HR 403
Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act
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Bill overview
The Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act aims to strengthen disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts by modifying the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. It increases the amount of funding FEMA can allocate to BRIC grants, prioritizes assistance to vulnerable communities like environmental justice communities and small impoverished communities, and directs FEMA to incorporate climate change considerations into its planning and decision-making processes. The bill also establishes a central database to track disaster funding and improve data collection for more effective resource allocation.
Key provisions
- Increases FEMA’s allocation from the Disaster Relief Fund for BRIC grants from 6% to 15%.
- Authorizes FEMA to set aside 2% of the BRIC allocation for community planning and capacity building.
- Provides a 90% federal cost share for BRIC grants to small impoverished and environmental justice communities.
- Directs FEMA to incorporate climate change into the National Risk Index and relevant codes.
- Prioritizes BRIC assistance for high hazard risk, environmental justice, and low-tax revenue communities.
- Requires FEMA to provide community outreach on project planning and grant administration.
- Establishes a central federal database to consolidate disaster funding data.
- Mandates the inclusion of census track data and demographic information in the database to assess the impact of disasters and recovery efforts.
Who is affected
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- State and Local Governments
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] Norton
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119th CONGRESS — 1st Session
H. R. 403
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To enhance predisaster mitigation to prevent future natural disasters, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act
.
Section 203(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(a)) is amended to read as follows:
In this section, the following definitions apply:
Section 203(e) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
the National Risk Index;
cost-benefit analyses; and
Section 203(g) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(g)) is amended—
by striking and
at the end of paragraph (11);
by redesignating paragraph (12) as paragraph (13); and
by inserting after paragraph (11) the following:
Section 203(h)(2)) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(h)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
Section 203(i)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(i)(1)) is amended—
by striking 6 percent
and inserting 15 percent
; and
by adding at the end the following: From such total amount made available from the Disaster Relief Fund, with respect to each major disaster, the President may set aside 2 percent of the estimated aggregate amount of the grants to be made pursuant to sections 403, 406, 407, 408, 410, 416, and 428 for the major disaster for community planning and capacity building assistance.
.
Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish a central Federal database at the Agency, in coordination with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environment Protection Agency, the Economic Development Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and any other relevant agencies the Administrator chooses to include, to consolidate funding data collected by all local, State, and Federal agencies involved in post-disaster response and predisaster mitigation spending and categorize the data by type of project, funding source, and hazard types using an user friendly database and interactive map. Such database shall also include—
the collection and posting of census track data and post aggregate demographic data, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) as well as any future guidance by such office on data equity on the impact of natural disaster and Federal recovery efforts to better allocate and trace funds; and
post-project evaluations by the Agency to analyze disaster spending and report findings on what may have been saved by proper predisaster mitigation.