H.R. 7461

119 HR 7461 IH: FEMA Accountability Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-02-10
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 7461  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   February 10, 2026   Mr. Bell  (for himself and  Mr. Moskowitz ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure    A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit a monthly report on the status of all projects and activities funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   FEMA Accountability Act  .
2.
Reporting on Disaster Relief Fund obligations and disbursements
(a)
Reporting
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the status of all projects and activities funded through the Disaster Relief Fund.
(b)
Contents of report
Each monthly report under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to the preceding month—
(1)
the total unobligated balance of the Disaster Relief Fund;
(2)
the total amount of Disaster Relief Fund funds obligated;
(3)
the total amount of Disaster Relief Fund funds disbursed;
(4)
a breakdown by disaster declaration (major disaster or emergency), including—
(A)
the name and date of each declaration;
(B)
the States, territories, or tribal areas affected;
(C)
the total funds obligated to date;
(D)
the total funds disbursed to date; and
(E)
the percentage of obligated funds that have been disbursed;
(5)
a list of all public assistance projects submitted for approval and obligation;
(6)
a list of all projects that have been approved for obligation;
(7)
a list of all funds for projects that have been disbursed;
(8)
a list of all projects for which obligation decisions remain pending for more than 180 days; and
(9)
any funds withheld, deferred, or reprogrammed for future use, with an explanation of the reason and estimated disbursement timeline.
(c)
Public availability
The Administrator shall make each report required under this section publicly available on the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency not later than 10 days after the submission of each report.
(d)
Standardization of reporting
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a uniform reporting template for Disaster Relief Fund obligation and disbursement data, consistent with Federal open data standards, and update such data on a rolling monthly basis.
(e)
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Disaster Relief Fund
The term  Disaster Relief Fund  means the fund established under section 102(4) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5122(4) ).
(2)
Obligation
The term  obligation  means a legally binding commitment by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make payments under specific disaster recovery programs or projects.
(3)
Appropriate committees of Congress
The term  appropriate committees of Congress  means the Committees on Appropriations and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.