[Senate Report 118-194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                  Calendar No. 440

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
   2d Session }                                           { 118-194

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

                     PROMOTING RESILIENT BUILDINGS 
                              ACT OF 2023

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                               H.R. 5473

          TO AMEND CERTAIN LAWS RELATING TO DISASTER RECOVERY
            AND RELIEF WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
                 BUILDING CODES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES


[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                 July 23, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
                 
                               __________

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
                         WASHINGTON : 2024                    
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                    
                
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California       ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                      Alan S. Kahn, Chief Counsel
           Naveed Jazayeri, Senior Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
          Megan M. Krynen, Minority Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                                                  Calendar No. 440

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
   2d Session }                                           { 118-194

======================================================================
 
               PROMOTING RESILIENT BUILDINGS ACT OF 2023

                                _______
                                

                 July 23, 2024.--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. 5473]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 5473) to amend 
certain laws relating to disaster recovery and relief with 
respect to the implementation of building codes, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends 
that the bill, as amended, 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. 5473, the Promoting Resilient Buildings Act of 2024, 
amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (Stafford Act) to modify the eligible use of 
building codes for two Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) grant programs. The bill also requires FEMA to set up a 
residential resilience pilot program under the Building 
Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program to make 
assistance available to States and local governments to provide 
grants to individuals for residential resilience retrofits.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    In 2018, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) was 
enacted in response to numerous natural disasters, including 
the 2017 hurricane season and wildfires in California, which 
catalyzed changes in federal emergency management policy.\1\ 
The DRRA amended sections of the Stafford Act and established 
the definition of `latest published editions' of relevant 
consensus-based codes, specifications, and standards for the 
BRIC program to include the two latest published editions of 
those codes.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Congressional Research Service, Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 
2018 (DRRA): A Summary of Selected Statutory Provisions (R45819) (July 
8, 2019).; FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-254.
    \2\Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 
Pub. L. No. 93-288.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This bill would permanently extend the building code 
definition laid out in the DRRA, which expired in October 2023. 
The bill would also require FEMA to conduct a pilot program 
within BRIC to fund resilient residential retrofits to help 
improve individual and community resilience. The bill also 
amends the authorizing statute for the Safeguarding Tomorrow 
Revolving Loan Fund to remove `establishing and carrying out 
building code enforcement' as an eligible use. The Safeguarding 
Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund provides long-term loans to 
communities for mitigation projects.

                        III. Legislative History

    H.R. 5473, the Promoting Resilient Buildings Act of 2023, 
was introduced on September 14, 2023, by Representative Chuck 
Edwards (R-NC-11). Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-
Colon (R-PR-At Large), Rep. Nicholas A. Langworthy (R-NY-23) 
and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5) joined as cosponsors later. 
On December 11, 2023, the House of Representatives passed the 
bill under a suspension of the rules by unanimous consent. The 
bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered H.R. 5473 at a business meeting on 
April 10, 2024. At the business meeting, Senator Peters offered 
a substitute amendment and a modification to that amendment. 
The Peters substitute amendment, as modified, includes a rule 
of construction, adds language to remove authority from 
Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund to fund localities 
establishing or enforcing building codes, and updates the 
reporting requirements for the residential retrofit pilot 
program. The Committee adopted the modification to the Peters 
substitute amendment, and the Peters substitute amendment, as 
modified, by unanimous consent, with Senator Peters, Hassan, 
Sinema, Rosen, Ossoff, Blumenthal, Paul, Lankford, Romney, 
Scott, and Hawley present.
    The bill, as amended by the modified Peters substitute 
amendment, was reported favorably by a roll call vote of 11 
yeas to 0 nays, with Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, 
Ossoff, Blumenthal, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Marshall 
voting in the affirmative. Senators Carper, Butler, Johnson, 
and Hawley voted yea by proxy, for the record only.

        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 
``Promoting Resilient Buildings Act of 2024.''

Section 2. Predisaster hazard mitigation

    This section extends a building code definition from the 
DRRA. It defines the latest published editions of building 
codes to mean the two latest published editions of such codes.

Section 3. Hazard mitigation revolving loan fund program

    This section amends section 205(f)(5) of the Stafford Act 
to strike the building codes as an eligible use in the program.

