The Federal Disaster Assistance Improvement Act would expand access to federal disaster aid by allowing county officials to request major disaster and emergency declarations directly from the President if their state governor does not request one or excludes them from a request. Currently, only governors can make these requests. The bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop new regulations within one year to implement this county-level process, including eligibility criteria that account for poverty rates, unemployment, social vulnerability, and prior receipt of federal benefits. The legislation also directs FEMA to establish better methods for tracking disasters in disadvantaged communities, to revise its evaluation standards for federal assistance to better consider factors like income and unemployment, and to create a simplified declaration process for underserved communities. Additionally, FEMA administrators would be required to formally recommend whether the President should approve disaster declarations, and the agency must review its assistance programs within six months to ensure they adequately consider equity-related factors when distributing aid.
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