42 U.S.C. § 5189h — Agency accountability

Page 6424 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 5189g and any recommendations for changes to the alternative procedures. (Pub. L. 93–288, title IV, § 428, as added Pub. L. 113–2, div. B, § 1102(2), Jan. 29, 2013, 127 Stat. 39; amended Pub. L. 115–254, div. D, § 1207(c), (d), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3440, 3441.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of enactment of this Act, referred to in sub- sec. (a), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 113–2, which enacted this section and was approved Jan. 29, 2013. This chapter, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L. 93–288, May 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 143. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under sec- tion 5121 of this title and Tables. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, referred to in subsec. (g), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of Title 29 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–254, § 1207(c), designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted heading, and added par. (2). Subsec. (e)(1)(G). Pub. L. 115–254, § 1207(d), added sub- par. (G). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2018 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 115–254 applicable to each major disaster and emergency declared by the Presi- dent on or after Aug. 1, 2017, and authorities provided under div. D of Pub. L. 115–254 applicable to each major disaster and emergency declared by the President on or after Jan. 1, 2016, except as otherwise provided, see sec- tion 1202 of Pub. L. 115–254, set out as a note under sec- tion 5121 of this title. § 5189g. Unified Federal review (a) In general Not later than 18 months after January 29, 2013, and in consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality and the Advisory Coun- cil on Historic Preservation, the President shall establish an expedited and unified interagency review process to ensure compliance with envi- ronmental and historic requirements under Fed- eral law relating to disaster recovery projects, in order to expedite the recovery process, con- sistent with applicable law. (b) Contents The review process established under this sec- tion shall include mechanisms to expeditiously address delays that may occur during the recov- ery from a major disaster and be updated, as ap- propriate, consistent with applicable law. (Pub. L. 93–288, title IV, § 429, as added Pub. L. 113–2, div. B, § 1106, Jan. 29, 2013, 127 Stat. 45.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries UNIFIED FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEW Pub. L. 115–254, div. D, § 1220, Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3453, provided that: ‘‘(a) REVIEW AND ANALYSIS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 5, 2018], the Administrator [of the Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency] shall review the Unified Federal Envi- ronmental and Historic Preservation review process es- tablished pursuant to section 429 of the Robert T. Staf- ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5189g), and submit a report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep- resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate that includes the following: ‘‘(1) An analysis of whether and how the unified process has expedited the interagency review process to ensure compliance with the environmental and historic requirements under Federal law relating to disaster recovery projects. ‘‘(2) A survey and analysis of categorical exclusions used by other Federal agencies that may be applica- ble to any activity related to a major disaster or emergency declared by the President under section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Stafford Dis- aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191). ‘‘(3) Recommendations on any further actions, in- cluding any legislative proposals, needed to expedite and streamline the review process. ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—After completing the review, sur- vey, and analyses under subsection (a), but not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and after providing notice and opportunity for public comment, the Administrator shall issue regulations to implement any regulatory recommendations, including any categorical exclusions identified under subsection (a), to the extent that the categorical exclusions meet the criteria for a categorical exclusion under section 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, and sec- tion II of DHS Instruction Manual 023–01–001–01.’’ § 5189h. Agency accountability (a) Public assistance Not later than 5 days after an award of a pub- lic assistance grant is made under section 5172 of this title that is in excess of $1,000,000, the Ad- ministrator of the Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency shall publish on the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency the specifics of each such grant award, including— (1) identifying the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency Region; (2) the disaster or emergency declaration number; (3) the State, county, and applicant name; (4) if the applicant is a private nonprofit or- ganization; (5) the damage category code; (6) the amount of the Federal share obli- gated; and (7) the date of the award. (b) Mission assignments (1) In general Not later than 5 days after the issuance of a mission assignment or mission assignment task order, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall publish on the website of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency any mission assignment or mission assignment task order to another Fed- eral department or agency regarding a major disaster in excess of $1,000,000, including— (A) the name of the impacted State or In- dian Tribe; (B) the disaster declaration for such State or Indian Tribe; (C) the assigned agency; Page 6425 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 5189h (D) the assistance requested; (E) a description of the disaster; (F) the total cost estimate; (G) the amount obligated; (H) the State or Indian tribal government cost share, if applicable; (I) the authority under which the mission assignment or mission assignment task order was directed; and (J) if applicable, the date a State or Indian Tribe requested the mission assignment. (2) Recording changes Not later than 10 days after the last day of each month until a mission assignment or mission assignment task order described in paragraph (1) is completed and closed out, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency shall update any changes to the total cost estimate and the amount obli- gated. (c) Disaster relief monthly report Not later than 10 days after the first day of each month, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall publish on the website of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency reports, including a specific de- scription of the methodology and the source data used in developing such reports, includ- ing— (1) an estimate of the amounts for the fiscal year covered by the President’s most recent budget pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31 including— (A) the unobligated balance of funds to be carried over from the prior fiscal year to the budget year; (B) the unobligated balance of funds to be carried over from the budget year to the budget year plus 1; (C) the amount of obligations for noncata- strophic events for the budget year; (D) the amount of obligations for the budg- et year for catastrophic events delineated by event and by State; (E) the total amount that has been pre- viously obligated or will be required for cat- astrophic events delineated by event and by State for all prior years, the current fiscal year, the budget year, and each fiscal year thereafter; (F) the amount of previously obligated funds that will be recovered for the budget year; (G) the amount that will be required for obligations for emergencies, as described in section 5122(1) of this title, major disasters, as