FEMA Accountability Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7461 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7461

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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.

    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 ``FEMA Accountability Act''.

SEC. 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.
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