[Senate Report 117-194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                  Calendar No. 545

117th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
 2nd Session  }                                           { 117-194

======================================================================
 
             PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              TO ACCOMPANY
                              
                               H.R. 3709

               TO DIRECT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL
                EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY TO SUBMIT TO
                CONGRESS A REPORT ON PRELIMINARY DAMAGE
              ASSESSMENTS AND MAKE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS
            TO PROCESSES IN THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
                     AGENCY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


               November 14, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
               
                              __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
39-010                     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 Director of Homeland Security
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                                                 Calendar No. 545

117th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
 2nd Session  }                                           { 117-194

======================================================================.                 
             
              PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

               November 14, 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. 3709]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 3709) to direct 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 
submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessments 
and make necessary improvements to processes in the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, 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. 3709, the Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement 
Act of 2021, directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a report 
describing the preliminary damage assessment process, as 
carried out by FEMA in the five years before this bill's 
enactment. The legislation also requires FEMA to convene an 
advisory panel to assist the agency in improving critical 
components of the preliminary damage assessment process. Once 
the advisory panel issues their report, FEMA is required to 
issue regulations to implement those recommendations and submit 
a report to Congress on the implementation of recommendations, 
the identification of any additional challenges to the 
preliminary damage assessment process, and any additional 
legislative recommendations necessary for Congress to consider 
to improve the preliminary damage assessment process.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    State, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) representatives 
are generally responsible for conducting preliminary damage 
assessments (PDA) with the assistance of FEMA officials to 
identify the extent of damages after a disaster and ahead of a 
governor's or chief executive's submittal to the President of a 
request for FEMA assistance.\1\ FEMA utilizes PDA findings 
after a disaster to determine the magnitude of damage and the 
resulting unmet needs in an affected community or area.\2\ The 
information collected through the PDA process plays a vital 
role in the determination of whether damages sustained 
following a disaster are of a significant magnitude to warrant 
a disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Pub. L. 93-288 as 
amended).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\CFR Sec.  206.33.
    \2\Federal Emergency Management Agency, Public Assistance Program 
and Policy Guide, Version 4, (FP 104-009-2) (June 2020).
    \3\44 CFR Sec.  206.35 and 206.36.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Current federal rulemaking says that it is in the ``best 
interest of all parties to combine state and federal personnel 
resources by performing a joint PDA prior to the initiation of 
a governor's request . . .''.\4\ Federal code of regulations 
specifically recommends the federal government use damage 
assessment teams to coordinate with state officials.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\44 CFR Sec.  206.33.
    \5\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite the significance of PDAs, FEMA regions have 
received reports of discrepancies regarding the inconsistency 
of information, data, and FEMA staffing involved in the PDA 
process.\6\ H.R. 3709 will require FEMA to convene an advisory 
panel to examine the PDA process, consider establishing a 
consistent training program for FEMA personnel to effectively 
and uniformly support these assessments, provide a report to 
Congress regarding the findings of the panel and actions that 
will need to be taken to reform the joint PDA process, and 
initiate a rulemaking to implement such recommendations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Government Accountability Office, FEMA Disaster Workforce: 
Actions Needed to Address Deployment and Staff Development Challenges 
(GAO-20-360) (May 2020) at 39.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Rep. John Katko (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3709, the 
Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2021, on June 
4, 2021, with Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY). The bill passed the 
House of Representatives under suspension of the rules on 
November 4, 2021 by a roll call vote of 402-11.
    The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. The Committee considered 
H.R. 3709 at a business meeting on August 3, 2022. The bill was 
ordered to be favorably reported without amendment by voice 
vote en bloc. Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, 
Ossoff, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley were present for 
the vote.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2021.''

Section 2. Findings

    This section describes the findings of Congress related to 
the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) process. The section 
states that various factors can impact the duration of a PDA 
and the subsequent submission of a major disaster request and 
that accurate, efficient PDAs will become critically important 
to the relief process for disaster-impacted state, tribal, 
territorial, and local (SLTT) governments and disaster 
survivors.

Section 3. Report to Congress

    This section directs the FEMA Administrator to submit to 
Congress a report describing the preliminary damage assessment 
process, including the Agency's process for deploying personnel 
to support PDAs, the number of FEMA staff participating on 
disaster assessment teams, the training and experience of such 
staff, and FEMA's efforts to maintain a consistent liaison 
between the agency and SLTT officials within a disaster area.

Section 4. Preliminary damage assessment

    This section directs the FEMA Administrator to establish a 
panel of SLTT emergency managers to assist the Agency in 
improving critical components of the PDA process, including 
making recommendations to improve the training regime within 
FEMA to ensure PDAs are conducted and reviewed under consistent 
guidelines. This section also directs the FEMA Administrator to 
initiate a rulemaking to implement such recommendations.

                   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, September 15, 2022.
Hon. Gary 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. 3709, the 
Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2021.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    Following a major disaster declared under the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) works with state and 
local partners to generate a preliminary damage assessment 
(PDA) quantifying the potential magnitude of damages caused by 
the event. That assessment informs subsequent requests for 
federal assistance.
    H.R. 3709 would require FEMA to convene an advisory panel 
consisting of federal, state, and local officials to make 
recommendations on training, the use of a technological 
platform to integrate data, and other ways to improve the PDA 
process. Under the bill, FEMA would need to issue regulations 
to implement any activities that the panel recommends. Finally, 
the bill would require the agency to report to the Congress on 
several issues, including the PDA process and the panel's 
recommendations.
    The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall 
within budget function 450 (community and regional 
development).
    CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted by the end of 
calendar year 2022 and that FEMA would begin implementing the 
recommendations from the panel in fiscal year 2023. In total, 
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $27 million 
over the 2022-2027 period; that spending would be subject to 
the availability of appropriated funds.

               TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER H.R. 3709
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   2022     2023     2024     2025     2026     2027   2022-2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization........................        0        7        5        5        5        5         27
Estimated Outlays..............................        0        7        5        5        5        5         27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CBO cannot determine what recommendations the panel would 
make in its final report. Based on information from the agency, 
however, we expect that the panel would recommend the creation 
of a common technological platform for integrating PDA data 
from federal, state, and local officials, as well as additional 
training for FEMA officials.
    Using information from FEMA about the costs of software 
systems for its grant programs, CBO estimates that it would 
cost $22 million through 2027 to develop a technological 
platform. Most of those costs would probably be for contracts 
with a software vendor. In addition, CBO estimates that 
training officials throughout the country on PDA guidelines and 
processes would cost about $4 million over the 2022-2027 
period. Finally, based on the costs of similar advisory panels 
and reporting requirements, we estimate that implementing those 
requirements would cost about $1 million.
    The panel could recommend implementing more, fewer, or 
different activities than CBO used as the basis for this 
estimate. Depending on what the panel ultimately recommends, 
the costs of implementing H.R. 3709 could be higher or lower 
than our estimate.
    On October 19, 2021, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 3709, the Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 
2021, as ordered reported by the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure on July 28, 2021. CBO's 
estimate for the Senate's version of the legislation reflects a 
later assumed enactment date and an additional year of 
estimated costs.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation would make no change in existing law, 
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of 
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this 
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current 
law.

                                  [all]