| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 861 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To streamline the sharing of information among Federal disaster assistance |
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| 6 | 6 | | agencies, to expedite the delivery of life-saving assistance to disaster |
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| 7 | 7 | | survivors, to speed the recovery of communities from disasters, to protect |
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| 8 | 8 | | the security and privacy of information provided by disaster survivors, |
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| 9 | 9 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 11 | 11 | | MARCH5, 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mr. P |
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| 13 | 13 | | ETERS(for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. TILLIS) intro- |
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| 14 | 14 | | duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- |
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| 15 | 15 | | mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To streamline the sharing of information among Federal |
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| 18 | 18 | | disaster assistance agencies, to expedite the delivery of |
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| 19 | 19 | | life-saving assistance to disaster survivors, to speed the |
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| 20 | 20 | | recovery of communities from disasters, to protect the |
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| 21 | 21 | | security and privacy of information provided by disaster |
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| 22 | 22 | | survivors, and for other purposes. |
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| 23 | 23 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Assistance 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Simplification Act’’. 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIFIED DISASTER ASSIST-1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ANCE INTAKE PROCESS AND SYSTEM. 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is amended 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | by adding at the end the following: 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘SEC. 707. ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIFIED DISASTER AS-6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | SISTANCE INTAKE PROCESS AND SYSTEM. 7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 39 | 39 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ‘‘(1) A |
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| 41 | 41 | | DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal 10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | Emergency Management Agency. 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 45 | 45 | | PPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ 12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | means— 13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ‘‘(A) an individual, business, or organiza-14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | tion that applies for disaster assistance from a 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | disaster assistance program; 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(B) an individual, business, or organiza-17 |
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| 51 | 51 | | tion on behalf of which an individual described 18 |
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| 52 | 52 | | in subparagraph (A) applies for disaster assist-19 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ance from a disaster assistance program; and 20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ‘‘(C) an individual, business, or organiza-21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | tion that seeks assistance as a beneficiary of a 22 |
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| 56 | 56 | | State, local government, or Indian tribal gov-23 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ernment that received assistance under a dis-24 |
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| 58 | 58 | | aster assistance program. 25 |
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| 60 | 60 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘(3) DISASTER ASSISTANCE AGENCY .—The 1 |
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| 63 | 63 | | term ‘disaster assistance agency’ means— 2 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(A) the Federal Emergency Management 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | Agency; and 4 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ‘‘(B) any Federal agency that provides dis-5 |
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| 67 | 67 | | aster assistance to individuals, businesses, orga-6 |
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| 68 | 68 | | nizations, States, local governments, Indian 7 |
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| 69 | 69 | | tribal governments, communities, or organiza-8 |
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| 70 | 70 | | tions that the Administrator certifies as a dis-9 |
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| 71 | 71 | | aster assistance agency in accordance with sub-10 |
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| 72 | 72 | | section (f) to carry out the purposes of a dis-11 |
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| 73 | 73 | | aster assistance program. 12 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ‘‘(4) D |
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| 75 | 75 | | ISASTER ASSISTANCE INFORMATION .— 13 |
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| 76 | 76 | | The term ‘disaster assistance information’ includes 14 |
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| 77 | 77 | | any personal, biographical, demographic, geo-15 |
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| 78 | 78 | | graphical, financial, application decision, or other in-16 |
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| 79 | 79 | | formation that a disaster assistance agency, or a re-17 |
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| 80 | 80 | | cipient of a Federal block grant from a disaster as-18 |
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| 81 | 81 | | sistance agency, is authorized to collect, maintain, 19 |
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| 82 | 82 | | disclose, or use to— 20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ‘‘(A) process an application for disaster as-21 |
