S374-119

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Direct Property Acquisitions Act.

2. Pilot program for property acquisitions In this section: The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. The term covered community means a local government determined by the Administrator to be able to meet relevant Federal and State statutory and regulatory requirements for hazard mitigation assistance— with limited assistance from the State in which the local government is located; and for which the Administrator received positive feedback from the State in which the local government is located relating to eligibility for the pilot program. The terms local government and State have the meanings given those terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). The term pilot program means the pilot program established under subsection (b). The Administrator shall carry out a pilot program under which covered communities may directly apply to the Administrator for hazard mitigation assistance for the purposes of property acquisition and structure demolition or relocation assistance under section 404(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(b)). In determining whether a local government is a covered community for purposes of the pilot program, the Administrator shall— consult with the State in which the local government is located before determining the suitability of the local government for the pilot program; and provide a written justification to the local government and the State in which the local government is located for selecting or not selecting the local government for the pilot program, which shall be based on— the prior performance and current processes of the local government relating to property acquisitions and other hazard mitigation projects; the level of need in the local government in conducting or completing future or ongoing property acquisition and structure demolition or relocation assistance projects; the risks posed to the local government by inclement weather; and such other matters as the Administrator determines relevant. The Administrator shall select not more than 2 local governments from each Federal Emergency Management Agency region to participate in the pilot program. Not more than 1 local government shall be selected from a State within a Federal Emergency Management Agency region. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register a notice detailing the requirements for local governments seeking to participate in the pilot program. A covered community may not participate in the pilot program for a period of more than 48 months. The Administrator shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report on the effectiveness of the pilot program, which shall include— a summary of the relevant characteristics of covered communities selected for the pilot program, including relevant demographic information, the number of properties in the covered community participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, and whether each covered community was frequently impacted by other, non-flooding-related major disasters; a determination of whether the pilot program significantly expedited the property acquisition process of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in covered communities that participated in the pilot program; an evaluation of the problems, or potential problems, caused or likely to be caused by permanently allowing covered communities to directly apply for hazard mitigation assistance for the purposes of property acquisition and structure demolition or relocation assistance under section 404(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(b)), which shall be informed by— feedback from covered communities participating in the pilot program; the States in which the covered communities participating in the pilot program are located; and such other factors as the Administrator determines relevant; and an evaluation of whether the pilot program should be made permanent, ended, or extended for a certain period of time. The pilot program shall terminate not later than 8 years after the date on which the Administrator selects the covered communities for participation in the pilot program under subsection (c)(2). There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the pilot program.