Rep. Bishop Issues Statement on House Republican Delay of Disaster Aid Bill

ALBANY, Georgia, May 30 -- Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., D-Georgia, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, issued the following statement after the third time a House Republican objected to pass the $19.1 billion disaster aid bill:

"Once again, a single GOP member blocked disaster relief from passing the House by unanimous consent.

"I am enraged that political games continue to delay our communities' recovery from catastrophic destruction.

"There is no excuse for repeatedly blocking a widely supported bipartisan, bicameral bill that provides vital aid for victims of natural disasters!

"The full House must pass the bill as soon as we reconvene on June 3rd."

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A summary of the bicameral, bipartisan disaster relief package is available here (https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/Emergency%20Supplemental%20Summary.pdf).

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EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMARY

Package includes $19.1 billion for disaster relief

Legislation provides approximately $1.4 billion for Puerto Rico

Title I - Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

Agricultural Programs -- $3.005 billion. Payments for crop and livestock losses due to hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic activities, tornados, floods, snowstorms, or wildfires during 2018 and 2019.

Emergency Forest Restoration Program -- $480 million. Assistance to owners of private forests to restore disaster-damaged forests.

Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations -- $435 million. Financial and technical assistance to states and local sponsors to protect and restore watersheds.

Emergency Conservation Program -- $558 million. Provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters.

Rural Community Facilities Program -- $150 million. Grants for facilities to provide health care, education, public safety, and public services to rural communities.

Nutrition Assistance Program for Puerto Rico -- $600 million. Additional funding to continue disaster nutrition benefits in Puerto Rico during its recovery from Hurricane Maria.

Nutrition Assistance Program for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) -- $25.2 million. Additional funding for nutrition benefits in CNMI following typhoons in September and October.

Nutrition Assistance for America Samoa -- $18 million for disaster nutrition assistance for American Samoa.

Study of Puerto Rico disaster nutrition assistance -- $5 million for a study of the disaster nutrition assistance provided to the Commonwealth in 2017.

In addition --

* Provides trade mitigation assistance through the Market Facilitation Program to producers who derive at least 75 percent of their adjusted gross income from farming, ranching, or forestry related activities.

* Establishes crop insurance for hemp products.

* Allows certain California communities affected by 2018 wildfires to be eligible for USDA Rural Development programs until 2020 Census data is available.

Title II - Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Economic Development Administration, Economic Development Assistance programs -- $600 million. Flood mitigation, disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in areas affected by major disasters in 2018 and 2019.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Operations, Research, and Facilities (NOAA ORF) Repair -- $3 million. Repair and replacement of observing assets, property, and equipment in areas affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires.

NOAA ORF Marine Debris Efforts -- $11 million. Marine debris assessment and removal in areas affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires.

NOAA ORF Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Services -- $31.57 million. Services in areas affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires.

NOAA ORF Weather Forecasting Improvements -- $25 million. Helping the National Weather Service improve its future forecasting and prediction of hurricane intensity, floods, and wildfires.

NOAA ORF Title IX Fund Grants -- $50 million. Competitive grants to help enhance coastal resilience, through such means as restoration of coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, and barrier islands. These efforts are necessary to help minimize the impacts on coastal communities of storms, rising sea levels, and other extreme events.

NOAA Procurement, Acquisition and Construction -- $25 million. Improvements to operational and research weather supercomputing infrastructure and satellite ground services in support of the National Weather Service's forecasting and prediction of hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.

NOAA Fisheries Disaster Assistance -- $150 million. Mitigates the effects of commercial fishery failures and fishery resource disasters declared by the Secretary of Commerce, including those caused by recent hurricanes and typhoons.

U.S. Marshals Service -- $1.336 million. Repairs to facilities damaged by recent hurricanes and typhoons.

Federal Prison Buildings and Facilities -- $28.4 million. Repairs to facilities damaged by recent hurricanes and typhoons.

Legal Services Corporation -- $15 million. Legal assistance in areas affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods.

Title III - Defense

Marine Corps, Operation and Maintenance -- $381 million. Addresses the effects of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on bases in each of the affected states.

Air Force, Operation and Maintenance -- $670 million. Addresses the effects of Hurricanes Florence and Michael and flooding in 2019 on bases in each of the affected states.

