[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 797 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 797

  To authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
  Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to 
disaster assistance distributed to individuals and households in error, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2015

    Mr. Meeks (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 authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
  Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to 
disaster assistance distributed to individuals and households in error, 
                        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 ``Disaster Assistance Recoupment 
Fairness Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEBTS OWED TO UNITED STATES RELATED TO DISASTER ASSISTANCE 
              DISTRIBUTED IN ERROR.

    (a) Covered Assistance Defined.--In this section, the term 
``covered assistance'' means assistance provided--
            (1) under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
        Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174); and
            (2) in relation to a major disaster declared by the 
        President under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
        Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) on or 
        after January 1, 2011.
    (b) Waiver Authority.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency--
            (1) subject to paragraph (2) and subsection (c), may waive 
        a debt owed to the United States related to covered assistance 
        provided to an individual or household if--
                    (A) the covered assistance was distributed based on 
                an error by the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
                    (B) there was no fault on behalf of the debtor; and
                    (C) the collection of the debt would be against 
                equity and good conscience; and
            (2) may not waive a debt under paragraph (1) if the debt 
        involves fraud, the presentation of a false claim, or 
        misrepresentation by the debtor or any party having an interest 
        in the claim.
    (c) Presumption of Repayment.--In determining whether to waive a 
debt under subsection (b), the Administrator shall presume that, if the 
adjusted gross income (as defined under section 62 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986) of the household of the debtor for the last 
taxable year ending in or with the calendar year preceding the date on 
which the income is determined exceeds $100,000 (adjusted annually for 
inflation beginning with the year following the date of enactment of 
this Act), the debtor should be required to make at least a partial 
payment on the debt.
    (d) Reporting.--Not later than 3 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the Inspector General of 
the Department of Homeland Security shall submit a report that assesses 
the cost-effectiveness of the efforts of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency to recoup improper payments under the individuals and 
household program under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) to--
            (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs and the Subcommittee on Homeland Security of the 
        Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on 
        Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Subcommittee on 
        Homeland Security of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        House of Representatives.
    (e) Monitoring of Covered Assistance Distributed Based on Error.--
            (1) In general.--The Inspector General shall monitor the 
        distribution of covered assistance to individuals and 
        households to determine the percentage of such assistance 
        distributed based on an error by the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency.
            (2) Removal of waiver authority based on excessive error 
        rate.--If the Inspector General determines, with respect to any 
        12-month period, that the amount of covered assistance 
        distributed based on an error by the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency exceeds 4 percent of the total amount of 
        covered assistance distributed--
                    (A) the Inspector General shall notify the 
                Administrator and publish the determination in the 
                Federal Register; and
                    (B) with respect to any major disaster declared by 
                the President under section 401 of the Robert T. 
                Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
                (42 U.S.C. 5170) after the date of the determination, 
                the authority of the Administrator to waive debt under 
                subsection (b) shall no longer be effective.
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