H.R. 1306 would extend the deadline for completing certain activities required under the Disaster Recovery Reform Act. The bill also would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to convene a working group with other federal agencies to improve preliminary damage assessments following disasters. Specifically, the bill would direct the working group to identify potential areas of duplication, determine the feasibility of having one federal agency make damage assessments for all agencies, and identify new areas for the use of technology. The bill would require the working group to post a report on FEMA’s website and brief the Congress on its findings.
Using information from FEMA about the cost of similar reports, CBO estimates that implementing the additional requirements in the bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2019-2024 period.
