[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5175 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5175

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
   to establish a pilot grant program for mobile pet shelters during 
                    emergencies and major disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 8, 2023

   Mr. Schiff (for himself, Ms. Titus, Mr. Mast, Mr. Davis of North 
 Carolina, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Carson, Ms. Moore of 
  Wisconsin, Ms. Ross, and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
   to establish a pilot grant program for mobile pet shelters during 
                    emergencies and major disasters.

    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 ``Providing Essential Temporary 
Shelter Assistance For Emergencies Act of 2023'' or the ``PETSAFE Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
            (2) Emergency.--The term ``emergency'' means an emergency 
        declared by the President under title V of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5191 et seq.).
            (3) Major disaster.--The term ``major disaster'' means a 
        major disaster declared by the President under title IV of the 
        Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.).
            (4) Common household pet.--The term ``common household 
        pet'' means an animal, including a dog, cat, bird, rodent, 
        rabbit, or turtle, that is kept in the home as a companion 
        animal rather than for commercial purposes.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The President, acting through the Administrator, 
in coordination with State, local, and Tribal governments, shall 
establish and conduct a pilot program to provide grants for equipping 
mobile pet shelter sites for use during emergencies and major 
disasters.
    (b) Administration.--
            (1) In general.--For the purposes of the pilot program 
        under this section, the Administrator may provide funds to 
        State, local, and Tribal governments to establish a new pet 
        shelter site that is a mobile unit, which may be a companion 
        animal mobile equipment trailer, to be used in the case of 
        evacuation due to emergencies and major disasters.
            (2) Duties.--The duties of such mobile unit shall be to--
                    (A) provide--
                            (i) immediate and temporary shelter to 
                        common household pets in the case of government 
                        directed or ordered evacuation at embarkation 
                        sites in the impacted jurisdiction or shelters 
                        or reception sites within the impacted 
                        jurisdiction or a host jurisdiction; or
                            (ii) provide safe transport of common 
                        household pets that require shelter during 
                        evacuations and relocate pets to a safe 
                        location; and
                    (B) facilitate the reunification of common 
                household pets, including return transport, if 
                necessary, with the owners of such pets not later than 
                3 weeks after all evacuation warnings are lifted and 
                disaster-caused congregate shelters operation 
                transition and close.
            (3) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
                submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the 
                pilot program.
                    (B) Contents.--The Administrator shall include in 
                the report required under subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) an assessment of the effectiveness of 
                        the pilot program under this section, including 
                        consultation with State, local, and Tribal 
                        governments and private nonprofit organizations 
                        with responsibility for care and sheltering of 
                        household pets;
                            (ii) an assessment of cost savings to 
                        State, local, and Tribal governments and any 
                        benefits to individuals and households who 
                        housed a common household pet with a mobile 
                        shelter under the pilot program;
                            (iii) findings and conclusions of the 
                        Administrator with respect to the pilot 
                        program;
                            (iv) an assessment of additional 
                        authorities needed to aid the Agency in its 
                        mission of providing disaster assistance to 
                        individuals and households with pets, either 
                        under the pilot program under this section or 
                        other potential programs; and
                            (v) any recommendations of the 
                        Administrator for additional authority to 
                        continue or make permanent the pilot program.

SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM PROJECT APPROVAL.

    The authority of the Administrator to approve a project under this 
section shall cease on January 1, 2029.
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