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Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act
To make certain repairs, replacements, and restorations of private roads and bridges eligible for reimbursement under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and for other purposes.
Summary
The Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act makes private roads and bridges in North Carolina damaged by Tropical Storm Helene eligible for federal reimbursement under the Stafford Act's public assistance program. The private roads or bridges must be the sole means of access to primary residences or essential community services and must have been significantly damaged or destroyed by the storm. States, tribal, and local governments seeking reimbursement must have the roads and bridges inspected by government officials, obtain permission to perform repairs, keep the roads open during restoration, and ensure compliance with applicable regulations. Eligible costs are based on certified cost estimates from professionally licensed engineers, which are presumed reasonable once accepted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency unless fraud is evident. The bill also allows individuals who previously received disaster assistance for these repairs to either proceed with their existing assistance without it counting against their maximum assistance, or return the assistance to be eligible under this new program.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
Actions (3)
- Jan 29, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. · house
- Jan 28, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Jan 28, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 28, 2025
Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, and Mr. Moore of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To make certain repairs, replacements, and restorations of private roads and bridges eligible for reimbursement under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and for other purposes.
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 “Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act”.
SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIR, REPLACEMENT, AND RESTORATION WORK ON PRIVATE ROADS AND BRIDGES IMPACTED BY TROPICAL STORM HELENE.
(a) Eligibility for Reimbursement.—Notwithstanding any provision of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) or the regulations governing the public assistance program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under such Act, the State, Indian Tribal, and local governments in North Carolina covered under major disaster declaration FEMA-4827-DR-NC (relating to Tropical Storm Helene) shall be eligible for reimbursement for the cost of repairs, replacements, or restoration to private roads and bridges, without regard to pre-existing condition, under section 428 of such Act that—
(1) are used as the sole means of access to primary residences or essential community services;
(2) are significantly damaged or destroyed as a direct result of Tropical Storm Helene as identified in FEMA-4827-DR- NC; and
(3) does not duplicate work that has already been completed.
(b) Conditions of Reimbursement.—Reimbursement under this section shall be subject to the following conditions:
(1) Private roads or bridges shall be inspected by appropriate State, Indian Tribal, or local government officials or their designees to verify the scope, need, and cost- effectiveness of any mitigation measures for the proposed repair, replacement, or restoration.
(2) The State, Indian Tribal, or local governments requesting assistance shall ensure that the private roads or bridges being repaired, replaced, or restored remain open for disaster recovery activities for the duration of the repair, replacement, or restoration process.
(3) The State or Indian Tribal governments shall be responsible for documenting all costs associated with repairs, replacements, or restorations within their jurisdiction in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency policy.
(4) The State, Indian Tribal, or local government applying for public assistance funding shall obtain authority or permission to perform the work to permanently repair, replace, or restore the private roads and bridges.
(5) The State, Indian Tribal, or local government applying for public assistance funding shall ensure the work under this section is performed in compliance with all applicable State and Federal regulations and requirements that pertain to work that is permanent in nature.
(c) Duplication of Benefits.—
(1) In general.—Any individual or household that has received assistance prior to the date of enactment of this section pursuant to section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) for the purposes of repairing a private road or bridge eligible under this section may proceed with such repairs or return any such assistance to have such repair eligible pursuant to this section.
(2) Calculation.—In the event the individual or household chooses to proceed with such repairs utilizing assistance provided pursuant to section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) for a private road or bridge, such assistance shall not be counted against the maximum amount of assistance for such individual or household under such section.
(d) Eligible Costs.—In determining eligible costs, the Administrator shall base such determinations on properly conducted and certified cost estimates prepared by professionally licensed engineers (mutually agreed upon by the Administrator and the applicant). Once certified by a professionally licensed engineer and accepted by the Administrator, the estimates on which grants made pursuant to this section are based shall be presumed to be reasonable and eligible costs, as long as there is no evidence of fraud. <all>
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