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| 84 | 84 | | sistance from a disaster assistance program; or 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ‘‘(B) otherwise carry out the purpose of a 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | disaster assistance program. 24 |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 90 | 90 | | ‘‘(5) DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM .—The 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | term ‘disaster assistance program’ means— 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | ‘‘(A) a program that provides disaster as-3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | sistance to individuals and households under 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | title IV or V in accordance with sections 408 5 |
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| 95 | 95 | | and 502; or 6 |
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| 96 | 96 | | ‘‘(B) any other assistance program author-7 |
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| 97 | 97 | | ized by a Federal statute or funded with Fed-8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | eral appropriations under which a disaster as-9 |
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| 99 | 99 | | sistance agency awards or distributes disaster 10 |
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| 100 | 100 | | assistance to an individual, household, or orga-11 |
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| 101 | 101 | | nization, or provides a Federal block grant for 12 |
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| 102 | 102 | | these purposes, that arises from a major dis-13 |
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| 103 | 103 | | aster or emergency declared under section 401 14 |
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| 104 | 104 | | or 501, respectively, including— 15 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(i) disaster assistance; 16 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ‘‘(ii) long-term disaster recovery as-17 |
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| 107 | 107 | | sistance; 18 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(iii) the post-disaster restoration of 19 |
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| 109 | 109 | | infrastructure and housing; 20 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(iv) post-disaster economic revitaliza-21 |
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| 111 | 111 | | tion; 22 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ‘‘(v) a loan authorized under section 23 |
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| 113 | 113 | | 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | 636(b)); and 25 |
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| 116 | 116 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 118 | 118 | | ‘‘(vi) food benefit allotments under 1 |
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| 119 | 119 | | section 412 of this Act and section 5(h) of 2 |
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| 120 | 120 | | the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 3 |
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| 121 | 121 | | U.S.C. 2014(h)). 4 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(6) R |
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| 123 | 123 | | ECORD.—The term ‘record’ has the 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | meaning given the term in section 552a of title 5, 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | United States Code. 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | ‘‘(b) U |
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| 127 | 127 | | NIFIEDDISASTERASSISTANCEINTAKEPROC-8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ESS ANDSYSTEM.— 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 130 | 130 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 360 days 10 |
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| 131 | 131 | | after the date of enactment of the Disaster Assist-11 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ance Simplification Act, the Administrator shall, in 12 |
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| 133 | 133 | | consultation with appropriate Federal, State, local, 13 |
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| 134 | 134 | | and Indian tribal governments and entities, develop 14 |
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| 135 | 135 | | and establish a unified intake process and system 15 |
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| 136 | 136 | | for applicants for disaster assistance provided by a 16 |
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| 137 | 137 | | disaster assistance agency to— 17 |
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| 138 | 138 | | ‘‘(A) facilitate a consolidated application 18 |
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| 139 | 139 | | for any form of disaster assistance provided by 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | a disaster assistance agency when appropriate 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | to support the nature and purposes of the as-21 |
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| 142 | 142 | | sistance; 22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | ‘‘(B) carry out the purposes of disaster as-23 |
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| 144 | 144 | | sistance programs swiftly, efficiently, fairly, and 24 |
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| 146 | 146 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 148 | 148 | | in accordance with applicable laws and privacy 1 |
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| 149 | 149 | | and data protections; and 2 |
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| 150 | 150 | | ‘‘(C) support the detection, prevention, and 3 |
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| 151 | 151 | | investigation of waste, fraud, abuse, or discrimi-4 |
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| 152 | 152 | | nation in the administration of disaster assist-5 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ance programs. 6 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 155 | 155 | | APABILITIES OF THE CONSOLIDATED AP -7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | PLICATION SYSTEM.—The unified intake process and 8 |
