By Laura DeKoven Waxman
October 3, 2011

Senators Mary Landrieu (LA) and Thad Cochran (MS) introduced bipartisan legislation September 23 intended to improve the nation's capability to recover from major and catastrophic disasters. The bill, which would reform the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, includes several of the recommendations of the Conference of Mayors Stafford Act Reform Task Force. These recommendations were adopted by the Conference as policy in January 2010.

Among its provisions the bill would:

• Establish pre-conditions and special procedures for a new catastrophic disaster declaration;

• Reauthorize two expired pilot programs from the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act for rental housing and debris removal that were determined by FEMA and GAO to save taxpayers money and expedite recovery;

• Provide incentives for state and local governments to adopt and enforce building codes, develop pre-incident recovery plans and pre-negotiate contracts;

• Consolidate requirements for environmental, historic and benefit-cost reviews across different federal agencies for recovery projects;

• Improve training, certification, delivery models and information sharing for case management and crisis counseling and the faith-based groups and nonprofit organizations that provide these services;

• Establish credentialing, training and evaluation requirements for FEMA employees, strengthen contractor oversight, requiring staffing plans for catastrophes, establish project transfer procedures for rotating personnel, and encourage the use of local hires in recovery field offices; and

• Codify temporary legislative measures that were enacted to facilitate a smarter recovery after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including third-party arbitration of prolonged disputes and lump sum payments for criminal justice systems, school districts and other facility owners to strategically plan their reconstruction program without having to rebuild every structure to its pre-disaster condition in the exact same location.

“As a Senator from Louisiana, I have witnessed numerous systemic failures, misguided policies, and squandered opportunities in the way we go about facilitating community recovery after a disaster and dedicated myself as a result of those experiences to fixing these problems,” Senator Landrieu said. “This legislation will ensure the federal government has the right tools in its toolbox to help communities recover from disasters in a smarter and more efficient way.”

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. presented the Conference of Mayors Stafford Act Reform recommendations to Senator Landrieu May 12, 2010, when he testified before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which she chairs.