September 4th, 2025
This cross-posted blog was contributed by our friends at the Appalachian Citizens Law Center
On Wednesday, September 3rd, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed, by voice vote, the Fixing Emergency Management Act (FEMA) of 2025, a bipartisan bill to reform many aspects of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The bill includes several titles inclusive of numerous reforms to FEMA’s structure, program administration, and delivery of disaster aid. Below is a summary of some highlights in the bill; full bill text is available here.
Division A, Title I: Establish FEMA as a Cabinet-Level Independent Agency
In 2003, FEMA was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security. This bill proposes to re-establish FEMA as a separate, cabinet-level agency, to improve efficiency and allow FEMA to focus on its core priorities.
Division B, Title I – Public Assistance Reform: Reducing barriers to federal support
Communities face enormous financial strain during disaster recovery and this section includes several provisions to improve access to FEMA Public Assistance (PA). Public Assistance funds reimburse state, county, and local governments for costs associated with debris removal, emergency protective measures, and public infrastructure repairs after a disaster. The FEMA reimbursement process for PA is so cumbersome that small and lower-resource communities may choose not to apply, or be unable to apply because they first need to cover costs upfront or acquire a loan. This bill proposes switching PA support from reimbursements to grants.
Other notable changes to the FEMA PA process in the bill include:
- new sliding federal cost-share ranging from 65 to 85 percent: If a state or community has invested in disaster mitigation measures, they are eligible for up to 85 percent cost-share (a 10 percent increase over FEMA’s standard cost-share)
- requirements that FEMA—when making a disaster declaration recommendation—give greater consideration to whether a community is economically distressed or rural, which could expand the number of communities eligible for PA and Individual Assistance (IA) for households
- changes to FEMA’s debris removal processes and contract practices; requires agency to review debris removal processes and develop best practices to ensure effective, expedient and appropriate post-disaster debris removal
Title II – Individual Assistance Reform: Practical Supports for Disaster Survivors
Experiencing a major disaster is an extremely traumatic and stressful experience. Complicated paperwork makes these tragedies even worse. This bill would create a universal disaster application to simplify the process of accessing assistance and increase transparency around decisions regarding assistance eligibility. Other provisions include making it easier for individuals without a fixed address to access post-disaster housing assistance; lengthening the amount of time FEMA can provide housing assistance; removing penalties for disaster survivors who use crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe or receive loans for disaster expenses; and program improvements to prevent survivors from living in unsafe housing conditions.
Title III – Mitigation: Proactive Planning for Long Term Resilience
The bill reforms federal funding programs for disaster mitigation projects. It requires states to develop preapproved project mitigation plans: a list of shovel-ready hazard mitigation projects in each state that, after a new peer-reviewed process also outlined in the bill, would be automatically eligible for post-disaster funding. The bill also shifts FEMA’s pre-disaster mitigation funding (formerly FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program) to be fully formula-based. Other mitigation updates in the bill include a new consolidated FEMA grant application for pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation funding, and elimination of the requirement that homeowners bear the up-front costs of home retrofits funded through FEMA mitigation programs.
Title IV – Transparency and Accountability: Tools for the Public to Track and Inform
The bill would require an explanation from the President upon the approval or denial of federal disaster declarations. Notably, the bill would create a new public assistance dashboard that publicly displays information for each major disaster declaration, including cost estimates, status of review and approval, and project-level updates. Information would include the number of assistance applications received, the number approved or denied, reasons for denials, and other data on both the impacts of the disaster and the status of disaster recovery. The bill would also convene research into key disaster-related issues, such as identity theft, alert systems and damage assessment practices.
Prior to the committee hearing 29 Appalachian organizations and allies, including Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, sent a letter to committee leadership indicating support for many of the provisions in the bill, but also asked that the committee dedicate attention to several issues in our Appalachian Flood Policy Platform that were not yet addressed in the legislative text including:
- Additional clarity on the bill’s revised pre-disaster mitigation planning processes, by adding more requirements around transparency and reporting, and ensuring projects are held to consistent standards to guarantee cost-effectiveness and resilient design.
- Reserving some pre-disaster dollars for a regular national competition focused on promoting and fostering innovation and best practices, and increasing incentives for nature-based risk reduction approaches with mitigation funds.
- Making permanent private road and bridge repair to restore residential access an allowable use of FEMA Public Assistance funding. There is a bipartisan proposal in Congress, H.R. 760, Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act, that would make this change to public assistance eligibility, but only for the counties in Western North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene in 2024. From years of organizing Appalachian communities following flood disasters, we know this is a pervasive rural issue that impacts the entire region. Making a permanent change to FEMA’s public assistance program would provide significant support to rural communities doing costly repairs to restore residential access to emergency services.
- Eliminating or reducing Public Assistance matching requirements for economically distressed communities, which would better enable communities throughout Appalachia to prepare for and respond to disasters. For towns operating on annual budgets of a couple hundred thousand dollars, having to put up tens of thousands of dollars for non-federal match requirements isn’t about “having skin in the game” to repair their public infrastructure, it is a monumental challenge that limits access to Public Assistance.
- Provision of FEMA money to more quickly repair homes occupied by renters, especially in rural areas or in areas with limited housing stock.
- Inclusion of language that would make Disaster Case Managers available sooner after a disaster and extend the period of performance to 36 months.
- Ensuring that the implementation of these policies best benefits Appalachian workers, all construction work or other work done to implement these policy priorities should include requirements for prevailing wages with strong protections for worker safety, use of registered apprenticeship programs and prioritize local hiring. When applicable, the materials and parts should be procured locally or regionally.
At the hearing, Congressional committee members commented on several areas of reform highlighted in our platform. Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL) expressed support for the changes to FEMA Public Assistance, shifting from a reimbursement process to upfront grants, expediting recovery efforts. Other Representatives, such as David Rouzer (R-NC), Dina Titus (D-NV), Shomari Figures (D-AL), John Garamendi (D-CA), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI), and Jared Huffman (D-CA) spoke of the bipartisan leadership of the committee and previous legislation incorporated into the overall FEMA Act. For example, aspects of the Natural Disaster Recovery Act were included to support emergency home repair programs; the Disaster Survivors Fairness Act simplifies application systems for assistance after a disaster and expands community access to hazard mitigation assistance; the Rapid Disaster Relief Act expedites debris removal and emergency protective materials; and the Making Access to Cleanup Happen (MATCH) Act, which includes legislative text surrounding activities that can allow for communities to begin pre-approved watershed rehabilitation activities immediately following a disaster.
Though the committee passed the bill by voice vote, a recorded vote was postponed to a later date when more members are able to be present. After committee passage, we hope the bill will quickly be moved to the House floor for a vote.