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| 157 | 157 | | system established under paragraph (1) shall— 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘(A) accept applications for disaster assist-10 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ance programs; 11 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ‘‘(B) allow for applicants to receive status 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | updates on applications for disaster assistance 13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | programs; 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(C) allow for applicants to update dis-15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | aster assistance information throughout the re-16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | covery journeys of those applicants; 17 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(D) allow for the distribution of informa-18 |
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| 167 | 167 | | tion on additional recovery resources to disaster 19 |
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| 168 | 168 | | survivors that may be available in a disaster- 20 |
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| 169 | 169 | | stricken jurisdiction, in coordination with ap-21 |
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| 170 | 170 | | propriate Federal, State, local, and Tribal part-22 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ners; 23 |
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| 172 | 172 | | ‘‘(E) provide disaster survivors with infor-24 |
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| 173 | 173 | | mation and documentation on the applications 25 |
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| 175 | 175 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 176 | 176 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 177 | 177 | | of those disaster survivors for a disaster assist-1 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ance program; 2 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ‘‘(F) allow for the distribution of applica-3 |
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| 180 | 180 | | tion data to support faster and more effective 4 |
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| 181 | 181 | | distribution of Federal disaster assistance, in-5 |
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| 182 | 182 | | cluding block grant assistance, for disaster re-6 |
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| 183 | 183 | | covery; 7 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(G) allow for disaster assistance agencies 8 |
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| 185 | 185 | | to communicate directly with disaster survivors; 9 |
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| 186 | 186 | | and 10 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(H) contain other capabilities determined 11 |
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| 188 | 188 | | necessary by the heads of disaster assistance 12 |
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| 189 | 189 | | agencies. 13 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ‘‘(3) U |
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| 191 | 191 | | PDATES.—Not later than 30 days after 14 |
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| 192 | 192 | | the date on which the Administrator receives a re-15 |
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| 193 | 193 | | quest from a disaster assistance agency to update 16 |
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| 194 | 194 | | questions in the consolidated application described in 17 |
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| 195 | 195 | | paragraph (1) needed to administer the disaster as-18 |
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| 196 | 196 | | sistance programs of the disaster assistance agency, 19 |
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| 197 | 197 | | the Administrator shall make those updates. 20 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(c) A |
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| 199 | 199 | | UTHORITIES OF ADMINISTRATOR.—The Ad-21 |
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| 200 | 200 | | ministrator may— 22 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(1) collect, maintain, disclose, and use disaster 23 |
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| 202 | 202 | | assistance information, including such information 24 |
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| 203 | 203 | | received from any disaster assistance agency, with 25 |
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| 205 | 205 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 206 | 206 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 207 | 207 | | any other disaster assistance agency for purposes of 1 |
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| 208 | 208 | | subsection (b)(1); and 2 |
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| 209 | 209 | | ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (d), authorize the col-3 |
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| 210 | 210 | | lection, maintenance, disclosure, and use of disaster 4 |
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| 211 | 211 | | assistance information collected on or after the date 5 |
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| 212 | 212 | | of enactment of the Disaster Assistance Simplifica-6 |
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| 213 | 213 | | tion Act by publishing a notice on a public website 7 |
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| 214 | 214 | | that— 8 |
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| 215 | 215 | | ‘‘(A) includes a detailed description of— 9 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ‘‘(i) the specific disaster assistance in-10 |
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| 217 | 217 | | formation authorized to be collected, main-11 |
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| 218 | 218 | | tained, disclosed, and used; 12 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(ii) why the collection, maintenance, 13 |
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| 220 | 220 | | disclosure, or use of the disaster assistance 14 |
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| 221 | 221 | | information is necessary to carry out the 15 |
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| 222 | 222 | | purpose of a disaster assistance program; 16 |
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| 223 | 223 | | ‘‘(iii) how the collection, maintenance, 17 |
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| 224 | 224 | | disclosure, and use of disaster assistance 18 |