In addition --

* Protects Defense funds from being used for any purpose other than disaster relief. This effectively blocks this funding from being transferred for border wall construction.

Title IV - Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies

Army Corps of Engineers, Investigations -- $35 million. Study potential projects to reduce risk from future floods and hurricanes.

Army Corps of Engineers, Construction -- $740 million. Accelerate construction of flood and storm damage reduction projects to reduce risk from future floods and hurricanes. Within this amount, up to $25 million is for continuing authorities' projects to reduce the risk of flooding and storm damage.

Army Corps of Engineers, Damage Repairs to Corps Projects -- $2.483 billion. Repair damages to Corps projects ($575 million for Mississippi Rivers and Tributaries; $908 million for Operations and Maintenance; and $1 billion for Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies)

Department of Interior, Central Utah Project -- $350,000. Address damages from wildfires.

Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation -- $15.5 million. Carry out fire remediation activities and for firefighting costs.

Title V - Financial Services and General Government

General Services Administration, Federal Buildings Fund -- $91.2 million. Provides funding for necessary repairs to federal buildings and courthouses that suffered significant damage due to Hurricane Florence.

Title VI - Homeland Security

Coast Guard, Operations and Support -- $48.977 million. Immediate response costs related to the storms and to return Coast Guard operations to a pre-hurricane status by rebuilding, repairing, or replacing infrastructure, aids to navigation, mission assets, and other property that was either damaged or destroyed during these storms, as well as determining the extent to which environmental remediation will be required at or on Coast Guard units as a result of hurricane damage. Covers related costs such as site assessments, surveys, dredging, design work, and project oversight.

Coast Guard, Procurement, Construction, and Improvements -- $476.755 million. Construction, recapitalization, or rebuilding of facilities, piers, and other infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the storms, and to improve the resiliency of these assets against future storm damage.

In addition --

* Clarifies the intent of public law 115-123, which waived the prior condition limitation for Public Assistance grants for certain disasters affecting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in order to expedite reconstruction and strengthen the resiliency of critical services against future disasters. This provision will provide approximately $500 million in assistance for Puerto Rico.

Title VII - Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Construction -- $82.4 million. Repair and restoration of facilities, roads, bridges and assets associated with Hurricanes Florence, Lane, and Michael, flooding associated with Hawaii mudslides, and 2018 earthquakes. Within this amount, $50 million is for coastal resiliency grants.

National Park Service, Historic Preservation Fund -- $50 million. Historic preservation grants to fund the repair of historic sites and properties damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael and Typhoon Yutu.

National Park Service, Construction -- $78 million. Repair and replacement of assets in the National Park system that were damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut, and 2018 wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

U.S. Geological Survey -- $98.5 million. Equipment and facility repair and replacement; debris and hazardous waste removal; and data collection in areas affected by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, 2018 wildfires and volcanic eruptions, and damage from the Alaska earthquake.

Within this amount, $72.3 million is for the repair and replacement of equipment and facilities damaged in 2018 disasters.

Office of Insular Affairs -- $2 million. Financial management technical assistance related to the consequences of Typhoon Yutu.

Inspector General -- $1 million. Oversight of the use of supplemental funds by the Department of the Interior.

EPA, Science & Technology Account -- $600,000. Prepare public water systems to handle disasters in the future for training and incident response exercises.

EPA, Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program -- $1.5 million. Assess underground storage tanks affected by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoon Yutu, and 2018 earthquakes.

EPA, State and Tribal Assistance Grants -- $62.5 million. Assess post-disaster water quality conditions, replace damaged and destroyed monitoring equipment, and for states to inspect and clean up hazardous waste facilities impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoon Yutu, and 2018 wildfires and earthquakes. Within this amount, $56 million is for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for debris disposal and to construct and repair solid waste infrastructure.

EPA, State Revolving Funds -- $349.4 million. Resiliency funding to bring drinking and waste water systems to a state of resiliency against future storms. Funding for states impacted by Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Typhoon Yutu, and 2018 wildfires and earthquakes. Within this amount, $10.4 million is for the Northern Mariana Islands.

