A)The Plan shall—
(i)include the
establishment of an online, publicly available information clearinghouse for
use by Federal agencies, their partners, and stakeholders to inform
resilience-enhancing efforts; and
(ii)build off and be
complementary to existing Federal efforts, including data.gov.
(B)The
coordinating entity identified under paragraph (3) shall be responsible for
establishing and maintaining the information clearinghouse.
(C)Information shall be supplied as requested by Federal
agencies, their partners, academia, and private stakeholders, in coordination
with regional, State, local, and tribal agencies.
(D)The
information clearinghouse established under this paragraph shall include
coordinated and systematic information on—
(i)best or model
practices;
(ii)data;
(iii)case
studies;
(iv)indicators;
(v)scientific
reports;
(vi)resilience and
vulnerability assessments;
(vii)guidance
documents and design standards;
(viii)incentives;
(ix)education and
communication initiatives;
(x)decision support
tools, including risk management, short- and long-term economic analysis, and
predictive models;
(xi)planning
tools;
(xii)public and
private sources of assistance; and
(xiii)such other
information as the coordinating entity considers appropriate.
(4)The Plan shall include the identification of a Federal
agency, interagency council, office, or program, which participated in the gap
and overlap analysis and Plan development. Such entity shall—
(A)coordinate the
implementation of the Plan;
(B)track the
progress of such implementation; and
(C)transfer
responsibilities to another Federal agency, interagency council, office, or
program to serve as the coordinating entity if the entities participating in
the working group agree that circumstances necessitate such a change.
(5)Each Federal agency that assists with the gap and overlap
analysis required under section 4 shall designate, from among the agency’s
senior management, a Senior Resiliency Officer, who shall—
(A)facilitate the
implementation of the agency’s responsibilities under paragraph (1);
(B)monitor the
agency’s progress and performance in implementing its responsibilities under
paragraph (1);
(C)report the
agency’s progress and performance to the head of the agency and the
coordinating entity identified under paragraph (3); and
(D)serve as the
agency lead in ongoing coordination efforts within the Federal agency and
between the coordinating entity, other Federal agencies, public and private
partners, and stakeholders.
(d)
(1)Not later than 420 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Director shall publish a draft of the Plan developed under this
section in the Federal Register.
(2)During the 60-day period beginning on the date on which
the draft Plan is published under paragraph (1), the Director shall—
(A)solicit comment
from the public; and
(B)conduct a
briefing for Congress to explain the provisions contained in the draft
Plan.
(3)Not later than 120 days after the end of the public comment
period described in paragraph (2), the Director shall publish the final Plan in
the Federal Register.
(e)Not
later than 630 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director
shall begin implementing the final Plan published under subsection
(d)(3).
(f)To
the extent possible—
(1)Federal funding
should be used to leverage private sector financing for resilience building
activities, consistent with the implementation of the Plan, through
public-private partnerships; and
(2)Federal grant and
loan programs of the Federal agencies participating in the interagency working
group for this effort shall consider extreme weather resilience as a key factor
when awarding funding, including the projected extreme weather risk to a
project over the course of its expected life.
(g)Tribal, State,
and local responsibilitiesThe Plan may not place new unfunded
requirements on State or local governments.
6.Authorization of
other activities
(a)Federal agencies are authorized to develop tools and
disseminate information to improve extreme weather resilience in the key
sectors set forth in section 4(b)(1).
(b)Office of
Science and Technology PolicyIn conducting the gap and overlap
analysis under section 4 and developing the National Extreme Weather Resilience
Action Plan under section 5, the Director may carry out additional activities
in support of the purpose of this Act.
7.
(a)Government
accountability office reportNot later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit a report to Congress that—
(1)identifies
existing Federal Government programs and policies related to disaster relief,
response, and recovery that impede improving short- and long-term extreme
weather resilience; and
(2)make
recommendations for how the programs or policies could be structured
differently to better support short- and long-term resilience after an extreme
weather event.
(b)Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Director shall submit a report to Congress that contains—
(1)the results of
the gap and overlap analysis;
(2)the final
National Extreme Weather Resilience Action Plan;
(3)an update on the
implementation of the plan; and
(4)available
resources for the sustained implementation of the plan.
(c)Not later than 2 years after the submission of the report
under subsection (a), and every 3 years thereafter, the coordinating entity
identified under section 5(c)(3), in cooperation with the interagency working
group established under section 4(a), shall submit a report to Congress
that—
(1)contains an
update of the National Extreme Weather Resilience Action Plan;
(2)describes the
progress of the plan’s implementation;
(3)improves upon the
original analysis as more information and understanding about extreme weather
events becomes available;
(4)establishes
criteria for prioritization of activities described in the plan;
(5)reconsiders and
makes changes to the plan based on the availability of new information
described in paragraph (3); and
(6)identifies
cost-effective changes to laws, policies, or regulations that could advance the
purpose of this Act.
(d)
(1)Congress
finds the following:
(A)The Federal
Emergency Management Agency grant programs are a key vehicle that exists to
fund activities related to resiliency planning and projects.
(B)In order to
ensure that the United States becomes more resilient to extreme weather, it is
important to ensure that sufficient resources are available to support
resiliency activities
(2)At
the end of each fiscal year, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (referred to in this paragraph as FEMA
) shall submit a
report to Congress that—
(A)identifies the
amounts that were made available to the FEMA during such fiscal year for State,
local, and tribal entities to use for activities that support the purposes of
this Act;
(B)identifies the
amounts disbursed by FEMA to State, local, and tribal entities during such
fiscal year for such activities;
(C)describes the
resources requested by State, local, and tribal entities for activities that
support the purposes of this Act; and
(D)identifies the
difference between the amounts disbursed by FEMA and the amounts requested from
FEMA by State, local, and tribal entities.
8.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)Amounts for
analysis, plan development and implementation, and reportsThere are authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2013 through 2015—
(1)to conduct the gap and overlap analysis
required under section 4;
(2)to conduct the activities required under
section 5, including the creation and maintenance of the information
clearinghouse; and
(3)to prepare the reports to Congress required
under subsections (b) and (c) of section 7.
(b)Amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) shall
remain available for the purposes set forth in such subsection through December
31, 2015.