Sponsors
Last progress June 5, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 5, 2025 by Neal Patrick Dunn
Shortens the federal recovery window for certain disaster assistance repayments from three years to two years, restores a limited presidential waiver to allow use of some federal disaster assistance when a Governor requests it, creates a new limited waiver authority for FEMA to forgive some recoupments on defined "covered projects" (with a 5% cap on excess funds), and requires FEMA to set an "acceptable error ratio" for allocations so amounts within that tolerance may be used for eligible purposes. The bill adds these procedural and administrative rules to the Stafford Act to provide more flexibility, faster decisions, and clearer tolerances for financial adjustments after declared disasters or emergencies.
Amend Section 705(a)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by replacing the phrase "3 years" with "2 years".
Adds a new paragraph (4) to Section 312(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155(b)) creating a waiver of the general prohibition in subsection (a).
Authorizes the President to waive the general prohibition in subsection (a) upon request of a Governor on behalf of the State or on behalf of a person, business concern, or any other entity suffering losses from a major disaster or emergency, if the President finds the waiver is in the public interest and will not result in waste, fraud, or abuse.
In deciding whether to grant a waiver, the President may consider: (i) recommendations of the FEMA Administrator made in consultation with the Federal agency(ies) administering the duplicative program; (ii) whether the assistance to be funded is cost effective; (iii) equity and good conscience; and (iv) other matters of public policy the President considers appropriate.
A waiver request under the new paragraph must be granted or denied not later than 45 days after submission of the request.
Primary effects will fall on state governments, disaster survivors (individuals and households), businesses and other grant or loan recipients, and FEMA administration. Shortening the recoupment window to two years gives recipients greater finality more quickly but reduces the period for FEMA to identify and recover ineligible payments, which could lower federal recoveries. Restoring limited presidential waiver authority and establishing an Administrator waiver for covered projects increases flexibility to allow assistance or to forgive small excess payments when a Governor or Administrator shows public benefit and low fraud risk; this may accelerate recovery for recipients and ease administrative burdens but also raises the chance of increased net federal outlays or unrecovered overpayments. Requiring an acceptable error ratio formalizes tolerance thresholds during eligibility negotiations; this reduces the risk that minor allocation variances will lead to repayment actions and lowers compliance costs for grantees. FEMA will face new implementation tasks: writing waiver procedures, defining covered projects, setting the acceptable error ratio, tracking aggregate excess fund limits, and meeting the 45-day presidential waiver decision deadline. Overall fiscal impact is likely modest but depends on how often waivers are used and where the error ratio and excess fund caps are set. The changes aim to balance timeliness, equity, and anti-fraud safeguards while slightly increasing administrative discretion and potential fiscal exposure.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.