S4900-118

Reported

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to incentivize certain preparedness measures, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Jul 31, 2024

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 expands federal disaster assistance programs by amending the Stafford Act. It allows FEMA to provide additional federal cost-share increases for communities that invest in disaster preparedness, support community emergency response teams (CERTs), and adopt building standards or land use practices that increase resilience against storms, floods, wildfires, and tsunamis. FEMA must issue guidance to help states and tribes implement these measures.

Who Benefits and How

State and local governments benefit by becoming eligible for higher federal cost-shares when they invest in disaster preparedness activities. Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and similar volunteer disaster assistance organizations gain federal recognition and may receive support through training, outreach programs, and mutual aid agreements. Communities that adopt resilience-building measures such as enhanced building codes or land-use practices for disaster-prone areas can qualify for additional federal assistance.

Who Bears the Burden and How

No new funding is authorized by this bill - all activities must be carried out with appropriated funds. FEMA bears an administrative burden to develop and issue comprehensive guidance within one year. The delayed effective date (one year after enactment) means communities must wait before accessing these expanded benefits.

Key Provisions

  • Expands eligible disaster mitigation measures to include preparedness activities and CERT support
  • Adds resilience programs for storms, tsunamis, floods, and wildfires to qualify for enhanced federal cost-share
  • Requires FEMA to issue comprehensive guidance to State and Tribal governments within one year
  • Contains no new appropriations - must use existing/future appropriated funds

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 expand FEMA disaster preparedness programs by supporting community emergency response teams and resilience-building measures for storms, floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters

Key Policy Areas

Emergency Management, Disaster Preparedness, Community Development

Primary Purpose

Amends the Stafford Act to expand FEMA disaster preparedness programs by supporting community emergency response teams and resilience-building measures for storms, floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters

Policy Domains

Emergency Management Disaster Preparedness Community Development

Investing in Community Resilience Act of 2024

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • State and local governments
  • Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs)
  • Disaster-prone communities
  • Non-governmental disaster assistance organizations
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • FEMA (administrative burden to develop guidance)
  • Federal budget (though no new appropriations authorized)
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Reported
Introduced Committee Passed
Dec 16, 2024

Reported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment

Jul 31, 2024

Ms. Butler (for herself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following …

Jul 31, 2024

Ms. Butler introduced the following bill; which was read twice …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
8 mentions across 3 clauses
+4 positive -3 negative ?1 uncertain

Communities with science-based resilience building standards, FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA - must issue comprehensive guidance within 1 year

Positive-direction: Communities with science-based resilience building standards, State and Tribal governments receiving FEMA guidance, State and local governments applying for federal disaster assistance, Subrecipients of federal disaster assistance grants

Negative-direction: FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA - must issue comprehensive guidance within 1 year, State and local governments seeking new disaster assistance

Nonprofits
2 mentions across 2 clauses
+2 positive

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and volunteer disaster organizations, Community Emergency Response Teams and volunteer disaster organizations

4/6
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Emergency Management Disaster Preparedness
Actor Mappings
"the_president"
→ President of the United States
"the_administrator"
→ Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"community emergency response teams" §2

Viable community emergency response teams or equivalent non-governmental organizations that provide disaster assistance

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