[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4961 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4961

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to protect individuals and businesses from unforeseen 
consequences that may result from Federal disaster assistance, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2016

  Mr. Gibson (for himself, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New 
 York, Mr. Donovan, and Mr. King of New York) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to protect individuals and businesses from unforeseen 
consequences that may result from Federal disaster assistance, 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 ``Federal Disaster Notification and 
Payment Protection Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION REGARDING USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Federal funds may not 
be used to recoup a debt owed to the United States related to 
assistance provided to an individual or household under section 408 of 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5174) with respect to a major disaster declared by the President 
on or after January 1, 2011, under section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170) if--
            (1) the assistance was distributed based on an error by the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency;
            (2) the collection of the debt would be against equity and 
        good conscience; and
            (3) the debt is not the result of fraud, presentation of a 
        false claim, misrepresentation, or other fault of the debtor or 
        any party having an interest in the assistance distributed.

SEC. 3. MANDATORY NOTIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES APPLYING 
              FOR ASSISTANCE.

    Title VII of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 707. MANDATORY NOTIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES 
              APPLYING FOR ASSISTANCE.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this section, the President shall establish a process to 
ensure that each individual and business that applies for a category of 
Federal disaster assistance is provided written notice that describes--
            ``(1) the various categories of Federal disaster assistance 
        that may be available to the individual or business;
            ``(2) the impact that receiving or declining the category 
        of Federal disaster assistance applied for will have on 
        eligibility for other categories of Federal disaster 
        assistance; and
            ``(3) repayment requirements or penalties that may apply if 
        multiple categories of Federal disaster assistance are 
        accepted.
    ``(b) Report to Congress.--On the date on which the President 
establishes the process under subsection (a), the President shall 
transmit to Congress a report describing the process.
    ``(c) Prohibition.--On and after the date on which the President 
establishes the process under subsection (a), an individual or business 
that is not provided the written notice described in that subsection 
upon application for a category of Federal disaster assistance may not 
be held responsible for any repayment requirement or penalty that would 
otherwise result from the receipt of such assistance.
    ``(d) Federal Disaster Assistance Defined.--In this section, the 
term `Federal disaster assistance' means Federal assistance, including 
loans and grants, provided--
            ``(1) pursuant to this Act, the Small Business Act, or the 
        community development block grant disaster recovery program of 
        the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
            ``(2) to an individual or business; and
            ``(3) in response to a major disaster or emergency declared 
        by the President under section 401 of this Act.''.
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