117th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide flexibility with the cost share for fire management assistance, and for other purposes.
February 15, 2021
Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mr. Curtis, Mr. O'Halleran, Mr. Stewart, Ms. Norton, Ms. Jackson Lee, and Mr. San Nicolas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide flexibility with the cost share for fire management assistance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Wildfire Recovery Act”.
SEC. 2. Fire management assistance cost share.
Section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Federal share.—The Federal share of assistance under this section shall be not less than 75 percent of the eligible cost, as set forth in the regulations, of such assistance.”.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior, shall conduct and complete a rulemaking to develop guidelines and a rule that establishes thresholds for cases in which the Federal cost share for section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187) may be increased. Such thresholds shall use a fire-specific metric to determine fire damage referred to in subsection (a) of such section, and recommend a Federal cost share adjustment for fire damage that meets the established thresholds. The Administrator shall follow all notice and comment requirements set forth in section 553 of title 5, United States Code, for such rulemaking.