The chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is moving ahead with a “pre-disaster mitigation package” of legislation that is designed to result in tangible, effective, and long lasting “on-the-ground” benefits for homeowners, small businesses, residents of apartment buildings, and first responders.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, is seeking support among other members of Congress for three bills introduced earlier this year.
"Our country continues to battle natural disasters that have increased in frequency, severity, and cost to the federal government," Thompson wrote in a letters to his colleagues Monday. "In light of this fact, I strongly believe that the nation needs new policies and tools that emphasize predisaster planning and mitigation to help save lives, reduce injury, physical damage and recovery costs."
The legislation includes:
- The Predisaster Hazard Mitigation Enhancement Program Act of 2009 (H.R. 3027). The bill creates a $100 million competitive grant award program to complement and bolster certain existing grant programs. The new program would be authorized for five years and provide states with funds for projects that have a direct, “on-the-ground” impact for low and moderate income homeowners and residents of single family dwellings, as well as for the residents of apartments and small business owners.
- The Hazard Mitigation For All Act of 2009 (H.R. 3028). The bill would provide $50 million in fiscal years 2010 to 2013 for predisaster mitigation activities for an often excluded segment of our population — residents of public housing authorities, recipients of Section 8 vouchers, and residents of assisted housing. HUD would be responsible for protecting the mitigation investment of the federal government by requiring that homeowners of private Section 8 or assisted housing-eligible property who accept grant funds give an admission preference to housing applicants for a period of five years.
- The First Responder Innovation & Support Act of 2009 (H.R. 3026). This bill would provide $100 million from fiscal year 2010 to 2015 for novel or innovative first responder grants. Innovative programs include projects to address special populations, such as children or the elderly, and projects that serve a particular community need, such as mobile nursing units for rural communities or wireless technologies to improve the interoperability of first responder networks—like that between FEMA and local police forces.
While the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is not a lobbying organization, we support the principles and goals outlined in Rep. Thompson's legislative package. The legislation also has been endorsed by SmarterSafer.org, a diverse ad-hoc coalition of consumer advocacy, taxpayer, environmental and insurance industry groups whose membership includes, among others, the National Wildlife Federation, American Rivers, Americans for Prosperity, the Sierra Club, Plan!tNow, and the Defenders of Wildlife.
IBHS engineers have created a variety of property protection projects that can help to prevent the damaging effects of natural and manmade disasters. This free information is available at www.DisasterSafety.org.
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