Public Housing Disaster Preparedness Act of 2013

Public Housing Disaster Preparedness Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require each public housing agency (PHA) that owns, operates, or assists at least 500 dwelling units in public housing projects (covered PHA) to develop a disaster response and relief plan to provide:

• guidance for PHAs and their staff, residents of dwelling units in public housing, relevant federal, state, and local agencies and officials, and community-based organizations; and
• comprehensive information regarding pre-disaster, disaster impact, and post-disaster policies, standards, procedures, and protocols.

Requires the plan to: (1) be included in the annual and five-year PHA plans required to be submitted under the Act, and (2) be submitted for HUD approval before its implementation.

Prescribes requirements for the plan, including protocols for:

• establishing communication and support;
• immediate disaster response;
• protecting the special needs of residents;
• safe evacuation of residents and staff;
• supporting short- and long-term relocation of residents;
• temporarily renting vacant PHA units to local victims of a disaster who are not residents of public housing;
• prohibiting PHAs from evicting residents (with certain exceptions) during a disaster period;
• providing residents with specified emergency information immediately after the conclusion of a disaster;
• protecting and restoring public housing building;
• listing the condition and location of emergency supplies and equipment;
• providing information regarding federal, state, and local grant and loan programs and other disaster relief resources available to a covered PHA, including information regarding the insurance policy of the covered PHA and how to file a claim;
• implementing the plan properly; and
• implementing certain emergency disaster training.

Requires a covered PHA to:

• disseminate information (accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency) about the emergency protocols established under the plan to each resident of a PHA dwelling unit the PHA owns, operates, or assists before the resident moves into the unit as well as once every year, and, if possible, before an impending disaster;
• maintain a list, updated annually, of the members of each family residing in such a dwelling unit, and identify the special needs of certain residents because of a disability, physical or mobility impairment, or medical condition, the units in which elderly residents reside, and the units in which residents with limited English proficiency reside as well as their primary languages; and
• take specified actions to provide rental payment fairness for such dwelling units.

Requires the HUD Inspector General to evaluate the plan, after its implementation following a disaster, and if necessary to make recommendations for improving it within 180 days after the conclusion of the disaster.

Makes conforming amendments to the United States Housing Act of 1937.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov