I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 501
To amend certain laws relating to disaster recovery and relief with respect
to the implementation of building codes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mr. E
DWARDS(for himself and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend certain laws relating to disaster recovery and
relief with respect to the implementation of building
codes, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Resilient 4
Buildings Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 6
Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 7
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is 8
amended by adding at the end the following: 9
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‘‘(m) LATESTPUBLISHEDEDITIONS.—For purposes 1
of subsections (e)(1)(B)(iv) and (g)(10), the term ‘latest 2
published editions’ means, with respect to relevant con-3
sensus-based codes, specifications, and standards, the 2 4
most recently published editions.’’. 5
SEC. 3. HAZARD MITIGATION REVOLVING LOAN FUND PRO-6
GRAM. 7
Section 205(f)(5) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 8
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 9
5135(f)(5)) is amended— 10
(1) in the paragraph heading by striking ‘‘E
S-11
TABLISHING’’ and insert ‘‘IMPLEMENTING’’; 12
(2) by striking ‘‘establish’’ and insert ‘‘imple-13
ment’’; 14
(3) by inserting ‘‘2’’ after ‘‘latest’’; and 15
(4) by inserting ‘‘, including any amendments 16
made by State, local, Tribal, or territorial govern-17
ments to such codes, specifications, and standards,’’ 18
after ‘‘standards’’. 19
SEC. 4. RESIDENTIAL RETROFIT AND RESILIENCE PILOT 20
PROGRAM. 21
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 22
Federal Emergency Management Agency shall carry out 23
a residential resilience pilot program through the program 24
established under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford 25
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Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 1
5133) to make available assistance to States and local gov-2
ernments for the purpose of providing grants to individ-3
uals for residential resilience retrofits. 4
(b) A
MOUNT OFFUNDS.—The Administrator may 5
use not more than 10 percent of the assistance made avail-6
able to applicants on an annual basis under section 203 7
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 8
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) to provide assistance 9
under this section. 10
(c) T
IMELINE.—The Administrator shall establish 11
the pilot program under this section not later than 1 year 12
after the date of enactment of this Act and the program 13
shall terminate on September 30, 2028. 14
(d) P
RIORITY.—In carrying out the pilot program 15
under this section, the Administrator shall ensure that a 16
State or local government receiving assistance under the 17
program provides grants to individuals that demonstrate 18
financial need. 19
(e) R
EPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date 20
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 21
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 22
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 23
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-24
ate a report that includes— 25
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(1) a summary of the grant awards and 1
projects carried out under this section; 2
(2) a detailed compilation of results achieved by 3
the grant awards and projects carried out under this 4
section, including the number of homes receiving ret-5
rofits, the types and average costs of retrofits, demo-6
graphic information for participants in the program, 7
and estimate avoidance in disaster impacts and Fed-8
eral disaster payments as a result of the grant in-9
vestments; and 10
(3) any identified implementation challenges 11
and recommendations for improvements to the pilot 12
program. 13
(f) A
PPLICABILITY.—This section shall only apply to 14
amounts appropriated on or after the date of enactment 15
of this Act. 16
(g) R
ESIDENTIAL RESILIENTRETROFITSDE-17
FINED.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—In this section, the term 19
‘‘residential resilient retrofits’’ means a project 20
that— 21
(A) is designed to increase the resilience of 22
an existing home or residence using mitigation 23
measures which the administrator determines 24
reduce damage and impacts from natural dis-25
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aster hazards and risks that are most likely to 1
occur in the area where the home is located; 2
and 3
(B) to the extent applicable, are consistent 4
with the 2 most recently published editions of 5
relevant consensus-based codes, specifications, 6
and standards, including any amendments made 7
by State, local, tribal, or territorial governments 8
to such codes, specifications, and standards 9
that incorporate the latest hazard-resistant de-10
signs and establish criteria for the design, con-11
struction, and maintenance of residential struc-12
tures and facilities that may be eligible for as-13
sistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 14
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 15
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) for the purpose of pro-16
tecting the health, safety, and general welfare 17
of the buildings’ users against disasters. 18
(2) I
NCLUSION.—In this section, the term ‘‘res-19
idential resilient retrofits’’ includes— 20
(A) elevations of homes and elevations of 21
utilities within and around structures to miti-22
gate damages; 23
(B) floodproofing measures; 24
(C) the construction of tornado safe rooms; 25
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(D) seismic retrofits; 1
(E) wildfire retrofit and mitigation meas-2
ures; 3
(F) wind retrofits, including roof replace-4
ments, hurricane straps, and tie-downs; and 5
(G) any other measures that meet the re-6
quirements of paragraph (1), as determined by 7
the Administrator. 8
Æ
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