Disaster Savings and Resilient Construction Act - H.R. 3397

Representatives Tom Reed (R-23-FL) with Bill Pascrel (D-09-NJ), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-FL) and Peter Defazio (D-04-OR) introduced legislation (H.R. 3397) that will help save money, reduce destruction and prevent the loss of lives in disaster-prone areas. The Disaster Savings and Resilient Construction Act of 2015 will provide a tax credit to homeowners or building owners who use resilient construction techniques when building and renovating homes and commercial structures in federally declared disaster areas.

 

When a federal disaster is declared, taxpayers’ dollars are used to help rebuild communities and cities around the country. As a result of Hurricane Sandy alone, Congress spent $9.7 billion to cover insurance claims filed by people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm, followed by a supplemental $50.7 billion package, of which just $3.4 billion will be offset by cuts to discretionary programs elsewhere. Investing in resilient construction during the rebuild will help limit the need for emergency funding in the future.

 

Resilient construction has the potential to substantially reduce property damage and loss of life resulting from all forms of natural disasters. In an example from Hurricane Ike, while all other homes in the surrounding area were totally destroyed, 10 of 13 resilient constructed homes in the path of the storm remained standing with minimal damage. The three houses that did not survive actually were destroyed by the impact of debris from traditionally built homes knocked off their foundations by the storm surge.

Full Bill Text: https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr3397/BILLS-114hr3397ih.pdf