February 13, 2025
Mr. Hickenlooper (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive certain critical document fees for individuals and households affected by major disasters for which assistance is provided under the Individuals and Households Program.
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 Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act
or the REPLACE Act
.
Sec. 2. Critical document fee waiver
Section 1238(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174b) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2), by striking applies regardless
and inserting and the requirement of the President to waive fees under paragraph (4) apply regardless
;
(2)
by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (8); and
(3)
by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
(4) Waiver
The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, shall provide a fee waiver described in paragraph (1) to any individual or household that has been adversely affected by a major disaster declared under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170)—
(A)
for which the President provides assistance to individuals and households under section 408 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5174); and
(B)
that destroyed a critical document described in paragraph (1) of the individual or household.
(5) Waiver availability
The Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of State and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively, a notice of the availability of fee waivers described in paragraph (4).
(6) Report from USCIS
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
(A)
the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
(B)
the cost to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
(7) Report from Department of State
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
(A)
the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
(B)
the cost to the Department of State of granting fee waivers under this subsection.