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| 225 | 225 | | information incorporates fair information 19 |
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| 226 | 226 | | practices; and 20 |
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| 227 | 227 | | ‘‘(iv) the disaster assistance agencies 21 |
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| 228 | 228 | | that will be granted access to the disaster 22 |
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| 229 | 229 | | assistance information to carry out the 23 |
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| 230 | 230 | | purpose of any disaster assistance pro-24 |
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| 231 | 231 | | gram; and 25 |
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| 233 | 233 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 234 | 234 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 235 | 235 | | ‘‘(B) provides that the submission of an 1 |
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| 236 | 236 | | application through a unified disaster applica-2 |
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| 237 | 237 | | tion constitutes prior written consent to disclose 3 |
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| 238 | 238 | | disaster assistance information to disaster as-4 |
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| 239 | 239 | | sistance agencies for the purpose of section 5 |
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| 240 | 240 | | 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code. 6 |
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| 241 | 241 | | ‘‘(d) C |
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| 242 | 242 | | OLLECTION AND SHARING OFRECORDS AND 7 |
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| 243 | 243 | | I |
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| 244 | 244 | | NFORMATION.— 8 |
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| 245 | 245 | | ‘‘(1) E |
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| 246 | 246 | | FFECT OF PUBLICATION OF NOTICE ON 9 |
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| 247 | 247 | | PUBLIC WEBSITE.—The publication of a notice by 10 |
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| 248 | 248 | | the Administrator on a public website of a revision 11 |
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| 249 | 249 | | to the system of records of the unified intake process 12 |
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| 250 | 250 | | and system established under subsection (b)(1) prior 13 |
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| 251 | 251 | | to any new collection, maintenance, disclosure, or 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | use of records to carry out the purposes of a disaster 15 |
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| 253 | 253 | | assistance program with respect to a major disaster 16 |
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| 254 | 254 | | or emergency declared by the President under sec-17 |
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| 255 | 255 | | tion 401 or 501, respectively, of this Act shall be 18 |
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| 256 | 256 | | deemed to satisfy the notice and publication require-19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ments of section 552a(e)(4) of title 5, United States 20 |
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| 258 | 258 | | Code, for the entire period of performance for any 21 |
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| 259 | 259 | | assistance provided under a disaster assistance pro-22 |
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| 260 | 260 | | gram. 23 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ‘‘(2) P |
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| 262 | 262 | | APERWORK REDUCTION ACT WAIVER .— 24 |
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| 264 | 264 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 265 | 265 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 266 | 266 | | ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the declaration 1 |
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| 267 | 267 | | of a major disaster or emergency pursuant to 2 |
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| 268 | 268 | | section 401 or 501, respectively, of this Act, the 3 |
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| 269 | 269 | | Administrator may waive the requirements of 4 |
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| 270 | 270 | | subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United 5 |
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| 271 | 271 | | States Code (commonly known as the ‘Paper-6 |
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| 272 | 272 | | work Reduction Act’), with respect to the vol-7 |
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| 273 | 273 | | untary collection of information specific to the 8 |
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| 274 | 274 | | declared major disaster or emergency needed to 9 |
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| 275 | 275 | | carry out the purposes of a disaster assistance 10 |
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| 276 | 276 | | program. 11 |
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| 277 | 277 | | ‘‘(B) D |
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| 278 | 278 | | URATION.—A waiver described in 12 |
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| 279 | 279 | | subparagraph (A) shall be in effect for the en-13 |
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| 280 | 280 | | tire period of performance for any assistance 14 |
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| 281 | 281 | | provided under a disaster assistance program 15 |
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| 282 | 282 | | with respect to a declared major disaster or 16 |
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| 283 | 283 | | emergency. 17 |
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| 284 | 284 | | ‘‘(C) T |
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| 285 | 285 | | RANSPARENCY.—If the Adminis-18 |
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| 286 | 286 | | trator waives the requirements described in sub-19 |
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| 287 | 287 | | paragraph (A), the Administrator shall— 20 |
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| 288 | 288 | | ‘‘(i) promptly post on a public 21 |
