Resilient AMERICA Act

Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act or the Resilient AMERICA Act

This bill addresses disaster resilience issues and expands coverage for hazard mitigation.

The bill

• permits the redistribution of hazard mitigation grant funds unclaimed or unobligated for a major disaster upon the expiration of 84 months or the closeout of the grant, whichever is sooner;
• increases from 6% to 15% the estimated aggregate amount of grants that may be set aside for national public infrastructure pre-disaster hazard mitigation assistance;
• makes private nonprofit facilities eligible for technical and financial assistance for implementing cost-effective pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures;
• provides funding for water resources development projects; and
• expands the use of hazard mitigation assistance to cover certain activities pertaining to wildfires, tsunamis, and ice storms.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must set aside 10% of funds made available for any given year to further the implementation and enforcement of the latest published editions of relevant consensus-based building codes.

FEMA must require as a condition of providing nonemergency financial assistance for construction projects costing at least $1 million that the steel and iron used in the projects be produced in the United States, with certain exceptions.

FEMA must carry out a residential resilience pilot program to provide grants for residential resilience retrofits (e.g., elevation of homes, floodproofing measures, wildfire retrofit and mitigation measures, and wind retrofits).

The Government Accountability Office must study the challenges to states and territories in obtaining funds under public assistance alternative procedures.

Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act or the Resilient AMERICA Act

This bill addresses the issue of U.S. disaster resilience and expands coverage for hazard mitigation.

The bill

• permits the redistribution of hazard mitigation funds unclaimed or unobligated for a major disaster upon the expiration of 84 months or the closeout of the grant, whichever is sooner;
• increases from 6% to 15% the estimated aggregate amount of grants made for national public infrastructure pre-disaster mitigation assistance;
• makes private nonprofit facilities eligible for technical and financial assistance in the implementation of cost-effective pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures; and
• expands the use of hazard mitigation assistance to cover certain activities pertaining to wildfires, tsunamis, and ice storms.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must (1) set aside 10% of funds made available for any given year to further the implementation of the latest published editions of relevant consensus-based building codes, and (2) carry out a pilot program through which states and localities award grants to individuals for retrofitting their residences with appropriate hazard mitigation measures.