I
118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 6997
To establish an advisory group to encourage and foster collaborative efforts among individuals and entities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris removal, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 16, 2024
Mr. LALOTA (for himself and Mr. P APPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL
To establish an advisory group to encourage and foster col- laborative efforts among individuals and entities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris removal, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Contract Im-4
provement Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT ON DEBRIS REMOVAL. 6
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7
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(1) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2
Emergency Management Agency. 3
(2) D EBRIS REMOVAL PROGRAM .—The term 4
‘‘debris removal program’’ means the program estab-5
lished under section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford 6
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 7
U.S.C. 5173). 8
(b) ADVISORY WORKING GROUP.— 9
(1) I N GENERAL .—The Administrator shall es-10
tablish an advisory working group to encourage and 11
foster collaborative efforts among individuals and en-12 tities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris 13 removal. 14
(2) M EMBERSHIP.—The advisory working 15
group established under paragraph (1) shall be com-16
prised of— 17
(A) representatives from the Federal 18
Emergency Management Agency; 19
(B) representatives from the Army Corps 20
of Engineers; 21
(C) representatives from the Natural Re-22
sources Conservation Service of the Department 23
of Agriculture; 24
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(D) representatives of States, Tribal gov-1
ernments, and units of local government; and 2
(E) subject matter experts in debris re-3
moval, including not less than 1 representative 4
from the debris services contractor industry. 5
(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 6
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consulta-7 tion with the advisory working group established under 8 subsection (b)(1), shall— 9
(1) determine whether guidance and procedures 10
in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act with 11 respect to the oversight and cost of debris removal 12
contracts entered into under the debris removal pro-13
gram are sufficient; and 14
(2) if the Administrator, in consultation with 15
the advisory working group established under sub-16
section (b)(1), determines that the guidance and 17
procedures described in paragraph (1) are insuffi-18
cient, develop and implement additional such guid-19
ance and procedures, including— 20
(A) a requirement that each State, Tribal 21
government, and unit of local government re-22
ceiving a grant under the debris removal pro-23
gram take the primary role in the oversight 24
function of debris removal; 25
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(B) guidance for State, Tribal, and local 1
debris monitors relating to debris removal oper-2
ations, debris operations oversight, and con-3
tractor oversight, including contractor moni-4
toring; 5
(C) guidance for streamlining the reim-6
bursement of debris costs overall, including de-7
bris management planning and support for re-8
silience in debris removal operations; 9
(D) checklists, job aids, eligibility require-10
ments, contract requirements, debris manage-11
ment planning guidance, sample bids, and other 12
items, as determined necessary by the Adminis-13
trator, for State and local debris monitors; 14
(E) a list of the specific debris removal 15
monitoring responsibilities expected to be com-16
pleted by a State that receives a grant under 17
the debris removal program; 18
(F) a list of the specific debris removal 19
monitoring responsibilities expected to be com-20
pleted by recipients of a grant under the debris 21
removal program; and 22
(G) guidance for State and Tribal govern-23
ments and units of local government to reduce 24
duplication and inefficiency in debris removal 25
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contracting across the Federal Government, 1
State and Tribal governments, and units of 2
local government. 3
(d) T RAINING.—The Administrator shall conduct 4
outreach to States, Tribal governments, and units of local 5 government with respect to any guidance or support mate-6 rials developed under this section. 7
(e) GAO S TUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 8
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 9 of the United States shall conduct a study that— 10
(1) studies the use and adoption rate of ad-11
vance contracts for debris removal by selected 12
States, Tribal governments, and units of local gov-13
ernment; 14
(2) identifies the benefits and challenges of ad-15
vance contracts for debris removal; 16
(3) with respect to the reporting and informa-17
tion sharing processes, as of the date of enactment 18
of this Act, for advance contracts for debris removal 19 between States and units of local government and 20
Federal partners— 21
(A) assesses those processes; and 22
(B) makes any necessary recommendations 23
for those processes; 24
(4) studies— 25
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(A) the process for setting Federal reim-1
bursement rates for the debris removal pro-2
gram; 3
(B) the use of penalties, as of the date of 4
enactment of this Act, for violations of law and 5
regulations relating to debris removal; and 6
(C) fraud, waste, and abuse relating to the 7
debris removal program, including case studies; 8
and 9
(5) makes any necessary recommendations for 10
improvements to oversight and fraud prevention 11
across the debris removal program. 12
Æ
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