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Disaster Relief Disbursement Accountability Act
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the expedient disbursement of funds, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator to take necessary actions to ensure disaster relief and emergency assistance funds are disbursed to eligible entities as quickly as possible after a project is approved. The bill applies to the hazard mitigation grant program and public assistance programs. Recipients of disaster assistance must submit reports to the Administrator describing the average time they take to disburse funds to subrecipients, with existing recipients providing retroactive reports within one year and new recipients providing annual reports going forward. The FEMA Administrator must submit reports to Congress within three years of enactment and annually thereafter summarizing the disbursement time information reported by recipients.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
2 cosponsors
Actions (3)
- Sep 17, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. · house
- Sep 16, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Sep 16, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 16, 2025
Mr. Hernandez (for himself, Mr. Kennedy of New York, and Mr. Stanton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the expedient disbursement of funds, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Disaster Relief Disbursement Accountability Act”.
SEC. 2. EXPEDIENT DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 630. EXPEDIENT DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
“(a) In General.—The Administrator shall take any actions that are necessary to ensure that funds are disbursed to eligible entities as expediently as possible after a project is approved under this Act, including the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 and the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, and 502.
“(b) Report to Administrator.—
“(1) Retroactive report.—For each major disaster or emergency for which a declaration was made under section 401 or 501 and for which assistance is being disbursed as of the date of enactment of this section, each recipient of assistance for such major disaster or emergency under the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 or the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 shall, not later than 1 year after such date of enactment, submit to the Administrator a report that describes the average amount of time the recipient takes to disburse such assistance to a subrecipient.
“(2) Annual report.—For each major disaster or emergency for which a declaration is made under section 401 or 501 after the date of enactment of this section, each recipient of assistance for such major disaster or emergency under the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 or the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 shall submit to the Administrator, on an annual basis, a report that describes the average amount of time the recipient takes to disburse such assistance to a subrecipient.
“(c) Report to Congress.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committees on Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report containing a summary of the information provided under subsection
(b).”. <all>
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