This bill amends federal disaster relief law to encourage communities to invest in disaster preparedness alongside recovery efforts. Specifically, it updates the Stafford Act to allow federal disaster assistance funds to support community emergency response teams and similar volunteer organizations that help with disaster response, including funding for their training, outreach, and participation in preparedness exercises. It also expands eligible resilience investments to cover programs that reduce risks from storms, tsunamis, floods, and wildfires through improved building standards or land use practices, provided these are backed by science-based evidence. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must issue detailed guidance to state and tribal governments within one year of the law's enactment explaining how to use these provisions. The changes affect state, tribal, and local governments, as well as nonprofit emergency response organizations, and take effect one year after enactment; importantly, the bill does not authorize any new federal spending, meaning it must be implemented using existing FEMA funding.
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