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The bill funds a federal earthquake-risk assessment and national lifelines/ recovery standards to improve planning, coordination, and faster service restoration, but doing so will cost federal and local actors and may disproportionately burden smaller jurisdictions while creating pressure for follow-on funding.
Local and state governments (and taxpayers via oversight) will receive a federal national risk assessment within two years that gives communities and Congress actionable data to improve earthquake-resilience planning, better target resources, and increase transparency and accountability.
Utilities, lifeline providers, and communities (including tribal and urban areas) will benefit from new consensus codes and a coordinated national lifelines approach that can speed post-earthquake service restoration, improve federal–state–tribal coordination, and help prioritize investments in resilient critical infrastructure.
Taxpayers will face additional federal costs because preparing the national risk assessment and developing standards requires federal staff time and resources.
Utilities, local governments, builders, and especially smaller or rural jurisdictions may incur compliance and implementation costs to meet updated lifeline-recovery codes, creating disproportionate burdens on resource-constrained communities.
The assessment could reveal gaps that raise expectations for additional federal action or funding, producing political contention and pressure on Congress if resources are not provided.
Introduced April 1, 2025 by Kevin Mullin · Last progress April 1, 2025
Requires the NIST Director, in coordination with FEMA, NSF, and USGS and in consultation with federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners and other stakeholders, to submit a national earthquake risk assessment to specified Congressional committees within two years of enactment that identifies community progress on earthquake resilience and remaining gaps. Amends the federal earthquake law to direct the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) to develop standards, guidelines, and consensus codes to improve post-earthquake recovery of lifeline infrastructure services, coordinated as appropriate by a national lifeline infrastructure organization. The bill focuses on planning, assessment, and standards development rather than new funding or regulatory mandates. It clarifies and inserts the new NEHRP duty into existing statutory lists while preserving the structure of current law.