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| 289 | 289 | | website— 22 |
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| 290 | 290 | | ‘‘(I) a brief justification for the 23 |
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| 291 | 291 | | waiver; and 24 |
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| 293 | 293 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 |
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| 294 | 294 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 295 | 295 | | ‘‘(II) the agencies and offices to 1 |
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| 296 | 296 | | which the waiver shall apply; 2 |
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| 297 | 297 | | ‘‘(ii) update the information posted 3 |
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| 298 | 298 | | under clause (i), as applicable; and 4 |
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| 299 | 299 | | ‘‘(iii) comply with the requirements of 5 |
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| 300 | 300 | | subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, 6 |
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| 301 | 301 | | United States Code (commonly known as 7 |
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| 302 | 302 | | the ‘Paperwork Reduction Act’) upon the 8 |
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| 303 | 303 | | expiration of the period of performance of 9 |
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| 304 | 304 | | any assistance provided under a disaster 10 |
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| 305 | 305 | | assistance program if the collection of in-11 |
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| 306 | 306 | | formation may be utilized for the purposes 12 |
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| 307 | 307 | | of supporting the disaster assistance pro-13 |
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| 308 | 308 | | gram in future major disaster or emer-14 |
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| 309 | 309 | | gency declarations. 15 |
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| 310 | 310 | | ‘‘(D) E |
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| 311 | 311 | | FFECTIVENESS OF WAIVER .—Any 16 |
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| 312 | 312 | | waiver under subparagraph (A) shall take effect 17 |
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| 313 | 313 | | on the date on which the Administrator posts 18 |
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| 314 | 314 | | information on the internet website as provided 19 |
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| 315 | 315 | | for under subparagraph (C). 20 |
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| 316 | 316 | | ‘‘(e) D |
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| 317 | 317 | | ATASECURITY.—The Administrator shall fa-21 |
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| 318 | 318 | | cilitate the collection of disaster assistance information 22 |
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| 319 | 319 | | into a unified application only after— 23 |
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| 320 | 320 | | ‘‘(1) the Administrator certifies that the unified 24 |
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| 321 | 321 | | application substantially complies with the data se-25 |
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| 323 | 323 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 324 | 324 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 325 | 325 | | curity standards established pursuant to subchapter 1 |
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| 326 | 326 | | II of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and 2 |
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| 327 | 327 | | any other applicable Federal information security 3 |
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| 328 | 328 | | policy; 4 |
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| 329 | 329 | | ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Homeland Security pub-5 |
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| 330 | 330 | | lishes a privacy impact assessment for the unified 6 |
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| 331 | 331 | | application that is similar to the privacy assessment 7 |
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| 332 | 332 | | conducted under section 208(b)(1)(B) of the E-Gov-8 |
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| 333 | 333 | | ernment Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and 9 |
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| 334 | 334 | | ‘‘(3) the Administrator, in consultation with 10 |
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| 335 | 335 | | disaster assistance agencies, publishes standard 11 |
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| 336 | 336 | | rules of behavior for disaster assistance agencies and 12 |
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| 337 | 337 | | personnel granted access to disaster assistance infor-13 |
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| 338 | 338 | | mation to protect such information from improper 14 |
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| 339 | 339 | | disclosure. 15 |
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| 340 | 340 | | ‘‘(f) C |
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| 341 | 341 | | ERTIFICATION OF DISASTERASSISTANCE 16 |
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| 342 | 342 | | A |
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| 343 | 343 | | GENCIES.— 17 |
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| 344 | 344 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 345 | 345 | | N GENERAL.—The Administrator may 18 |
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| 346 | 346 | | certify a Federal agency as a disaster assistance 19 |
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| 347 | 347 | | agency after posting an agreement between the Ad-20 |
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| 348 | 348 | | ministrator and the Federal agency on a public 21 |
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| 349 | 349 | | website that contains the detailed terms of the 22 |
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| 350 | 350 | | agreement. 23 |
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| 351 | 351 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 352 | 352 | | ONTENTS OF AGREEMENT .—An agree-24 |
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| 353 | 353 | | ment between the Administrator and a Federal 25 |
