Federal grants for home disaster retrofits—but only through 2030
H.R. 501 — Promoting Resilient Buildings Act of 2025 · Filed by Charles (Chuck) Edwards (R-NC) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 16, 2025 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends federal disaster relief law to encourage building code compliance and residential resilience. It creates a pilot program allowing FEMA to direct up to 10% of annual predisaster mitigation funds toward grants for homeowners to retrofit existing homes against natural disasters (flooding, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes), prioritizing applicants with financial need. The program runs through 2030 and requires a report on outcomes.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a time-limited federal grant program for homeowner disaster mitigation, funded from existing predisaster mitigation appropriations. It is a targeted public-safety and resilience measure, not a broad entitlement or industry carve-out.
What the text implies
- The 10% cap on predisaster mitigation funds diverts resources from other FEMA mitigation projects; the bill does not specify how existing mitigation priorities will be rebalanced or whether this reduces funding for non-residential or infrastructure-focused resilience work.
- Pilot program termination on September 30, 2030 creates uncertainty for homeowners mid-retrofit and may require reauthorization; no permanent funding mechanism is established.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
homeowners receiving retrofit grants; construction and retrofit contractors performing mitigation work; building materials suppliers