S 2382
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2382
To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency to quickly and fairly address the abundance of surplus manufactured
housing units stored by the Federal Government around the country at
taxpayer expense.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 16, 2007
Mr. PRYOR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency to quickly and fairly address the abundance of surplus manufactured
housing units stored by the Federal Government around the country at
taxpayer expense.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `FEMA Accountability Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) more than 19,000 mobile homes and travel trailers sit unused at
the storage site in Hope, Arkansas;
(2) the Federal Emergency Management Agency spends $25,000 each month
to store the unused manufactured homes in Hope, Arkansas;
(3) the Federal Emergency Management Agency spends in excess of $3,000,000
each year to store unused manufactured homes at 15 storage sites across
the country;
(4) these manufactured housing units were purchased to aid disaster
victims during the 2005 hurricane season;
(5) it is anticipated that the number of unused mobile homes and trailers
could continue to increase as residents find permanent housing;
(6) many of these manufactured homes are now severely damaged or may
contain potentially harmful levels of formaldehyde; and
(7) the Federal Emergency Management Agency has had ample time to
assess the need for on-hand manufactured housing.
SEC. 3. STORAGE, SALE, TRANSFER, AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSING UNITS.
(a) In General- Not later than 3 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(in this section referred to as the `Administrator') shall complete
an assessment of the number of manufactured housing units it finds necessary
to stock to respond to disasters occurring after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), not later than
6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator
shall establish a well developed plan for permanently storing manufactured
housing units necessary to stock, selling or transferring usable surplus
units, and disposing of unusable units.
(A) IN GENERAL- If the Administrator submits to Congress a written
certification that the Administrator is unable to determine the
safe level of exposure to formaldehyde for purposes of travel trailers,
the Administrator may exclude from the plan under paragraph (1)
any travel trailer that the Administrator determines may contain
formaldehyde.
(B) DURATION- The authority to exclude travel trailers under this
paragraph shall terminate on the date on which the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency promulgates regulations regarding
exposure levels for formaldehyde that are applicable to travel trailers.
(c) Implementation- Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator shall implement the plan described in
subsection (b).
(d) Report- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the status
of the distribution, sale, transfer, or disposal of unused manufactured
housing units.
END