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| 356 | 356 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 357 | 357 | | agency described in paragraph (1) shall state that 1 |
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| 358 | 358 | | the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 2 |
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| 359 | 359 | | the Federal agency will— 3 |
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| 360 | 360 | | ‘‘(A) collect, disclose, maintain, and use 4 |
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| 361 | 361 | | disaster assistance information in accordance 5 |
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| 362 | 362 | | with— 6 |
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| 363 | 363 | | ‘‘(i) this section; and 7 |
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| 364 | 364 | | ‘‘(ii) subject to subsection (i)(2), any 8 |
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| 365 | 365 | | existing policies of the Federal Emergency 9 |
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| 366 | 366 | | Management Agency and the Federal 10 |
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| 367 | 367 | | agency for information protection and use; 11 |
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| 368 | 368 | | ‘‘(B) train any personnel granted access to 12 |
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| 369 | 369 | | disaster assistance information on the rules of 13 |
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| 370 | 370 | | behavior established by the Administrator under 14 |
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| 371 | 371 | | subsection (e)(3); 15 |
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| 372 | 372 | | ‘‘(C) in the event of any unauthorized dis-16 |
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| 373 | 373 | | closure of disaster assistance information— 17 |
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| 374 | 374 | | ‘‘(i) not later than 24 hours after dis-18 |
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| 375 | 375 | | covering the unauthorized disclosure— 19 |
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| 376 | 376 | | ‘‘(I) in the case of an unauthor-20 |
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| 377 | 377 | | ized disclosure by the Federal agency, 21 |
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| 378 | 378 | | notify the Administrator of the disclo-22 |
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| 379 | 379 | | sure; and 23 |
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| 380 | 380 | | ‘‘(II) in the case of an unauthor-24 |
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| 381 | 381 | | ized disclosure by the Federal Emer-25 |
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| 384 | 384 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 385 | 385 | | gency Management Agency, notify dis-1 |
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| 386 | 386 | | aster assistance agencies of the disclo-2 |
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| 387 | 387 | | sure; 3 |
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| 388 | 388 | | ‘‘(ii) cooperate fully with the Adminis-4 |
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| 389 | 389 | | trator and disaster assistance agencies in 5 |
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| 390 | 390 | | the investigation and remediation of the 6 |
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| 391 | 391 | | disclosure; and 7 |
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| 392 | 392 | | ‘‘(iii) cooperate fully in the prosecu-8 |
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| 393 | 393 | | tion of a person responsible for the disclo-9 |
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| 394 | 394 | | sure; and 10 |
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| 395 | 395 | | ‘‘(D) assume responsibility for any com-11 |
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| 396 | 396 | | pensation, civil liability, or other remediation 12 |
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| 397 | 397 | | measure awarded by a judgment of a court or 13 |
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| 398 | 398 | | agreed upon as a compromise of any potential 14 |
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| 399 | 399 | | claim by or on behalf of an applicant, including 15 |
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| 400 | 400 | | by obtaining credit monitoring and remediation 16 |
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| 401 | 401 | | services, for an improper disclosure of disaster 17 |
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| 402 | 402 | | assistance information that is— 18 |
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| 403 | 403 | | ‘‘(i) caused, directly or indirectly, by 19 |
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| 404 | 404 | | the acts or omissions of an officer, em-20 |
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| 405 | 405 | | ployee, or contractor of the Federal agen-21 |
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| 406 | 406 | | cy; or 22 |
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| 407 | 407 | | ‘‘(ii) from any electronic system of 23 |
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| 408 | 408 | | records that was created or maintained by 24 |
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| 411 | 411 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 412 | 412 | | the Federal agency pursuant to section 1 |
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| 413 | 413 | | 552a(e) of title 5, United States Code. 2 |
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| 414 | 414 | | ‘‘(g) R |
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| 415 | 415 | | EPORTS.— 3 |
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| 416 | 416 | | ‘‘(1) FEMA.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 |
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| 417 | 417 | | date of enactment of this section, and every year 5 |
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| 418 | 418 | | thereafter for 2 years, the Administrator, in coordi-6 |
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| 419 | 419 | | nation with the heads of disaster assistance agen-7 |
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| 420 | 420 | | cies, shall submit to Congress a report on the imple-8 |
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| 421 | 421 | | mentation of this section, including— 9 |
