RL34537
FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program: Overview and Issues
August 08, 2008

Download Locations:

	Open CRS (User submitted)
	WikiLeaks

Summary:

Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), as federal law and a program activity, began in 1997. Congress established a pilot program, which FEMA named "Project Impact," to test the concept of investing prior to disasters to reduce the vulnerability of communities to future disasters. P.L. 106-390, the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, authorized the PDM program in law as Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. From its beginnings as "Project Impact" to its current state, the PDM program has grown in its level of appropriated resources and the scope of participation nationwide. Along with that growth have come issues for Congressional consideration, including the approach for awarding grant funds, the eligibility of certain applicants, the eligibility of certain projects, the degree of commitment by state and local governments, and related questions. Authorization for the PDM program expires on September 30, 2008. In the 110 Congress, Representative Oberstar and other sponsors introduced H.R. 6109, to re-authorize the program for an additional three years and to remove the sunset provision. The Administration has endorsed a five year re-authorization of the PDM program without addressing the sunset provision. H.R. 6109 includes provisions that have been part of appropriations statutes that award funds both through a formula (with a minimum amount available per state) as well as a competitive process for the majority of the funds. H.R. 6109 became a part of H.R. 6658, the Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Enhancement Act of 2008. H.R. 6658 was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on July 31, 2008. A Senate bill to reauthorize PDM, S. 3175, has been included in a larger bill titled, Advancing America's Priorities Act, S. 3297. That bill has not passed the Senate as of the date of this report.