Congressional Research Service Reports - 891 Matching Results
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- FEMA Disaster Housing and Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Analysis, and Congressional Issues
- This report discusses the issues with the housing policies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), particularly as they relate to the Post-Katrina Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-295) and the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Plan (P.L. 93-288). It includes an overview of the Stafford Act sections 403 and 408 as well as a breakdown of issues for Congress and possible Congressional approaches to address the policies.
- Commercial Fishery Disaster Assistance
- This report discusses disaster relief for commercial fishery, which be provided by the federal government to assist the fishing industry when it is affected by a commercial fishery failure.
- Side-by-Side Comparison of Flood Insurance Reform Legislation in the 110th Congress
- This report discusses the key policy objectives of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that were threefold: (1) reduce the nation's flood risk through floodplain management; (2) improve flood hazard data and risk assessment by mapping the nation's floodplains; and (3) make affordable flood insurance widely available in communities that adopt and enforce measures to make future construction safer from flooding.
- United States Fire Administration: An Overview
- The report discusses the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), which is an entity within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- Earthquakes: Risk, Monitoring, Notification, and Research
- This report describes estimates of earthquake hazards and risk in the United States; the current federal programs that support earthquake monitoring and that provide notification after a seismic event; and the programs that support mitigation and research aimed at reducing U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes.
- Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management
- This report looks at four issues dominating wildfire funding debates: the high cost of fire management, funding for fuel reduction, the federal role in protecting nonfederal lands, and post-fire rehabilitation. The Forest Service (FS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are responsible for protecting most federal lands from wildfires, however, many in Congress are concerned that wildfire costs are spiraling upward without a reduction in damages.
- Side-by-Side Comparison of Flood Insurance Reform Legislation in the 110th Congress
- This report provides background information regarding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and discusses the key points for flood insurance reform and the changes that should be made in the broader context of program re-authorization.
- Flooding Events: CRS Experts
- This table provides access to names and contact information for Congressional Research Service (CRS) experts on policy concerns relating to flooding events in the United States. Policy areas identified include impacts, response and recovery, mitigation, and federal financing.
- Wildfires: CRS Experts
- The following table provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to wildfires. Policy areas identified include federal wildfire policy; long-term land use management; federal firefighting assistance; federal emergency management policy; federal preparedness system and response plan; hazard mitigation; armed forces and national guard assistance; supplemental disaster funding; and disaster insurance.
- National Flood Insurance Program: Background, Challenges, and Financial Status
- This report provides an analysis of the National Flood Insurance Program (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.
- Federal Assistance for Wildfire Response and Recovery
- This report briefly discusses the options for federal support and assistance for areas affected by wildfire disaster including the period during wildfires, in the aftermath, and later for preventing a recurrence.
- Considerations for a Catastrophic Declaration: Issues and Analysis
- This report examines concerns expressed by policymakers and experts that current Stafford Act declarations are inadequate to respond to, and recover from, highly destructive events. It presents the arguments for and against amending the act to add a catastrophic declaration amendment. This report also includes data analyses of past and potential disasters to determine what incidents might be deemed as catastrophic, and explores alternative policy options that might obviate the need for catastrophic declarations.
- U.S. Tsunami Programs: A Brief Overview
- This report discusses U.S. warning systems and related disaster management programs in place to prepare for and react to tsunamis. This issue is discussed in relation to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.
- Nuclear Power Plant Sites: Maps of Seismic Hazards and Population Centers
- This report gives a map of current commercial nuclear power plants and their relation to seismic hazards.
- Earthquake Risk and U.S. Highway Infrastructure: Frequently Asked Questions
- This report addresses frequently asked questions about the risk from earthquakes to highway systems, including bridges, tunnels, pavements, and other highway components. Particular attention is given to highway bridges, which often are the most vulnerable highway structures. The report also discusses federal and nonfederal actions to reduce seismic risk to the U.S. highway system.
- Public Health and Emergency Preparedness: CRS Experts
- This table provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to public health and emergency preparedness.