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| 422 | 422 | | ‘‘(A) how disaster assistance agencies are 10 |
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| 423 | 423 | | working together to implement the require-11 |
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| 424 | 424 | | ments under this section; 12 |
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| 425 | 425 | | ‘‘(B) the effect of this section on disaster 13 |
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| 426 | 426 | | survivor burden and the speed and efficiency of 14 |
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| 427 | 427 | | delivering disaster assistance; and 15 |
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| 428 | 428 | | ‘‘(C) a description of any other challenges 16 |
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| 429 | 429 | | that require further legislative action. 17 |
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| 430 | 430 | | ‘‘(2) GAO.—Not later than 3 years after the 18 |
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| 431 | 431 | | date of enactment of this section, the Comptroller 19 |
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| 432 | 432 | | General of the United States shall submit to Con-20 |
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| 433 | 433 | | gress a report on how the implementation of this 21 |
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| 434 | 434 | | section has affected the disaster survivor experience, 22 |
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| 435 | 435 | | and any recommendations for improvements to the 23 |
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| 436 | 436 | | requirements under this section. 24 |
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| 439 | 439 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 440 | 440 | | ‘‘(h) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 90 days after the 1 |
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| 441 | 441 | | date of enactment of this section, and again not later than 2 |
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| 442 | 442 | | 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 3 |
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| 443 | 443 | | Administrator shall brief Congress on— 4 |
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| 444 | 444 | | ‘‘(1) the status of the implementation of the re-5 |
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| 445 | 445 | | quirements under this section; and 6 |
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| 446 | 446 | | ‘‘(2) how disaster assistance agencies are work-7 |
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| 447 | 447 | | ing together to implement the requirements under 8 |
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| 448 | 448 | | this section. 9 |
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| 449 | 449 | | ‘‘(i) R |
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| 450 | 450 | | ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.— 10 |
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| 451 | 451 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 452 | 452 | | NAPPLICABILITY OF MATCHING PROGRAM 11 |
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| 453 | 453 | | PROVISIONS.—The disclosure and use of disaster as-12 |
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| 454 | 454 | | sistance information subject to the requirements of 13 |
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| 455 | 455 | | section 552a of title 5, United States Code, among 14 |
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| 456 | 456 | | disaster assistance agencies or with State, local, or 15 |
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| 457 | 457 | | Tribal governments carrying out disaster assistance 16 |
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| 458 | 458 | | programs shall not— 17 |
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| 459 | 459 | | ‘‘(A) be construed as a matching program 18 |
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| 460 | 460 | | for the purpose of section 552a(a)(8) of title 5, 19 |
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| 461 | 461 | | United States Code; or 20 |
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| 462 | 462 | | ‘‘(B) be subject to subsection (e)(12), (o), 21 |
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| 463 | 463 | | (p)(1)(A)(ii), (q), (r), or (u) of section 552a of 22 |
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| 464 | 464 | | title 5, United States Code. 23 |
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| 465 | 465 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 466 | 466 | | UTHORITIES IN OTHER LAWS .—Nothing 24 |
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| 467 | 467 | | in this section shall be construed to affect the au-25 |
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| 470 | 470 | | •S 861 IS |
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| 471 | 471 | | thority of an entity to share disaster assistance in-1 |
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| 472 | 472 | | formation regarding programs funded or facilitated 2 |
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| 473 | 473 | | by the entity in accordance with any other law or 3 |
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| 474 | 474 | | agency policy. 4 |
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| 475 | 475 | | ‘‘(3) A |
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| 476 | 476 | | PPLYING TO MULTIPLE PROGRAMS .— 5 |
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| 477 | 477 | | Nothing in this section shall be construed to require 6 |
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| 478 | 478 | | an applicant to apply to more than 1 disaster assist-7 |
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| 479 | 479 | | ance program. 8 |
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| 480 | 480 | | ‘‘(4) P |
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| 481 | 481 | | ROGRAM AUTHORIZATION .—Nothing in 9 |
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| 482 | 482 | | this section shall be construed to authorize a pro-10 |
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| 483 | 483 | | gram that is not authorized by law as of the date 11 |
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| 484 | 484 | | of enactment of this section.’’. 12 |
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| 485 | 485 | | Æ |
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