HOUSE 3655 (118th Congress) — Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act

Actions

2023-05-25Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
2023-05-24Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
2023-05-24Introduced in House
2023-05-24Introduced in House

As of 2023-05-24 (00)

Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act

This bill modifies the pre-disaster mitigation grant program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Specifically, the bill

increases FEMA's set-aside for pre-disaster mitigation assistance from 6% to 15% of certain grant amounts;
provides for a 2% set-aside for community planning and capacity building assistance; and
authorizes FEMA to develop guidance regarding how to incorporate climate change into the National Risk Index, cost-benefit analyses, and improved codes, specifications, and standards to address natural hazards.

FEMA must

prioritize applicants for assistance with the highest hazard risk in coordination with FEMA's National Risk Index, environmental justice communities, and low-income communities (current law covers the latter though this bill modifies the number of individuals in such communities);
provide community outreach; and
establish a central federal database to consolidate funding data collected by all local, state, and federal agencies involved in post-disaster response and pre-disaster mitigation spending and categorize the data by type of project, funding source, and hazard types using a user-friendly database and interactive map.