[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8525 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8525

  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a Disaster 
        Equity and Justice Subcommittee, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2022

  Mr. Carter of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Gimenez, and Mr. Neguse) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a Disaster 
        Equity and Justice Subcommittee, 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 ``Delivering Equity and Justice for 
Disaster Survivors Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. DISASTER EQUITY AND JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE.

    Section 508 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 318) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Disaster Equity and Justice Subcommittee.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        of the enactment of the Delivering Equity and Justice for 
        Disaster Survivors Act of 2022, the Administrator of the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish, as a 
        subcommittee of the National Advisory Council, the Disaster 
        Equity and Justice Subcommittee.
            ``(2) Membership.--The members of the Disaster Equity and 
        Justice Subcommittee shall be appointed by the Administrator, 
        in consultation with members of the National Advisory Council 
        and the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (or 
        any relevant successor organization focused on environmental 
        justice), and shall be composed of the following:
                    ``(A) Individuals that have the requisite technical 
                knowledge and expertise to address disaster equity and 
                justice issues, including--
                            ``(i) emergency management and emergency 
                        response providers, including those with direct 
                        experience serving underrepresented and 
                        underserved communities; and
                            ``(ii) State, local, and Tribal government 
                        officials, particularly officials from 
                        communities that are underrepresented and 
                        underserved, communities of color, and 
                        communities that have been disadvantaged by 
                        inequitable Federal disaster assistance in the 
                        past.
                    ``(B) Individuals who have the requisite technical 
                or experiential knowledge and expertise to serve on the 
                Disaster Equity and Justice Subcommittee, including--
                            ``(i) at least 1 academic expert who has 
                        studied equity implications of disaster 
                        response and recovery efforts; and
                            ``(ii) at least 1 representative from each 
                        of the following:
                                    ``(I) A civil rights organization.
                                    ``(II) A fair or affordable housing 
                                organization.
                                    ``(III) A Tribal and Indigenous 
                                community rights organization.
                                    ``(IV) An environmental justice 
                                organization.
                                    ``(V) A community-based and faith-
                                based organization that aids in 
                                disaster recovery and response.
                                    ``(VI) An equity, justice, bias, 
                                and non-discrimination training 
                                provider.
                    ``(C) Representatives of other stakeholders and 
                interested and affected parties as the Chair considers 
                appropriate.
            ``(3) Chair.--The Chair of the subcommittee shall be the 
        Administrator.
            ``(4) Initial meeting.--The initial meeting of the Disaster 
        Equity and Justice Subcommittee shall take place not later than 
        90 days after the date of enactment of the Delivering Equity 
        and Justice for Disaster Survivors Act of 2022.
            ``(5) Consultation with nonmembers.--The Disaster Equity 
        and Justice Subcommittee shall consult with other relevant 
        agencies and groups which are not represented on the Disaster 
        Equity and Justice Subcommittee to consider new and developing 
        practices and methods that may be beneficial to ensure the 
        equitable and just delivery of programs and aid through the 
        preparedness, response, and recovery cycles to communities and 
        individuals across the United States.
            ``(6) Recommendations.--The Disaster Equity and Justice 
        Subcommittee shall develop recommendations, as appropriate, for 
        improving equitable and just policy and program delivery 
        before, during, and after disasters, including recommendations 
        relating to the following topics:
                    ``(A) The accessibility, utilization, and receipt 
                of Agency grants and assistance by underserved, under-
                resourced, and underrepresented populations and 
                communities including--
                            ``(i) subpopulations and communities of 
                        color;
                            ``(ii) rural and remote communities;
                            ``(iii) small communities;
                            ``(iv) low-capacity communities;
                            ``(v) Tribal and Indigenous communities; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) environmental justice communities.
                    ``(B) Strategies and policy recommendations to 
                address the inequitable delivery of disaster 
                assistance, grant programs, technical assistance, and 
                training.
                    ``(C) Effective strategies to prioritize and direct 
                additional preparedness and mitigation funding to 
                improve planning, preparedness, mitigation, and 
                recovery outcomes as well as overall resilience in 
                culturally, economically, and socially vulnerable 
                communities.
                    ``(D) The capability and capacity of the workforce 
                of the Agency to deliver equitable and culturally 
                competent assistance to underrepresented communities 
                and the most effective training solutions to increase 
                cultural and equity competencies.
                    ``(E) The capacity and effectiveness of 
                consultation from Tribal and Indigenous communities to 
                the Agency and liaison roles in communicating and 
                addressing needs of all Tribal and Indigenous 
                communities and solutions to address existing 
                deficiencies, including regionally specific 
                recommendations.
                    ``(F) Any gaps in current State emergency 
                management resources and program delivery resulting in 
                inequitable access to Agency resources across different 
                States.
                    ``(G) Opportunities and strategies to ensure a 
                portion of Federal contracting and subcontracting 
                agreements are awarded equitably to minority-owned 
                businesses.
                    ``(H) Identification of opportunities to update and 
                further integrate the National Risk Index into equity 
                considerations across the Agency.
                    ``(I) Strategies to address any disparate impacts 
                climate change will have on culturally, socially, 
                economically vulnerable communities, with particular 
                consideration given to hazard mitigation, preparedness, 
                and planning resource delivery.
                    ``(J) The implementation of the Justice40 
                initiative across relevant Agency programs, as well as 
                recommendations on the data utilized in the 
                identification of eligible recipients of resources from 
                such initiative.
            ``(7) Report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of the enactment of the Delivering Equity and 
                Justice for Disaster Survivors Act of 2022, the 
                Disaster Equity and Justice Subcommittee shall submit a 
                report to the National Advisory Council that--
                            ``(i) includes the recommendations 
                        developed under paragraph (6);
                            ``(ii) specifies the time frames for 
                        implementing any such recommendations that do 
                        not require congressional action; and
                            ``(iii) identifies any such recommendations 
                        that do require congressional action.
                    ``(B) Review.--Not later than 30 days after 
                receiving the report under subparagraph (A), the 
                National Advisory Council shall begin a review of such 
                report. The National Advisory Council may ask for 
                additional clarification, changes, or other information 
                from the Disaster Equity and Justice Subcommittee to 
                assist in the approval of such report.
                    ``(C) Recommendation.--Upon approval of the report 
                of the Disaster Equity and Justice Subcommittee under 
                subparagraph (B), the National Advisory Council shall 
                submit such report to--
                            ``(i) the Administrator;
                            ``(ii) the heads of other Federal agencies 
                        with a role in disaster response and recovery, 
                        including the Department of Housing and Urban 
                        Development, Environmental Protection Agency, 
                        Department of Transportation, Department of 
                        Health and Human Services, Department of the 
                        Interior, Department of Agriculture, Small 
                        Business Administration, Economic Development 
                        Administration, United States Coast Guard, 
                        National Guard, and Department of Homeland 
                        Security;
                            ``(ii) the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on 
                        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
                        Senate; and
                            ``(iii) the Committee on Homeland Security, 
                        the Committee on Transportation and 
                        Infrastructure, and the Committee on Financial 
                        Services of the House of Representatives.
            ``(8) Interim updates and oversight.--After the submission 
        of the report by the National Advisory Council under paragraph 
        (7), the Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) provide annual updates to the congressional 
                committees referred to in clauses (ii) and (iii) of 
                paragraph (7)(C) regarding the status of the 
                implementation of the recommendations contained in such 
                report; and
                    ``(B) coordinate the implementation of such 
                recommendations, as appropriate.
            ``(9) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian Tribe' has 
                the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian 
                Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
                U.S.C. 5304).
                    ``(B) Tribal and indigenous community.--The term 
                `Tribal and Indigenous community' means a population of 
                people who are members of--
                            ``(i) a federally recognized Indian Tribe;
                            ``(ii) a State-recognized Indian Tribe;
                            ``(iii) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 
                        community or organization; or
                            ``(iv) any other community of Indigenous 
                        people located in a State.
                    ``(C) Tribal government.--The term `Tribal 
                government' means the governing body of an Indian 
                Tribe.''.
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