Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act

This bill aims to prevent future disasters by strengthening FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and helping communities plan and pay for safer projects before disasters strike. It raises the BRIC funding set‑aside from 6% to 15% of certain disaster grants and lets 2% of that be used for community planning and capacity building. It allows the federal government to cover up to 90% of project costs in environmental justice communities and in small, low‑income communities of 50,000 people or fewer. FEMA may issue guidance to factor future climate conditions into risk tools, cost‑benefit analyses, and stronger building standards, so projects are built to withstand flooding, wildfires, and other hazards. FEMA must also prioritize help for areas with high hazard risk, environmental justice communities, places with low tax bases, and places with weak code adoption or infrastructure upkeep.

The bill requires FEMA to expand outreach so communities get help planning, applying for, and managing grants, especially those most at risk or under‑resourced. It also directs FEMA to create, within 3 years, a central, user‑friendly federal database and interactive map that shows disaster and mitigation spending by project type, funding source, and hazard, and includes demographic data and post‑project evaluations to show what mitigation saves.

Key points

• Who is affected: high‑risk areas; environmental justice communities; small, low‑income communities (50,000 or fewer); places with low tax revenue, weak code adoption, or limited infrastructure maintenance.
• What changes: BRIC set‑aside increased to 15%, with 2% for planning; up to 90% federal cost share for qualifying communities; climate‑smart guidance for projects; stronger outreach; a public database and map of spending and results .
• When: the central database must be up within 3 years of enactment.