Commerce Department to standardize how government assesses disaster risk
H.R. 8407 — ACCURATE Act · