H.R. 5395

119 HR 5395 IH: Disaster Relief Disbursement Accountability Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-09-16
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 5395  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   September 16, 2025   Mr. Hernández  (for himself,  Mr. Kennedy of New York , and  Mr. Stanton ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure    A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the expedient disbursement of funds, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Disaster Relief Disbursement Accountability Act   .
2.
Expedient disbursement of funds
Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
630.
Expedient disbursement of funds
(a)
In general
The Administrator shall take any actions that are necessary to ensure that funds are disbursed to eligible entities as expediently as possible after a project is approved under this Act, including the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 and the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, and 502.
(b)
Report to Administrator
(1)
Retroactive report
For each major disaster or emergency for which a declaration was made under section 401 or 501 and for which assistance is being disbursed as of the date of enactment of this section, each recipient of assistance for such major disaster or emergency under the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 or the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 shall, not later than 1 year after such date of enactment, submit to the Administrator a report that describes the average amount of time the recipient takes to disburse such assistance to a subrecipient.
(2)
Annual report
For each major disaster or emergency for which a declaration is made under section 401 or 501 after the date of enactment of this section, each recipient of assistance for such major disaster or emergency under the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 or the public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 shall submit to the Administrator, on an annual basis, a report that describes the average amount of time the recipient takes to disburse such assistance to a subrecipient.
(c)
Report to Congress
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committees on Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report containing a summary of the information provided under subsection (b).
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