Section 4. Residential retrofit and resilience pilot program

    Subsection (a) defines the terms ``Administrator'' and 
``Residential Resilient Retrofits'' within the bill.
    Subsection (b) requires the FEMA Administrator to establish 
a residential resilience pilot program that provides assistance 
to States and local governments to fund grants to individuals 
for residential resilience retrofits.
    Subsection (c) requires the Administrator to not use more 
than 10 percent of the assistance made available to 
applications on an annual basis.
    Subsection (d) requires the pilot program be established 
within 1 year after the enactment date and terminated on 
September 30, 2026.
    Subsection (e) requires the Administrator to provide 
oversight, ensuring the State or local government provides 
grants to individuals with demonstrated financial need.
    Subsection (f) requires the Administrator to submit a 
report, no later than 4 years after the enactment date, to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
of the House of Representatives. The report must include a 
summary of grant awards and projects and the results they 
achieved, estimate of avoidance in disaster impacts, and 
identified implementation challenges and improvement 
recommendations.
    Subsection (g) states this section shall only apply to 
amounts appropriated on or after the date of enactment apply.

Section 5. Rule of construction

    This section states the only programs affected will be the 
predisaster hazard mitigation program or the hazard mitigation 
revolving loan fund program.

                   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


[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    H.R. 5473 would authorize the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) to award grants to state and tribal governments 
designed to mitigate the effects of future disasters on 
residential properties by reducing damages from flooding, wind, 
wildfire, and seismic activity. Under the legislation, the 
agency could allocate up to 10 percent of funds set aside each 
year for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities 
(BRIC) program for the new grants. The BRIC program is funded 
through amounts that the agency sets aside within the Disaster 
Relief Fund. The new grant program would terminate after 2026.
    The legislation also would require FEMA to report to the 
Congress within four years of enactment summarizing the awards 
made under the pilot program, including an estimate of the 
amount of damage avoided under the program.
    Over the 2019-2023 period, FEMA set aside an average of 
about $500 million annually for the BRIC program, excluding 
amounts related to the coronavirus pandemic. Assuming that FEMA 
continues to allocate the same amount and that it would 
allocate the full 10 percent of that amount allowed under the 
legislation for new grants, CBO estimates that under H.R. 5473 
the agency would allocate $50 million annually in 2025 and 
2026.
    Based on historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that 
implementing H.R. 5473 would cost $96 million over the 2024-
2029 period, and an additional $4 million after 2029.
    The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall 
within budget function 450 (community and regional 
development).

               TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER H.R. 5473
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   2024     2025     2026     2027     2028     2029   2024-2029
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization........................        0       50       50        0        0        0       100
Estimated Outlays..............................        0        *       13       31       33       19        96
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* = between zero and $500,000.

    The CBO staff for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate 
was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget 
Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       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):

ROBERT T. STAFFORD DISASTER RELIEF AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE ACT

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE II--DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION ASSISTANCE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 203. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (m) Latest Published Editions.--For purposes of subsections 
(e)(1)(B)(iv) and (g)(10), the term `latest published editions' 
means, with respect to relevant consensus-based codes, 
specifications, and standards, the 2 most recently published 
editions.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 205. GRANTS TO ENTITIES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF HAZARD MITIGATION 
                    REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (f) Use of Funds.--
          (1) * * *
          (2) * * *
          (3) * * *
          (4) * * *
          [(5) Establishing and carrying out building code 
        enforcement.--A participating entity may use 
        capitalization grants under this section to enable 
        units of local government to establish and carry out 
        the latest published editions of relevant building 
        codes, specifications, and standards for the purpose of 
        protecting the health, safety, and general welfare of 
        the building's users against disasters and natural 
        hazards.]
          [(6)](5) Administrative and technical costs.--For 
        each fiscal year, a participating entity may use the 
        amount described in paragraph (1)(C) to--
                  (A) pay the reasonable costs of administering 
                the programs under this section, including the 
                cost of establishing an entity loan fund; and
                  (B) provide technical assistance to 
                recipients of financial assistance from the 
                entity loan fund, on the condition that such 
                technical assistance does not exceed 5 percent 
                of the capitalization grant made to such 
                entity.
          [(7)](6) Limitation for single projects.--A 
        participating entity may not provide an amount equal to 
        or more than $5,000,000 to a single hazard mitigation 
        project.
          [(8)](7) Requirements.--For fiscal year 2022 and each 
        fiscal year thereafter, the requirements of subchapter 
        IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, shall 
        apply to the construction of projects carried out in 
        whole or in part with assistance made available by an 
        entity loan fund authorized by this section.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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