42 U.S.C. § 5165d: Designation of Small State and Rural Advocate

The President shall designate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency a Small State and Rural Advocate. The Small State and Rural Advocate shall be an advocate for the fair treatment of small States and rural communities in the provision of assistance under this chapter. participate in the disaster declaration process under section 5170 of this title and the emergency declaration process under section 5191 of this title , to ensure that the needs of rural communities are being addressed; assist small population States in the preparation of requests for major disaster or emergency declarations; the per capita personal income by local area, as calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; the percentage of the population for whom poverty status is determined; the percentage of the population already receiving Government assistance such as Supplemental Security Income and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits; the pre-disaster unemployment rate; the percentage of the population that is 65 years old and older; the percentage of the population 18 years old and younger; the percentage of the population with a disability; the percentage of the population who speak a language other than English and speak English less than “very well”; and any unique considerations regarding American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribal populations raised in the State’s request for a major disaster declaration that may not be reflected in the data points referenced in this subparagraph; disruptions to community life-saving and life-sustaining services; disruptions or increased demand for essential community services; and disruptions to transportation, infrastructure, and utilities; and any other information relevant to demonstrate severe local impacts; and conduct such other activities as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers appropriate.