6 September 2006
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[Federal Register: September 6, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 172)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 52727-52731]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06se06-138]
[[Page 52727]]
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Part VI
The President
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Executive Order 13411--Improving Assistance for Disaster Victims
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
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Executive Order 13411 of August 29, 2006
Improving Assistance for Disaster Victims
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (the ``Stafford Act''), and to
take further actions to improve the delivery of Federal
disaster assistance, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal
Government to ensure that individuals who are victims
of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other
incident that is the subject of an emergency or major
disaster declaration under the Stafford Act, and who
are thereby eligible for financial or other assistance
delivered by any department or agency of the executive
branch (Federal disaster assistance), have prompt and
efficient access to Federal disaster assistance, as
well as information regarding assistance available from
State and local government and private sector sources.
Sec. 2. Task Force on Disaster Assistance
Coordination. (a) Plan to Improve Delivery of Federal
Disaster Assistance. To further the policy in section 1
of this order, there is established the interagency
``Task Force on Disaster Assistance Coordination''
(Task Force). The Task Force shall develop a plan to
streamline and otherwise improve the delivery of
Federal disaster assistance (Plan). The Plan shall:
(i) include an inventory of Federal disaster
assistance programs and assess the effectiveness of
their respective delivery mechanisms;
(ii) recommend specific actions to improve the
delivery of Federal disaster assistance, which shall
include actions to provide a centralized application
process for Federal disaster assistance, provide a
centralized and continuously updated clearinghouse from
which disaster victims may obtain information regarding
Federal disaster assistance and State and local
government and private sector sources of disaster
assistance, reduce unnecessarily duplicative
application forms and processes for Federal disaster
assistance, and strengthen controls designed to prevent
improper payments and other forms of fraud, waste, and
abuse; and
(iii) include an implementation schedule for the
Plan's recommendations that provides for the phased
implementation of the Plan by December 31, 2008,
including quarterly milestones and metrics to be used
to measure and evaluate implementation.
(b) Membership of the Task Force. (i) The Task Force
shall consist exclusively of the following members, or
their designees who shall be at the Assistant Secretary
level (or its equivalent) or higher:
(A) the Secretary of Homeland Security, who shall serve as Chair;
(B) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(C) the Secretary of Defense;
(D) the Attorney General;
(E) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(F) the Secretary of Commerce;
(G) the Secretary of Labor;
(H) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(I) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
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(J) the Secretary of Education;
(K) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(L) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management;
(M) the Commissioner of Social Security;
(N) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
(O) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and
(P) such other officers of the United States as the Secretary of Homeland
Security may designate from time to time.
(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security, or the
Secretary's designee, shall convene and preside at
meetings of the Task Force, determine its agenda,
direct its work, and, as appropriate to address
specific subject matters, establish and direct
subgroups of the Task Force. A member of the Task Force
may designate, to perform Task Force subgroup functions
of the member, any person who is part of such member's
department or agency and who is either an officer of
the United States appointed by the President or a
member of the Senior Executive Service.
(c) Plan Approval and Implementation. Not later than
March 1, 2007, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
submit the Plan to the President for approval through
the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
and Counterterrorism and the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget. Upon approval of the Plan by the
President, the Secretary of Homeland Security, assisted
by the Task Force, shall coordinate the implementation
of the Plan. Until the completion of such
implementation, the Secretary of Homeland Security
shall submit a quarterly progress report to the
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and
Counterterrorism and the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget.
Sec. 3. Assistance and Support. To the extent permitted
by law, the heads of all executive departments and
agencies shall provide such assistance and information
as the Secretary of Homeland Security may request in
carrying out the Secretary's responsibilities under
this order. Consistent with applicable law and subject
to the availability of appropriations, the Department
of Homeland Security shall provide necessary funding
and administrative support for the Task Force.
Sec. 4. Administration. This order shall: (a) be
implemented in a manner consistent with applicable
laws, including Federal laws protecting the information
privacy rights and other legal rights of Americans, and
subject to the availability of appropriations;
(b) be implemented in a manner consistent with the
statutory authority of the principal officers of
executive departments and agencies as heads of their
respective departments or agencies; and
(c) not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the
functions of the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget relating to budget, administrative,
regulatory, and legislative responsibilities.
Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the Federal
Government and is not intended to, and does not, create
any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural,
enforceable
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at law or in equity by a party against the United
States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its
officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(Presidential Sig.)B
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 29, 2006.
[FR Doc. 06-7492
Filed 9-5-06; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P