[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3646 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3646

 To direct the Secretary of the Army to give priority to projects and 
 studies for hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 4, 2013

  Mr. Jeffries (for himself and Mr. King of New York) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Army to give priority to projects and 
 studies for hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Extreme Weather Mitigation Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. HURRICANE AND STORM DAMAGE RISK REDUCTION PRIORITIZATION.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide adequate levels of protection to communities 
        impacted by natural disasters, including hurricanes, tropical 
        storms, and other related extreme weather events; and
            (2) to expedite critical water resources projects in 
        communities that have historically been and continue to remain 
        susceptible to extreme weather events.
    (b) Priority.--For authorized projects and ongoing feasibility 
studies with a primary purpose of hurricane and storm damage risk 
reduction, the Secretary of the Army shall give funding priority to 
projects and ongoing studies that--
            (1) address an imminent threat to life and property;
            (2) prevent storm surge from inundating populated areas;
            (3) prevent the loss of coastal wetlands that help reduce 
        the impact of storm surge;
            (4) protect emergency hurricane evacuation routes or 
        shelters;
            (5) prevent adverse impacts to publicly owned or funded 
        infrastructure and assets;
            (6) minimize disaster relief costs to the Federal 
        Government; and
            (7) address hurricane and storm damage risk reduction in an 
        area for which the President declared a major disaster in 
        accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
        Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).
    (c) Expedited Consideration of Currently Authorized Projects.--Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a list of all--
                    (A) ongoing hurricane and storm damage reduction 
                feasibility studies that have signed feasibility cost 
                share agreements and have received Federal funds since 
                2009; and
                    (B) authorized hurricane and storm damage reduction 
                projects that--
                            (i) have been authorized for more than 20 
                        years but are less than 75 percent complete; or
                            (ii) are undergoing a post-authorization 
                        change report, general reevaluation report, or 
                        limited reevaluation report;
            (2) identify those projects on the list required under 
        paragraph (1) that meet the criteria described in subsection 
        (b); and
            (3) provide a plan for expeditiously completing the 
        projects identified under paragraph (2), subject to available 
        funding.
    (d) Prioritization of New Studies for Hurricane and Storm Damage 
Risk Reduction.--In selecting new studies for hurricane and storm 
damage reduction to propose to Congress, the Secretary shall give 
priority to studies--
            (1) that--
                    (A) have been recommended in a comprehensive 
                hurricane protection study carried out by the Corps of 
                Engineers; or
                    (B) are included in a State plan or program for 
                hurricane, storm damage reduction, flood control, 
                coastal protection, conservation, or restoration that 
                is created in consultation with the Corps of Engineers 
                or other relevant Federal agencies; and
            (2) for areas for which the President declared a major 
        disaster in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170).
                                 <all>