[House Report 112-712]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     112-712

======================================================================



 
                COMMUNITY SHELTER PROTECTION ACT OF 2011

                                _______
                                

 December 20, 2012.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Mica, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2919]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 2919) to eliminate the 
reimbursement requirement for certain tornado shelters 
constructed with Federal assistance, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose of Legislation...........................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Legislative History and Consideration............................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     4
Federal Mandate Statement........................................     4
Preemption Clarification.........................................     4
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     5
Applicability of Legislative Branch..............................     5
Section by Section Analysis of Legislation.......................     5
Changes in Existing Law made by the Bill, as Reported............     5

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Community Shelter Protection Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. NO REIMBURSEMENT REQUIRED FOR COVERED TORNADO SHELTER 
                    FACILITIES.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may not require an 
educational institution to reimburse FEMA for the market value of a 
covered temporary tornado shelter facility.
  (b) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
          (1) Covered temporary tornado shelter facility.--The term 
        ``covered temporary tornado shelter facility'' means a 
        structure--
                  (A) designed to provide children protection from a 
                tornado; and
                  (B) constructed or acquired with Federal financial 
                assistance.
          (2) Educational institution.--The term ``educational 
        institution'' means any elementary school or any secondary 
        school provided FEMA assistance pursuant to section 403 of the 
        Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 5170b).

                         PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION

    H.R. 2919 would eliminate the reimbursement requirement for 
certain tornado shelters constructed with Federal assistance, 
and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 2919, the Community Shelter Protection Act of 2011, 
would eliminate the reimbursement requirement for certain 
tornado shelters constructed with Federal assistance, and for 
other purposes.
    This bill addresses a problem with the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) policy concerning temporary tornado 
shelters for schools that were severely damaged by tornados 
earlier this year. Under current FEMA regulations, elementary 
and secondary schools are required to pay FEMA the fair market 
value of a covered temporary tornado shelter facility when the 
facility is no longer needed for its temporary purpose or pay 
to have it disposed.
    This legislation would prevent FEMA from requiring an 
educational institution Public Assistance applicant to 
reimburse FEMA for these shelters. This legislation fixes the 
current policy that forces cash-strapped schools to choose 
between purchasing a life-saving shelter or having it removed 
or demolished, putting the safety of children at risk, while 
wasting taxpayer funds to tear down a functioning shelter that 
taxpayers have already paid to erect.

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were held on H.R. 2919.

                 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND CONSIDERATION

    On September 14, 2011, Congressman Spencer Bachus, 
introduced H.R. 2919, the Community Shelter Protection Act of 
2011. H.R. 2919 has eight co-sponsors.
    On October 13, 2011, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session, and ordered the bill 
reported favorably to the House by voice vote with a quorum 
present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the House of Representatives 
requires each committee report to include the total number of 
votes cast for and against on each record vote on a motion to 
report and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, 
and the names of those members voting for and against. There 
were no record votes taken in connection with consideration of 
H.R. 2919, or ordering the bill reported. A motion to order 
H.R. 2919 reported favorably to the House was agreed to by 
voice vote with a quorum present.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the 
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is 
included in this report.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2919 from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, October 31, 2011.
Hon. John L. Mica,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2919, a bill to 
eliminate the reimbursement requirement for certain tornado 
shelters constructed with federal assistance, and for other 
purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Daniel 
Hoople.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2919--A bill to eliminate the reimbursement requirement for 
        certain tornado shelters constructed with federal assistance, 
        and for other purposes

    H.R. 2919 would allow elementary and secondary schools to 
retain temporary tornado shelters constructed using federal 
funds without reimbursing the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA). Enacting this legislation would affect direct 
spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. 
However, CBO estimates that the net effects would be 
insignificant for each year.
    Under current law, schools receiving federal disaster 
assistance may construct a temporary tornado shelter when a 
pre-existing shelter has been damaged. Once the temporary 
shelter is no longer in use, the property may be transferred 
back to the federal government for disposal or retained by the 
school for sale or use. If the shelter is retained by the 
school, FEMA must be reimbursed in an amount equal to the sale 
proceeds or market value, multiplied by the federal share of 
construction costs (typically 75 percent).
    H.R. 2919 would allow schools to retain a temporary tornado 
shelter without reimbursing FEMA, thereby decreasing receipts 
to the federal government (recorded as an increase in direct 
spending). Based on information from FEMA, CBO estimates those 
receipts will be insignificant over the next 10 years. Under 
current law, proceeds from the disposal of temporary shelters 
are available to provide future disaster assistance without 
further appropriation action. Thus, a decrease in receipts from 
property disposal also would reduce direct spending by an 
equivalent amount, resulting in no net impact on the budget.
    Because this legislation would reduce amounts available to 
FEMA for disaster relief, additional appropriations to FEMA may 
be necessary in the future. CBO estimates the cost of any 
additional appropriations under this bill would be 
insignificant in each year.
    H.R. 2919 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Daniel Hoople. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goal and objective of this legislation is to 
eliminate the reimbursement requirement for certain tornado 
shelters constructed with Federal assistance, and for other 
purposes.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee is required to include a list 
of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. No 
provision in the bill includes an earmark, limited tax benefit, 
or limited tariff benefit under clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of 
rule XXI.

                       FEDERAL MANDATE STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the ``Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act'' (P.L. 104-4).

                        PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint 
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the 
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, 
or tribal law. The Committee states that H.R. 2919 does not 
preempt any state, local, or tribal law.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this 
legislation.

                  APPLICABILITY OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (P.L. 104-1).

               SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title as the Community 
Shelter Protection Act of 2011.

Section 2. No reimbursement required for covered tornado shelter 
        facilities

    This section prohibits FEMA from requiring an educational 
institution Public Assistance applicant to reimburse FEMA for 
the market value of a covered temporary tornado shelter 
facility when the facility is no longer needed for its 
temporary purpose. This section also establishes definitions 
for a ``Covered Temporary Tornado Shelter'' and ``Educational 
Institution.''

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 2919 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  
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