[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3403 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3403

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to require the President to provide assistance for 
  predisaster hazard mitigation measures and adjust the Federal cost 
  share for certain building resilient infrastructure and communities 
                   projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2025

Mr. Reed (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to require the President to provide assistance for 
  predisaster hazard mitigation measures and adjust the Federal cost 
  share for certain building resilient infrastructure and communities 
                   projects, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Building Resilience and Stronger 
Communities Act''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL SHARE ADJUSTMENT.

    Section 203(h) of the Robert. T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(h)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(3) Small projects.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
        President shall contribute not less than 90 percent of the 
        total cost of a mitigation activity, the cost of which is less 
        than $1,000,000.
            ``(4) Critical facilities.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `critical facility'--
                            ``(i) means a building that is essential 
                        for the delivery of a vital service or the 
                        protection of a community; and
                            ``(ii) includes an emergency operation 
                        center, a healthcare facility, a police or fire 
                        stations, a school, and a power station.
                    ``(B) Cost share adjustment.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1), the President may contribute more than 
                90 percent of the total cost of a mitigation activity 
                involving a critical facility, the cost of which is 
                less than $1,000,000.''.

SEC. 3. MANDATORY MITIGATION.

    Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b) by striking ``may'' and inserting 
        ``shall''; and
            (2) in subsection (c) by striking ``may'' and inserting 
        ``shall''.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PREDISASTER MITIGATION 
              ASSISTANCE.

    Section 203(i)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(i)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''; and
            (2) by striking ``equal to'' and inserting ``that is not 
        less than 3 percent and not more than''.

SEC. 5. TRIBAL PROVISIONS.

    Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and Indian Tribes'' after 
                ``States and local governments''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or Indian Tribes'' after 
                ``States or local governments'';
            (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ``or Indian Tribe'' 
        after ``State or local government'' each place it appears;
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by inserting ``or Indian Tribes'' after ``local 
                governments'' each place it appears; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by inserting ``or an Indian Tribe'' 
                        after ``a local government''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Indian tribes.--An Indian Tribe shall have 
                access to assistance under this section either through 
                the President selecting the Indian Tribe directly, by a 
                Governor or a State submitting a recommendation for the 
                Indian Tribe, or through a Tribal-set aside of funds 
                set by the President or based on the Governor or State 
                recommendation.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``and Indian 
                Tribes'' after ``States and local governments'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or Indian 
                Tribe'' after ``State or local government'' each place 
                it appears; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Uses by indian tribes.--Technical and financial 
        assistance provided under this section to an Indian Tribe shall 
        be used for Direct Technical Assistance to help the Indian 
        Tribe improve resilience to natural hazards, build strong 
        mitigation programs, develop high-quality applications, and 
        carry out innovative mitigation projects.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Indian Tribe Defined.--In this section, the term `Indian 
Tribe' has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).''.
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