[Senate Report 117-101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 359
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-101
_______________________________________________________________________
PREVENTING DISASTER REVICTIMIZATION ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
H.R. 539
TO AMEND THE DISASTER RECOVERY REFORM ACT OF 2018 TO
REQUIRE THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY TO WAIVE CERTAIN DEBTS OWED TO THE
UNITED STATES RELATED TO COVERED ASSISTANCE PROVIDED
TO AN INDIVIDUAL OR HOUSEHOLD, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
May 3, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
29-010 WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
Naveed Jazayeri, Senior Professional Staff Member
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Clyde E. Hicks Jr., Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 359
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-101
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PREVENTING DISASTER REVICTIMIZATION ACT
_______
May 3, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 539]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 539) to amend the
Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
waive certain debts owed to the United States related to
covered assistance provided to an individual or household, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5
I. Purpose and Summary
H.R. 539, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act,
requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to
waive the debt of disaster relief recipients when the Agency
later determines it mistakenly granted assistance, but the
recipient committed no fraud and made no false claim or
misrepresentation. This prevents FEMA from recouping, sometimes
years after the fact, funds that were awarded to disaster
victims when the victim acted in good faith and the error was
on the part of the Agency.
II. Background and Need for the Legislation
Disaster victims rely on FEMA's Individual Assistance (IA)
programs to help them recover from major disasters.\1\
Individual disaster victims and families often use IA funds to
cover immediate, pressing expenses including short- and medium-
term lodging, basic repairs on primary residences, and
necessary legal services and childcare.\2\ FEMA has the
statutory authority to recoup IA funds from recipients when
those funds are used inappropriately or are obtained using
fraud or false claims.\3\
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\1\See Congressional Research Service, FEMA Individual Assistance
Programs: In Brief, at 1 (R45085) (Jan. 31, 2018).
\2\See id. at 1-3.
\3\Federal Emergency Management Agency: FEMA Explains Appeals
Process for Recoupment Letters (Nov. 19, 2020); 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3711.
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In recent years, however, FEMA has used its authority to
recover funds from disaster victims who, through no fault of
their own, received disaster aid that FEMA later determined
they were not qualified to receive.\4\ These individuals, who
are victims of major natural disasters, acted in good faith,
and FEMA committed the error and returned to collect funds that
were already spent.\5\ For example, one victim whose Missouri
home was destroyed by major flooding was awarded over $12,000
for home repairs and other expenses.\6\ Months later, due to
bureaucratic confusion caused by FEMA's denial of Missouri's
first disaster assistance application and appeal, and
acceptance of the second application, the Agency demanded that
the victim pay back the money ``or face garnished Social
Security checks.''\7\ The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
estimates this bill would waive approximately $36 million in
disaster relief debt from affected disaster victims who have
been ordered to return their disaster aid.
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\4\See, e.g., Letter from Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. et. al. to Rep.
David Price et. al. (Apr. 30, 2021) (https://pallone.house.gov/sites/
pallone.house.gov/files/FY22%20CDL_Clawbacks%20
Appropriations%20Request%20Letter.pdf) (detailing FEMA's efforts to
claw back funds from Hurricane Sandy victims).
\5\Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressional
Record, H5857 (Nov. 17, 2020).
\6\Statement of Representative Sam Graves, Congressional Record,
H5857 (Nov. 17, 2020).
\7\See id.; see also Jefferson City News Tribune, FEMA Takes
$12,400 Check Back from Flood Victim (Dec. 9, 2019) (https://
www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2019/dec/09/fema-takes-12400-
check-back-from-flood-victim/807514/).
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H.R. 539 addresses this issue by requiring FEMA to waive
the debt of disaster relief recipients when the Agency later
determines that it mistakenly granted assistance but the
recipient acted in good faith and without fraud, false claims,
or misrepresentation. The bill also requires FEMA to report to
Congress on the number of mistakes it makes in IA award
determinations and on the Agency's efforts to minimize similar
errors in the future.
III. Legislative History
Representative Sam Graves (R-MO-6) introduced H.R. 539, the
Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, on January 28, 2021.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure and the House Committee on the Budget. The
House of Representatives passed the legislation under
suspension of the rules by voice vote on June 15, 2021.
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs on June 16, 2021. The
Committee considered H.R. 539 at a business meeting on July 14,
2021. During the business meeting, a modified amendment was
offered by Senator Scott, which was not adopted by roll call
vote of 4 yeas to 10 nays. Senators Johnson, Lankford, Scott,
and Paul (by proxy) voted in the affirmative. Senators Peters,
Carper, Hassan, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, Portman, Romney,
Hawley, and Sinema (by proxy) voted in the negative. The
Committee ordered the bill reported favorably by voice vote
with Senators Peters, Hassan, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, Portman,
Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley present. Senator
Scott was recorded as voting ``no.''
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section designates the short title of the bill as the
``Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.''
