[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1274

To extend assistance to certain private nonprofit facilities following 
                  a disaster, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2013

 Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To extend assistance to certain private nonprofit facilities following 
                  a disaster, 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. PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACILITIES.

    (a) Definition of Private Nonprofit Facility.--Section 102(11)(B) 
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5122(11)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Additional facilities.--In addition to the 
                facilities described in subparagraph (A), the term 
                `private nonprofit facility' includes any private 
                nonprofit facility that provides essential services to 
                the general public (including museums, zoos, performing 
                arts facilities, community arts centers, community 
                centers, houses of worship, libraries, homeless 
                shelters, senior citizen centers, rehabilitation 
                facilities, shelter workshops, and facilities that 
                provide health and safety services of a governmental 
                nature), as defined by the President.''.
    (b) Repair, Restoration, and Replacement of Damaged Facilities.--
Section 406(a)(3) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)(3)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
                    ``(C) Treatment of houses of worship.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A church, synagogue, 
                        mosque, temple, or other house of worship, and 
                        an otherwise eligible private nonprofit 
                        facility operated by a religious organization, 
                        shall be eligible for contributions under 
                        paragraph (1)(B), without regard to the 
                        religious character of the facility or the 
                        primary religious use of the facility.
                            ``(ii) Limitations.--Notwithstanding clause 
                        (i), in spaces used primarily for religious 
                        worship services, contributions under paragraph 
                        (1)(B) shall only be used to cover costs of 
                        purchasing or replacing, without limitation, 
                        the building structure, building enclosure 
                        components, building envelope, vertical and 
                        horizontal circulation, physical plant support 
                        spaces, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical 
                        systems (including heating, ventilation, air-
                        conditioning, and fire and life safety 
                        systems), and related site improvements.''.
    (c) Applicability.--This section and the amendments made by this 
section shall apply to the provision of assistance in response to a 
major disaster or emergency declared on or after October 28, 2012.
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