described in section 5122(2) of this title, fire management assistance grants, as de- scribed in section 5187 of this title, surge ac- tivities, and disaster readiness and support activities; and (H) the amount required for activities not covered under section 901(b)(2)(D)(iii) of title 2; and (2) an estimate or actual amounts, if avail- able, of the following for the current fiscal year, which shall be submitted not later than the fifth day of each month, published by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency on the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency not later than the fifth day of each month: (A) A summary of the amount of appro- priations made available by source, the transfers executed, the previously allocated funds recovered, and the commitments, allo- cations, and obligations made. (B) A table of disaster relief activity delin- eated by month, including— (i) the beginning and ending balances; (ii) the total obligations to include amounts obligated for fire assistance, emergencies, surge, and disaster support activities; (iii) the obligations for catastrophic events delineated by event and by State; and (iv) the amount of previously obligated funds that are recovered. (C) A summary of allocations, obligations, and expenditures for catastrophic events de- lineated by event. (D) The cost of the following categories of spending: (i) Public assistance. (ii) Individual assistance. (iii) Mitigation. (iv) Administrative. (v) Operations. (vi) Any other relevant category (includ- ing emergency measures and disaster re- sources) delineated by disaster. (E) The date on which funds appropriated will be exhausted. (d) Contracts (1) Information Not later than 10 days after the first day of each month, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall publish on the website of the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency the specifics of each contract in excess of $1,000,000 that the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency enters into, in- cluding— (A) the name of the party; (B) the date the contract was awarded; (C) the amount and scope of the contract; (D) if the contract was awarded through a competitive bidding process; (E) if no competitive bidding process was used, the reason why competitive bidding was not used; and (F) the authority used to bypass the com- petitive bidding process. The information shall be delineated by dis- aster, if applicable, and specify the damage category code, if applicable. (2) Report Not later than 10 days after the last day of the fiscal year, the Administrator of the Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency shall provide a report to the appropriate commit- tees of Congress summarizing the following in- formation for the preceding fiscal year: (A) The number of contracts awarded with- out competitive bidding. (B) The reasons why a competitive bidding process was not used. Page 6426 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 5191 (C) The total amount of contracts awarded with no competitive bidding. (D) The damage category codes, if applica- ble, for contracts awarded without competi- tive bidding. (e) Collection of public assistance recipient and subrecipient contracts (1) In general Not later than 180 days after October 5, 2018, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall initiate and main- tain an effort to collect and store information, prior to the project closeout phase on any con- tract entered into by a public assistance re- cipient or subrecipient that through the base award, available options, or any subsequent modifications has an estimated value of more than $1,000,000 and is funded through section 5165b, 5170b, 5170c, 5172, 5173, 5189f, or 5192 of this title, including— (A) the disaster number, project worksheet number, and the category of work associated with each contract; (B) the name of each party; (C) the date the contract was awarded; (D) the amount of the contract; (E) the scope of the contract; (F) the period of performance for the con- tract; and (G) whether the contract was awarded through a competitive bidding process. (2) Availability of information collected The Administrator of the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency shall make the in- formation collected and stored under para- graph (1) available to the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, the Government Accountability Office, and appro- priate committees of Congress, upon request. (3) Report Not later than 365 days after October 5, 2018, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture of the House of Representatives on the ef- forts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to collect the information described in paragraph (1). (Pub. L. 93–288, title IV, § 430, as added Pub. L. 115–254, div. D, § 1224, Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3455.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Enactment of section by Pub. L. 115–254 applicable to each major disaster and emergency declared by the President on or after Aug. 1, 2017, and authorities pro- vided under div. D of Pub. L. 115–254 applicable to each major disaster and emergency declared by the Presi- dent on or after Jan. 1, 2016, except as otherwise pro- vided, see section 1202 of Pub. L. 115–254, set out as an Effective Date of 2018 Amendment note under section 5121 of this title. SUBCHAPTER IV–A—EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS § 5191. Procedure for declaration (a) Request and declaration All requests for a declaration by the President that an emergency exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State. Such a request shall be based on a finding that the situation is of such severity and magnitude that effective re- sponse is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. As a part of such request, and as a prerequisite to emergency assistance under this chapter, the Governor shall take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State’s emergency plan. The Governor shall furnish information de- scribing the State and local efforts and re- sources which have been or will be used to al- leviate the emergency, and will define the type and extent of Federal aid required. Based upon such Governor’s request, the President may de- clare that an emergency exists. (b) Certain emergencies involving Federal pri- mary responsibility The President may exercise any authority vested in him by section 5192 of this title or sec- tion 5193 of this title with respect to an emer- gency when he determines that an emergency exists for which the primary responsibility for response rests with the United States because the emergency involves a subject area for which, under the Constitution or laws of the United States, the United States exercises exclusive or preeminent responsibility and authority. In de- termining whether or not such an emergency ex- ists, the President shall consult the Governor of any affected State, if practicable. The Presi- dent’s determination may be made without re- gard to subsection (a). (c) Indian tribal government requests (1) In general The Chief Executive of an affected Indian tribal government may submit a request for a declaration by the President that an emer- gency exists consistent with the requirements of subsection (a). (2) References In implementing assistance authorized by the President under this subchapter in re- sponse to a request of the Chief Executive of an affected Indian tribal government for an emergency declaration, any reference in this subchapter or subchapter III (except sections 5153 and 5165d of this title) to a State or the Governor of a State is deemed to refer to an affected Indian tribal government or the Chief Executive of an affected Indian tribal govern- ment, as appropriate. (3) Savings provision Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit an Indian tribal government from receiving as- sistance under this subchapter through a dec- laration made by the President at the request of a State under subsection (a) if the President does not make a declaration under this sub- section for the same incident.