Section 2. Flexibility
This section amends 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5174a to require the
Administrator of FEMA to waive debts related to IA distributed
to individuals or households if the distribution was based on
an error by FEMA and the debt is construed as a hardship.
Moreover, this section requires FEMA to waive debts related to
IA if it is subject to a claim or legal action.
Additionally, this section eliminates the cap on debt
waivers and replaces it with a requirement that FEMA report to
Congress on actions taken by the Agency to reduce the error
rate in IA.
Section 3. Report to Congress
This section requires FEMA to report to Congress on the
internal processes used to make decisions regarding
distribution of IA and any changes made to those processes.
Section 4. Determination of budgetary effects
This section specifies that the budgetary effects of this
bill will be determined by referring to the ``Budgetary Effects
of PAYGO Legislation.''
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 9, 2021.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 539, the
Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Except in cases involving fraud, H.R. 539 would require the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to waive the
collection of improper payments provided to individuals or
households after major disasters declared under the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The act
also would require FEMA to report on its processes for
determining the distribution of disaster assistance.
Under current law, FEMA must recoup improper payments,
which can stem from errors in processing or from duplicate
payments. Recouped amounts are deposited into the Disaster
Relief Fund and are available to spend without further
appropriation. The agency currently has limited discretion to
waive debts.
CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted late in
fiscal year 2021. Accordingly, the budgetary effects would
begin in 2022. Using information from the agency, CBO estimates
that, in nearly all eligible cases under the act, FEMA would
waive collections, which currently total $36 million. Those
collections are recorded as reductions in direct spending, so
waiving them would increase direct spending. However, those
amounts would have been available to spend, so the bill also
would reduce outlays. Because collections precede spending,
enacting the bill would increase direct spending by $2 million
over the 2021-2026 period but would have no net effect on
direct spending over the 2021-2031 period.
The act would not change FEMA's authority to provide
disaster relief; therefore, in CBO's view H.R. 539 also would
implicitly authorize the appropriation of amounts equal to the
forgone recoveries. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing the
act would cost $36 million over the 2021-2031 period, assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts.
CBO estimates that the cost to FEMA of reporting on the
distribution of disaster assistance to individuals and
households would not be significant.
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-
reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting
direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays that
are subject to those procedures are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1.--CBO'S ESTIMATE OF THE STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS OF H.R. 539, THE PREVENTING DISASTER REVICTIMIZATION ACT, AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS ON JULY 14, 2021
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By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
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2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2021-2026 2021-2031
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Net Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit
Pay-As-You-Go Effect................................. 0 4 0 0 -1 -1 -2 0 0 0 0 2 0
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On June 14, 2021, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
539, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, as ordered
reported by the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure on March 24, 2021. The two pieces of legislation
are similar, and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are
the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director
of Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 68--DISASTER RELIEF
* * * * * * *
Subchapter IV--Major Disaster Assistance Programs
* * * * * * *
SEC. 5174A. FLEXIBILITY.
(a) Waiver Authority.--
(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term
``covered assistance'' means assistance provided--
(A) under section 5174 of this title; and
(B) in relation to a major disaster or
emergency declared by the President under
section 5170 or 5191, respectively, of this
title on or after October 28, 2012.
(2) Authority.--Notwithstanding section 3716(e) of
title 31, the Administrator--
[(A) subject to subparagraph (B), may waive a
debt owed to the United States related to
covered assistance provided to an individual or
household if--
[(i) the covered assistance was
distributed based on an error by the
Agency;
[(ii) there was no fault on behalf of
the debtor; and
[(iii) the collection of the debt
would be against equity and good
conscience; and]
(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B),
shall--
(i) waive a debt owed to the United
States related to covered assistance
provided to an individual or household
if the covered assistance was
distributed based on an error by the
Agency and such debt shall be construed
as a hardship; and
(ii) waive a debt owed to the United
States related to covered assistance
provided to an individual or household
if such assistance is subject to a
claim or legal action, including in
accordance with section 317 of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5160); and
(B) may not waive a debt under subparagraph
(A) 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.
(3) Monitoring of covered assistance distributed
based on error.--
(A) In general.--The Inspector General of the
Department of Homeland Security shall monitor
the distribution of covered assistance to
individuals and households to determine the
percentage of such assistance distributed based
on an error.
(B) [Removal of] Report on waiver authority
based on excessive error rate.--If the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland
Security determines, with respect to any 12-
month period, that the amount of covered
assistance distributed based on an error by the
Agency exceeds 4 percent of the total amount of
covered assistance distributed--
(i) the Inspector General shall
notify the Administrator and publish
the determination in the Federal
Register; and
(ii) with respect to any major
disaster or emergency declared by the
President under section 5170 or section
5191, respectively, of this title after
the date on which the determination is
published under subparagraph (A), [the
authority of the Administrator to waive
debt under paragraph (2) shall no
longer be effective] the Administrator
shall report to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate
actions that the Administrator will
take to reduce the error rate.
* * * * * * *
[all]