PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 14, 2025
Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act
This bill modifies the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Specifically, the bill
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
increases the amount that may be set aside from FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund for BRIC from 6% to 15% of certain disaster grant amounts;
authorizes FEMA to set aside 2% from the BRIC 15% set-aside for assistance with community planning and capacity building;
provides a 90% federal cost share for BRIC grants to environmental justice communities, and increases the maximum number of people in small impoverished communities, which are also eligible for the 90% BRIC federal cost share; and
authorizes FEMA to develop guidance regarding how to incorporate climate change into the National Risk Index, benefit-cost analyses, and improved codes, specifications, and standards to address natural hazards.
FEMA must
prioritize BRIC assistance for high hazard risk communities, environmental justice communities, communities with low tax revenue base per capita, and communities with a low rate of code adoption and enforcement and infrastructure maintenance expenditures;
provide community outreach on project planning and grant administration; and
establish a central federal database to consolidate funding data collected by all local, state, and federal agencies involved in post-disaster response and pre-disaster mitigation spending and categorize the data by type of project, funding source, and hazard types using a user-friendly database and interactive map.
People & committees
Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-14] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.403 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.403 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.403 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.403 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.