Congress orders earthquake resilience blueprint—but who pays?
H.R. 2568 — Earthquake Resilience Act · Filed by Kevin Mullin (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 1, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology, working with FEMA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey, to conduct a national earthquake resilience assessment within two years and submit it to Congress. It also amends the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 to expand the federal earthquake research program to include post-earthquake recovery standards, lifeline infrastructure resilience, and real-time seismic monitoring data. The bill benefits communities and infrastructure operators by establishing clearer benchmarks for earthquake preparedness and recovery.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to mandate a federal risk assessment and expand earthquake resilience research and standards development. It is a straightforward public-safety measure with no private giveaways or hidden riders.
What the text implies
- The bill requires coordination with 'other stakeholders' in the risk assessment, which may include private engineering firms and construction companies; their input could shape federal standards in ways that favor certain industry practices.
- Post-earthquake recovery standards developed under the amended program may become de facto requirements for infrastructure operators, potentially increasing compliance costs for utilities and transportation agencies.
- Real-time GNSS and geodetic network data streams may create new data-sharing obligations for state and local governments, with unclear funding mechanisms.
Who it affects
The bill mandates a comprehensive national assessment of earthquake risks and resilience gaps, then directs federal agencies to develop recovery standards and monitoring systems. This improves public safety and infrastructure resilience without imposing costs on citizens or creating private carve-outs; it strengthens government accountability for disaster preparedness.
Who stands to gain
- engineering and construction firms (standards development contracts)
- seismic monitoring equipment manufacturers
- infrastructure operators (utilities, transportation agencies) implementing recovery standards
Named in the bill
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Apr 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 1, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $390,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 64 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Kevin Mullin, the sponsor, reported $505,911 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Reinsurance Assn of America — $390,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 19, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI scored this bill from its title only — the full text has not been read; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 19, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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