PUBLIC LAW 106–390—OCT. 30, 2000
106th Congress
DISASTER MITIGATION ACT OF 2000
TITLE I—PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires, pose great danger to human life and to property throughout the United States;
(2) greater emphasis needs to be placed on—
(A) identifying and assessing the risks to States and local governments (including Indian tribes) from natural disasters;
(B) implementing adequate measures to reduce losses from natural disasters; and
(C) ensuring that the critical services and facilities of communities will continue to function after a natural disaster;
(3) expenditures for post-disaster assistance are increasing without commensurate reductions in the likelihood of future losses from natural disasters;
(4) in the expenditure of Federal funds under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), high priority should be given to mitigation of hazards at the local level; and
(5) with a unified effort of economic incentives, awareness and education, technical assistance, and demonstrated Federal support, States and local governments (including Indian tribes) will be able to—
(A) form effective community-based partnerships for hazard mitigation purposes;
(B) implement effective hazard mitigation measures that reduce the potential damage from natural disasters;
(C) ensure continued functionality of critical services;
(D) leverage additional non-Federal resources in meeting natural disaster resistance goals; and
(E) make commitments to long-term hazard mitigation efforts to be applied to new and existing structures.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to establish a national disaster hazard mitigation program—
(1) to reduce the loss of life and property, human suffering, economic disruption, and disaster assistance costs resulting from natural disasters; and
(2) to provide a source of pre-disaster hazard mitigation funding that will assist States and local governments (including Indian tribes) in implementing effective hazard mitigation measures that are designed to ensure the continued functionality of critical services and facilities after a natural disaster.
SEC. 102. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 203. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF SMALL IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITY.—In this section, the term ‘small impoverished community’ means a community of 3,000 or fewer individuals that is economically disadvantaged, as determined by the State in which the community is located and based on criteria established by the President.
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The President may establish a program to provide technical and financial assistance to States and local governments to assist in the implementation of pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures that are cost-effective and are designed to reduce injuries, loss of life, and damage and destruction of property, including damage to critical services and facilities under the jurisdiction of the States or local governments.
‘‘(c) APPROVAL BY PRESIDENT.—If the President determines that
a State or local government has identified natural disaster hazards in areas under its jurisdiction and has demonstrated the ability to form effective public-private natural disaster hazard mitigation partnerships, the President, using amounts in the National Predisaster Mitigation Fund established under subsection (i) (referred to in this section as the ‘Fund’), may provide technical and financial assistance to the State or local government to be used in accordance with subsection (e).
‘‘(d) STATE RECOMMENDATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Governor of each State may recommend to the President not fewer than five local governments to receive assistance under this section.
‘‘(B) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—The recommendations under subparagraph (A) shall be submitted to the President not later than October 1, 2001, and each October 1st thereafter or such later date in the year as the President may establish.
‘‘(C) CRITERIA.—In making recommendations under subparagraph (A), a Governor shall consider the criteria specified in subsection (g).
‘‘(2) USE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), in providing assistance to local governments under
this section, the President shall select from local governments
recommended by the Governors under this subsection.
‘‘(B) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—In providing assistance to local governments under this section, the President may select a local government that has not been recommended by a Governor under this subsection if the President determines that extraordinary circumstances justify the selection and that making the selection will further
the purpose of this section.
‘‘(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO NOMINATE.—If a Governor of a State fails to submit recommendations under this subsection in a timely manner, the President may select, subject to the criteria specified in subsection (g), any local governments of the State to receive assistance under this section.
‘‘(e) USES OF TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Technical and financial assistance provided under this section—
‘‘(A) shall be used by States and local governments principally to implement pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures that are cost-effective and are described in proposals approved by the President under this section; and
‘‘(B) may be used—
‘‘(i) to support effective public-private natural disaster hazard mitigation partnerships;
‘‘(ii) to improve the assessment of a community’s vulnerability to natural hazards; or
‘‘(iii) to establish hazard mitigation priorities, and an appropriate hazard mitigation plan, for a community.
‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION.—A State or local government may use not more than 10 percent of the financial assistance received by the State or local government under this section for a fiscal year to fund activities to disseminate information regarding cost-effective mitigation technologies.
‘‘(f ) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The amount of financial assistance made available to a State (including amounts made available to local governments of the State) under this section for a fiscal year—
‘‘(1) shall be not less than the lesser of—
‘‘(A) $500,000; or
‘‘(B) the amount that is equal to 1.0 percent of the total funds appropriated to carry out this section for the fiscal year;
‘‘(2) shall not exceed 15 percent of the total funds described in paragraph (1)(B); and
‘‘(3) shall be subject to the criteria specified in subsection (g).
‘‘(g) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE AWARDS.—In determining whether to provide technical and financial assistance to a State or local government under this section, the President shall take into account—
‘‘(1) the extent and nature of the hazards to be mitigated;
‘‘(2) the degree of commitment of the State or local government to reduce damages from future natural disasters;
‘‘(3) the degree of commitment by the State or local government to support ongoing non-Federal support for the hazard mitigation measures to be carried out using the technical and
financial assistance;
‘‘(4) the extent to which the hazard mitigation measures to be carried out using the technical and financial assistance contribute to the mitigation goals and priorities established by the State;
‘‘(5) the extent to which the technical and financial assistance is consistent with other assistance provided under this Act;
‘‘(6) the extent to which prioritized, cost-effective mitigation activities that produce meaningful and definable outcomes are clearly identified;
‘‘(7) if the State or local government has submitted a mitigation plan under section 322, the extent to which the activities identified under paragraph (6) are consistent with the mitigation plan;
‘‘(8) the opportunity to fund activities that maximize net benefits to society;
‘‘(9) the extent to which assistance will fund mitigation activities in small impoverished communities; and
‘‘(10) such other criteria as the President establishes in consultation with State and local governments.
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