H.R. 6997 would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish an advisory working group, consisting of representatives from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Agriculture, state and local governments, and the debris services contractor industry. The working group would review current agency guidance on debris removal and implement revisions designed to streamline the contracting and debris removal process. Under the bill, FEMA also would disseminate the materials developed by the working group to state and local governments.
The bill also would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the use and adoption rate of advance contracts for debris removal and recommend ways to improve the contracting process.
Using information from FEMA and GAO about the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6997 would cost $1 million over the 2025-2029 period, most of which would be incurred in 2025. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
On April 10, 2023, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 310, the Disaster Contract Improvement Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 29, 2023. The two bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