U.S. Forest Service, Repayment for Fire Borrowing -- $720.271 million. Repay non-fire accounts for fiscal year 2018 wildland fire activities.

U.S. Forest Service (non-fire) -- $134 million. Forest Inventory Analysis, State and Private Forestry, the National Forest System, including Hazardous Fuels, and Capital Improvement and Maintenance activities.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences -- $1 million. Worker Training Program to address debris management and mold remediation that result for hurricane and flooding events and provide personal protective equipment and informational materials to affected residents and communities.

Title VIII - Labor, HHS, Education

Dislocated Worker National Reserve -- $50 million. Help with clean-up and serve individuals who are temporarily or permanently laid off as a consequence of disasters and self-employed individuals who become unemployed or underemployed, among others.

Child Care and Development Block Grant -- $30 million. Support child care services, as well as renovation or repair of child care facilities.

Head Start -- $55 million. Rebuild and reopen Head Start centers whose services have been disrupted.

Community Services Block Grant -- $25 million. Support community services through flexible funding to local organizations to address needs in affected communities.

Child Welfare Services -- $5 million. Support child welfare services in communities affected by recent natural disasters.

Community Health Centers -- $80 million. Support health services, as well as renovation, construction, equipment, and other capital costs.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services -- $100 million. Support behavioral health treatment, crisis counseling, helplines, and other related activities for individuals affected by recent natural disasters.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- $20 million. Support infectious disease response activities and mitigate environmental health hazards.

Education Recovery -- $165 million. Meet the educational needs of students in areas affected by disasters by restarting school operations, providing temporary assistance for schools receiving displaced students, providing education services for homeless children and youth and delivering mental health services and supports to students and staff, among other activities.

In addition --

* Provides funding to support health services in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa through their Medicaid programs, including by waiving the local matching requirement for the remainder of fiscal year 2019.

* Requires the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education to provide a detailed spend plan to the Appropriations Committees.

Title IX - Legislative Branch

Government Accountability Office (GAO) -- $10 million. Oversight of disaster relief spending.

Title X - Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Military Construction, Navy and Marine Corps -- $600 million. Planning and design for construction projects related to the consequences of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on Marine Corps Installations in North Carolina (New River, Cherry Point and Lejeune). The Marine Corps is planning consolidation efforts of facilities as a result of the damage from the Hurricanes.

Military Construction, Air Force -- $1 billion. Planning and design and construction related to the consequences of Hurricane Michael in Florida (Tyndall AFB). Planning and design for relocation of the F-22 mission, beddown of F-35s and construction of facilities as necessary for the rebuilding of the base.

Military Construction, Army National Guard -- $42.4 million. Necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricanes Florence and Michael. The funding is to rebuild an Army Readiness Center and Operations facility.

Veterans Health Administration, Medical Facilities -- $3 million. Repairs damage sustained during Hurricanes Florence and Michael at VA facilities in Georgia and South Carolina.

In addition --

* Protects Military Construction funds from being used for any purpose other than disaster relief. This effectively blocks this funding from being transferred for border wall construction.

Title XI - Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Federal Transit Administration, Emergency Relief -- $10.542 million. Provides funding to rebuild transit systems and reimburse unanticipated costs related to natural disasters.

Federal Aviation Administration, Operations -- up to $18 million. Allows FAA to use prior year, unexpended emergency funds to support operational costs associated with air traffic control facilities affected by natural disasters.

Federal Highway Administration, Emergency Relief -- $1.65 billion. Reimburses states and territories for damage from natural disasters to roads and bridges in the National Highway System.

Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery -- $2.431 billion. Helps communities rebuild housing, businesses, and public infrastructure in the most impacted and distressed areas affected by major natural disasters. When combined with $1.68 billion of CDBG-DR funding in the FAA reauthorization, there will be a total of $3.89 billion in resources for 2018 and 2019 disasters, of which more than $1 billion is available for resiliency and mitigation activities. Of the total, $431 million is for unmet needs from 2017 disasters, including $331 million for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Title XII - General Provisions

Technical budgetary provisions.

In addition --

* Ensures that the definition of hurricane for the purposes of disaster relief covers the entirety of the storm's duration as a cyclone.

* Extends the National Flood Insurance Program through September 30, 2019.