[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2109 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2109

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to develop an integrated plan to reduce administrative costs under the 
 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 30, 2015

  Mr. Johnson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to develop an integrated plan to reduce administrative costs under the 
 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 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 ``Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``administrative cost'' means a cost incurred 
        by the Agency in support of the delivery of disaster assistance 
        for a major disaster;
            (2) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Agency;
            (3) the term ``Agency'' means the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency;
            (4) the term ``direct administrative cost'' means a cost 
        incurred by a grantee or subgrantee of a program authorized by 
        the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) that can be identified separately 
        and assigned to a specific project;
            (5) the term ``hazard mitigation program'' means the hazard 
        mitigation grant program authorized under section 404 of the 
        Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 5170c);
            (6) the term ``individual assistance program'' means the 
        individual assistance grant program authorized under sections 
        408, 410, 415, 416, 426, and 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford 
        Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174, 
        5177, 5182, 5183, 5189d, and 5192(a));
            (7) the term ``major disaster'' means 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);
            (8) the term ``mission assignment'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 641 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
        Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 741); and
            (9) the term ``public assistance program'' means the public 
        assistance grant program authorized under sections 403(a)(3), 
        406, 418, 419, 428, and 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford 
        Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
        5170b(a)(3), 5172, 5185, 5186, 5189f, and 5192(a)).

SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COST REDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 365 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall--
            (1) develop and implement an integrated plan to control and 
        reduce administrative costs for major disasters, which shall 
        include--
                    (A) steps the Agency will take to reduce 
                administrative costs;
                    (B) milestones needed for accomplishing the 
                reduction of administrative costs;
                    (C) the assignment of clear roles and 
                responsibilities, including the designation of 
                officials responsible for monitoring and measuring 
                performance; and
                    (D) a timetable for implementation;
            (2) compare the costs and benefits of tracking the 
        administrative cost data for major disasters by the public 
        assistance, individual assistance, hazard mitigation, and 
        mission assignment programs, and if feasible, track this 
        information; and
            (3) clarify Agency guidance and minimum documentation 
        requirements for a direct administrative cost claimed by a 
        grantee or subgrantee of a public assistance grant program.
    (b) Congressional Update.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives on the plan required to be developed under subsection 
(a)(1).
    (c) Updates.--If the Administrator modifies the plan or the 
timetable under subsection (a), the Administrator shall submit to 
Congress a report notifying Congress of the modification, which shall 
include the details of the modification.

SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), of the total 
amount obligated for major disasters by the Agency from the Disaster 
Relief Fund for a fiscal year, the amount obligated for administrative 
costs shall not exceed the milestones set by the Agency in the plan 
developed under section 3(a)(1).
    (b) Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator may waive a requirement 
        described in subsection (a) if the Administrator--
                    (A) has completed an assessment described in 
                paragraph (3); and
                    (B) submits to the appropriate committees of 
                Congress a written explanation as to why the Agency 
                exceeded the milestones set by the Agency in the plan 
                developed under section 3(a)(1) for administrative 
                costs of major disasters for the specified fiscal year.
            (2) Public availability.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date on which the Administrator submits the written explanation 
        to Congress under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall make 
        the explanation publicly available on the website of the 
        Agency.
            (3) Assessment.--Not later than 60 days after the last day 
        of a fiscal year, the Administrator shall conduct an assessment 
        of the administrative costs of major disasters for the fiscal 
        year in order to determine whether a waiver is needed under 
        this subsection.
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