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Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

Description: This report describes the various components of the Disaster Relief Fund, including what authorities have shaped it over the years; how FEMA determines the amount of the appropriation requested to Congress (pertaining to the DRF); and how emergency supplemental appropriations are requested. In addition to the DRF, information is provided on funds appropriated in supplemental appropriations legislation to agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Date: July 15, 2009
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce A. & Murray, Justin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Emergency Management and Homeland Security Organization: Historical Developments and Legislative Options

Description: This report provides background information about the establishment and evolution of federal emergency management and related homeland security organization since 1950. Post-Katrina assessments of current arrangements by Congress and the White House are also discussed. Finally, the report provides a brief summary of related legislation that had been introduced as of July 17, 2006.
Date: April 19, 2006
Creator: Hogue, Henry B. & Bea, Keith
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

Description: This report describes the various components of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including (1) what authorities have shaped it over the years; (2) how FEMA determines the amount of the appropriation requested to Congress (pertaining to the DRF); and (3) how emergency supplemental appropriations are requested. In addition to the DRF, information is provided on funds appropriated in supplemental appropriations legislation to agencies other than… more
Date: July 15, 2009
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce A. & Murray, Justin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Flood Insurance Program: Background, Challenges, and Financial Status

Description: This report provides an analysis of the NFIP and its financial status, summarizes the major challenges facing the program, including issues affecting its long-term financial solvency, presents some alternative approaches for managing and financing the flood losses and describes pending legislation on this issue.
Date: June 22, 2009
Creator: King, Rawle O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program: Overview and Issues

Description: 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. 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 Congression… more
Date: July 10, 2009
Creator: McCarthy, Francis X. & Keegan, Natalie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program: Overview and Issues

Description: This report discusses Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), and "Project Impact," a FEMA pilot program. It provides an overview of PDM, legislative history, funding and mitigation studies related to Hurricane Katrina, issues for Congress, and overall observations.
Date: August 8, 2008
Creator: McCarthy, Francis X.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program: Overview and Issues

Description: This report discusses Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), and "Project Impact," a FEMA pilot program. It provides an overview of PDM, legislative history, funding and mitigation studies related to Hurricane Katrina, issues for Congress, and overall observations.
Date: June 26, 2008
Creator: McCarthy, Francis X.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program: Overview and Issues

Description: This report discusses Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), "Project Impact," and related legislative issues that Congress currently faces. 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.
Date: July 10, 2009
Creator: McCarthy, Francis X. & Keegan, Natalie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is built on a structure conceived in the 1950's when over-the-air broadcasting was the best-available technology for widely disseminating emergency alerts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with the Association of Public Television Stations, is implementing a program that will disseminate national alert messages over digital broadcast airwaves, using satellite and public TV broadcast towers. This program is referred to as the Integrated Public A… more
Date: June 26, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

Description: Today's 911 system is built on an infrastructure of analog technology that does not support many of the features that most Americans expect are part of an emergency response. Recognizing the importance of providing effective 911 service, Congress has passed three major bills supporting improvements in the handling of 911 emergency calls. This report includes a detailed overview of the 911 system, as well as related legislation and policies currently in consideration by Congress.
Date: November 21, 2008
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

Description: Today's 911 system is built on an infrastructure of analog technology that does not support many of the features that most Americans expect are part of an emergency response. Efforts to splice newer, digital technologies onto this aging infrastructure have created points of failure where a call can be dropped or misdirected, sometimes with tragic consequences. This report discusses efforts to modernize and update 911 emergency response technology, the funding for such efforts, and related piece… more
Date: June 16, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: This report discusses the mainstays of the U.S. capacity to issue warnings: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which relies primarily on broadcasting media, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All-Hazards Network.
Date: January 26, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: This report discusses the mainstays of the U.S. capacity to issue warnings: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which relies primarily on broadcasting media, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All-Hazards Network.
Date: August 14, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FEMA's Community Disaster Loan Program

Description: Areas struck by disasters, both natural and man-made, often experience a destruction of property and decline in economic activity. Tax collections for affected local governments may fall substantially as a consequence. At the same time, the financial and public service obligations of local governments persist and may actually increase. The unexpected loss of revenue coupled with the increased financial needs for responding to a natural disaster or terrorist act may lead local governments to see… more
Date: February 21, 2006
Creator: Noto, Nonna A. & Maguire, Steven
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response: The SAFER Grant Program

Description: The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Act (the "SAFER Act") was enacted by the 108th Congress as part of the FY2004 National Defense Authorization Act. This report describes the SAFER Act in brief and discusses possible budgetary modifications to the SAFER Act that are being considered due to the recent economic downturn.
Date: June 23, 2009
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financing Recovery from Large-Scale Natural Disasters

Description: Two important issues before Congress are (1) securing the nation's capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover/rebuild from natural catastrophe events, and (2) determining whether and how the federal government should intervene in catastrophe insurance markets. This report focuses on this issue at length, taking into consideration the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2004 and 2005; a sequence of tornadoes, wildfire, earthquakes, Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, and the 2008 Midwestern floods; and the fi… more
Date: November 18, 2008
Creator: King, Rawle O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program: Preparing for the "Big One"

Description: There is general agreement that damaging earthquakes will occur in the United States in the next few decades, likely causing dozens of deaths and tens of billions of dollars in losses. They cannot be prevented, and, thus far, cannot be predicted. Whether or not an earthquake prediction or earthquake warning is issued, public awareness of earthquake hazards is important. This report reviews the geologic background of earthquakes and seismic hazards in regions across the United States, describes … more
Date: February 23, 2000
Creator: Mielke, James E
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Public Safety Communications Policy

Description: Since September 11, 2001, the effectiveness of America's communications capabilities in support of the information needs of first responders and other public safety workers has been a matter of concern to Congress. Most public safety advocates consider that the communications failures following the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina demonstrate that there is much still to be done to provide the United States with adequate communications capabilities in emergencies. This report explores several piec… more
Date: July 24, 2006
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Emergency Communications Safety Net: Integrating 911 and Other Services

Description: The present capability and future effectiveness of America's network of emergency telecommunications services are among the issues under review by Congress and other entities. As technologies that can support 911 improve, many are seeing the possibility of integrating 911 into a wider safety net of emergency communications and alerts. One of the intents of Congress in passing the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999, and of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in impleme… more
Date: June 12, 2006
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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