,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ahei  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #g1 #bjac ,mr4  
,schiff 7for himself and ,ms4 ,chu7     
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on          
,transportation and ,infrastructure  ,a 
,,bill  ,to revise the process by which 
the ,federal ,emergency ,management     
,agency evaluates a request for major   
disaster assistance1 and for other      
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,disaster           
,declaration ,improvement ,act of #bjac4
  #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the     
following3  7#a7 ,the process that the  
,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency 
7,,fema7 uses to determine whether major
 disaster assistance should be          
recommended to the ,president is badly  
flawed4  7#b7 ,the ,government          
,accountability ,office's #bjab report  
on the ,,fema disaster assistance       
process stated that according to ,,fema 
and state emergency management          

officials1 ,,fema has primarily relied  
on a single indicator1 the statewide per
 capita damage indicator1 to determine  
whether to recommend that a jurisdiction
 receive ,public ,assistance funding4   
7#c7 ,the ,government ,accountability   
,office's #bjab report on the ,,fema    
disaster assistance process also stated 
that #bdd of #bdf approved disaster     
declarations during fiscal years #bjjh  
through #bjaa had damage estimates that 
met or exceeded the ,public ,assistance 
per capita indicator4  7#d7 ,federal    
regulations do not prioritize the       
factors to be considered in recommending
 a major disaster declaration1 but      
,,fema clearly does1 as #ii percent of  
disasters in fiscal years #bjjh through 
#bjaa that satisfied ,,fema's statewide 
per capita damage threshold received a  
disaster declaration4  7#e7 ,,fema      
should give1 in its future evaluation of
 ,governor-submitted requests for major 
disaster assistance1 equal consideration
 to all of the factors described in     

section #bjf4dh7;a7 of title #dd1 ,code 
of ,federal ,regulations1 so that the   
process for recommending major disaster 
assistance will work as originally      
intended4  7#f7 ,another flaw in        
,,fema's process1 that communities      
within large ,states and counties are   
unfairly disadvantaged1 must also be    
addressed4  7#g7 ,evaluation of         
,governor-submitted requests for major  
disaster assistance on the basis of a   
statewide per capita damage threshold1  
and occasionally a countywide per capita
 damage threshold1 establishes a higher 
threshold for ,states and counties with 
large populations to receive major      
disaster assistance1 even though there  
is no indication that they have a       
greater fiscal capacity to respond to   
disasters4  7#h7 ,the inequity described
 in paragraphs 7#f7 and 7#g7 means that 
communities can suffer high levels of   
disaster-related damage but not receive 
the assistance they need to quickly     
recover from the disaster4  7#i7 ,,fema 

should consider more than just the      
statewide and countywide per capita     
damage thresholds in evaluating a       
request for major disaster assistance1  
so that communities in large population 
counties in large population ,states do 
not face an unreasonably high barrier to
 receiving assistance following a       
disaster4  #c4 ,consideration of major  
disaster assistance requests ,not later 
than #ahj days after the date of        
enactment of this ,act1 the             
,administrator of the ,federal          
,emergency ,management ,agency shall    
issue regulations to ensure that--  7#a7
 in any review of a request for major   
disaster assistance conducted by the    
,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency1
 the factor described in section        
#bjf4dh7;a77#a7 of title #dd1 ,code of  
,federal ,regulations 7relating to the  
estimated cost of assistance71 is       
provided consideration that is equal to 
the consideration provided to each of   
the other factors described in section  

#bjf4dh7;a7 of such title2 and  7#b7 a  
request for major disaster assistance by
 a ,state is considered by the ,federal 
,emergency ,management ,agency for      
recommendation to the ,president1       
without regard to any per capita damage 
threshold 7other than a threshold       
described in this paragraph71 in any    
case in which a disaster occurs with    
respect to a city or unincorporated     
jurisdiction--  7,a7 with a population  
of less than #bej1jjj2  7,b7 located in 
a county with a population of more than 
#a1jjj1jjj and a ,state with a          
population of more than #e1jjj1jjj2 and 
7,c7 with respect to which the financial
 damage relating to the disaster        
exceeds--  7i7 in the case of a city1   
#aj percent of the city's general fund2 
or  7ii7 in the case of an              
unincorporated jurisdiction1 #ajj per   
capita4