- Fukushima Nuclear Crisis
- This report briefly discusses the March 11, 2001 earthquake off the east coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. The earthquake caused an automatic shutdown of eleven of Japan's fifty-five operating nuclear power plants, though the plants closest to the earthquake's epicenter, Fukushima and Onagawa, were damaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. This report also discusses efforts by the United States and other countries to provide assistance to Japan to deal with the nuclear crisis.
- Public Health and Medical Emergency Management: Issues in the 112th Congress
- This report summarizes key issues in domestic public health and medical preparedness and response, and discusses selected federal programs by citing other CRS reports and sources of additional information.
- Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding
- This report discusses the firefighting activities that are traditionally the responsibility of states and local communities. The report also talks about the funding for firefighters, which is provided mostly by state and local governments. However, during the 106th Congress, many in the fire community asserted that local fire departments require and deserve greater support from the federal government.
- Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research
- This report discusses the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), a program under which the federal government supports efforts to assess and monitor earthquake hazards and risk in the United States. This report also discusses earthquake hazards and risk in the United States; federal programs that support earthquake monitoring; the U.S. capability to detect earthquakes and issue notifications and warnings; and federally-supported research to improve the fundamental scientific understanding of earthquakes with a goal of reducing U.S. vulnerability.
- Public Health and Emergency Preparedness: CRS Experts
- This table provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to public health and emergency preparedness.
- Federal Evacuation Policy: Issues for Congress
- This report discusses federal evacuation policy and analyzes potential lessons learned from the evacuations of individuals in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005. Several issue areas that might arise concerning potential lawmaking and oversight on evacuation policy are also highlighted.
- Weather-Related Power Outages and Electric System Resiliency
- This report focuses on the impacts of sustained power outages as might result from the result of seasonal storms, and whether there is a role for the federal government in hastening the restoration of power from weather-related outages.
- Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response: The SAFER Grant Program
- This report discusses Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Act, which was enacted by the 108th Congress as Section 1057 of the FY2004 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 108-136). It includes background of the SAFER Act, appropriations from FY2011-FY2013, reauthorization of the program in the House and Senate, and information about program implementation.
- Emergency Response: Civil Liability of Volunteer Health Professionals
- This report discusses the patchwork of federal and state laws that operate to protect volunteers, which can include volunteer health professionals (VHPs), and those laws that trigger liability protection only for VHPs — with a focus on some of the midwestern states in addition to the Gulf region.
- The First Responder Network and Next- Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress
- This report covers a background of provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 for planning, building, and managing a new, nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications.
- United States Fire Administration: An Overview
- This report describes and analyzes the United States Fire Administration's (USFA) FY2013 budget proposal, as well as related information and legislation.
- Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research
- Report that discusses: earthquake hazards and risk in the United States, federal programs that support earthquake monitoring, the U.S. capability to detect earthquakes and issue notifications and warnings, and federally supported research to improve the fundamental scientific understanding of earthquakes with a goal of reducing U.S. vulnerability.
- Managing Disaster Debris: Overview of Regulatory Requirements, Agency Roles, and Selected Challenges
- Report that addresses the challenges in removing debris resulting from a "major disaster" or "emergency" declared by the President, as well as the role of federal agencies in debris removal.
- Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for Disaster Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Projects
- Report that discusses the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as it applies to projects for which federal funding to recover from or prepare for a disaster has been requested by local, tribal, or state grant applicants.
- United States Fire Administration: An Overview
- Report that describes and analyzes the United States Fire Administration's (USFA) FY2011 budget proposal, as well as related information and legislation.
- Offsets, Supplemental Appropriations, and the Disaster Relief Fund: FY1990-FY2013
- Report that discusses the recent history of offsetting rescissions in paying for supplemental appropriations to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund (DRF).
- The First Responder Network and Next- Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress
- Report that covers a background of provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 for planning, building, and managing a new, nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications.
- Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2011: Trends and Analyses, and Implications for Congress
- Report that describes the declaration process of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the types of declarations that can be made under the Stafford Act.
- Federal Involvement in Flood Response and Flood Infrastructure Repair: Storm Sandy Recovery
- Report regarding congressional efforts to structure federal actions and programs so they provide incentives to reduce flood risk without unduly infringing on private property rights or usurping local decision making.
- Emergency Relief Program: Federal-Aid Highway Assistance for Disaster-Damaged Roads and Bridges
- Report that looks at the eligibility of major highways and bridges recently damaged by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene to receive Emergency Relief Program assistance from the Federal Highway Administration.
- Hurricane Sandy and the 2012 Election: Fact Sheet
- Report examining what actions the federal government might take to respond to Hurricane Sandy's impact on the November 6, 2012, election.
- Tax Provisions to Assist with Disaster Recovery
- Report that provides a basic overview of existing, permanent provisions that benefit victims of disasters, as well as past, targeted legislative responses to particular disasters. The relief is discussed without examining either the qualifications for or the limitation on claiming the provisions' benefits.
- Army Corps Supplemental Appropriations: Recent History, Trends, and Policy Issues
- Report that summarizes recent trends in supplemental funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, particularly related to natural disasters. It provides summary data and analysis on Corps funding over the last 10 years and includes a general discussion of how the Corps funds emergency actions at its own facilities and elsewhere.
- Army Corps Supplemental Appropriations: Recent History, Trends, and Policy Issues
- This report provides analysis of Corps supplemental funding. Its focus is recent decades of supplemental funding provided directly to the Corps, and it does not include extensive analysis of regular Corps appropriations.
- Federal Emergency Management: A Brief Introduction
- Report that is designed to provide Members of Congress and congressional staff with a general overview of principles and foundations of federal emergency management in the United States as well as the types of activities provided by various federal agencies.
- Federal Disaster Assistance after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Gustav, and Ike
- Report that provides information on federal financial assistance provided to the Gulf States after major disasters were declared in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in response to the widespread destruction that resulted from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005 and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. This includes a brief summary of each hurricane and a discussion concerning federal to state cost-shares.
- The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief
- Report that discusses the responsibility of four federal agencies for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
- Financing Natural Catastrophe Exposure: Issues and Options for Improving Risk Transfer Markets
- This report opens with an examination of the current role of private insurers in managing disaster risk and their capacity and willingness to deal with the rising cost of financing recovery and reconstruction following natural disasters. The report then examines the current role of federal, state, and local governments in managing disaster risk.
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)
- Report that contains information on how to ascertain if an individual is eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) benefits.
- Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface
- Report that describes the growth of the wildland-urban interface, wildfire suppression efforts, post-fire responses, and especially the programs and options for protecting the interface before the next wildfire strikes.
- Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding
- Report that discusses the firefighting activities that are traditionally the responsibility of states and local communities. The report also talks about the funding for firefighters, which is provided mostly by state and local governments. However, during the 106th Congress, many in the fire community asserted that local fire departments require and deserve greater support from the federal government.
- An Examination of Federal Disaster Relief Under the Budget Control Act
- This report addresses traditional funding for major disaster declarations, workings of the President's Disaster Relief Fund, a basic overview of how disaster assistance is appropriated, what factors affect how much the federal government spends on disasters, how disaster relief is impacted by the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, and what the policy implications are for disaster assistance under the constraints of the BCA, and the increasing number of disaster declarations and both the possible causes and likely cost implications of a greater number of declarations.
- Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): U.S. and International Response to Philippines Disaster
- This report examines the impact of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which struck the central Philippines on November 8, 2013, and the U.S. and international response.
- Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response: The SAFER Grant Program
- This report discusses Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Act, which was enacted by the 108th Congress as Section 1057 of the FY2004 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 108-136). It includes background of the SAFER Act, appropriations from FY2011-FY2013, reauthorization of the program in the House and Senate, and information about program implementation.