Sponsors (2)
Introduced February 4, 2025 by John Cornyn · Last progress February 4, 2025
The bill directs targeted grants and clearer definitions to help homeowners and governments invest in hazard mitigation and implementation clarity, but it constrains scale and duration of funding, adds administrative complexity, and may increase compliance costs or create short-term legal uncertainty for some communities.
Homeowners, especially low-income households, gain grant funding to retrofit homes against floods, wind, earthquakes, and wildfires, reducing future damage and vulnerability.
Homeowners and taxpayers benefit because federal investment in mitigation grants may reduce future disaster damage and thus lower long-term federal disaster assistance costs.
Local governments and communities get clearer technical guidance by defining 'latest published editions' as the two most recent consensus-based code editions, reducing ambiguity when adopting or referencing codes for rebuilding.
Homeowners, state and local governments, and potential grantees face reduced scale and uncertainty because the pilot is limited to up to 10% of annual Stafford Act §203 funds, depends on post-enactment appropriations, and sunsets on September 30, 2030.
Small, low-income, and rural communities and state/local administrative offices will face increased administrative burden and complexity — tracking which code editions qualify, meeting pilot reporting/administration requirements, and complying with separate rules across programs — which can slow implementation and increase costs.
Homeowners, local governments, and low-income individuals could face higher rebuilding or compliance costs because requiring the two most recent consensus code editions may impose stricter standards than prior editions.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a FEMA pilot to fund residential resilience retrofits via state/local grants, caps funding at 10% of program funds, prioritizes those with financial need, and requires reporting.
Creates a FEMA pilot program to fund residential resilience retrofits that reduce damage from local natural hazards. The pilot is run through FEMA’s predisaster hazard mitigation program, gives grants to states and local governments to subgrant to homeowners, prioritizes people with financial need, is capped at 10% of annual program funds, must be set up within one year, and ends on September 30, 2030. The law also revises definitions in the Stafford Act and removes a specific paragraph in the hazard mitigation revolving loan fund statute; it limits the scope of changes to the predisaster hazard mitigation and revolving loan fund programs.