To amend certain laws relating to disaster recovery and relief with respect to the implementation of building codes, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill updates FEMA's disaster mitigation programs to allow states and communities to use either of the two most recently published building code editions (rather than only the latest), providing flexibility in compliance. It also creates a new residential resilience retrofit pilot program through 2026 that provides grants to homeowners with financial need to make their homes more resistant to natural disasters.
Who Benefits and How
Homeowners in disaster-prone areas benefit from grants to retrofit their homes for resilience. States and local governments gain flexibility in meeting building code requirements, reducing compliance costs when transitioning between code editions. The construction industry benefits from increased demand for retrofit projects. Insurance companies benefit from reduced disaster claims.
Who Bears the Burden and How
FEMA faces administrative burden setting up and running the new pilot program. There is no significant new regulatory burden on any group - the bill primarily loosens existing requirements and creates voluntary programs.
Key Provisions
- Defines "latest published editions" as the 2 most recent building code editions
- Allows state/local amendments to codes for hazard mitigation loan program
- Creates residential resilience retrofit pilot program (grants to homeowners)
- Caps pilot program at 10% of annual pre-disaster mitigation funding
- Requires report to Congress by 4 years after enactment
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Amends the Stafford Act to update building code requirements for disaster mitigation programs, allowing use of the two most recent building code editions and establishing a residential resilience retrofit pilot program.
Key Policy Areas
Disaster Relief, Housing, Construction
Primary Purpose
Amends the Stafford Act to update building code requirements for disaster mitigation programs, allowing use of the two most recent building code editions and establishing a residential resilience retrofit pilot program.
Policy Domains
Section 4 - Residential Retrofit Pilot
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Homeowners in disaster-prone areas
- Construction contractors
- Insurance companies
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- FEMA
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sections 2-3 - Building Code Standards
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- States and local governments
- Construction industry
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland …
Additional sponsors: Mrs. González-Colón, Mr. Langworthy, and Mr. Gottheimer
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Edwards (for himself and Mr. Norcross) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Construction industry, Residential construction contractors
Borrowers from hazard mitigation loan program, Low-income homeowners in disaster-prone areas
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of FEMA
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of FEMA
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The 2 most recently published editions of relevant consensus-based codes, specifications, and standards
A project designed to increase the resilience of an existing home or residence using mitigation measures that reduce damage from natural disaster hazards
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology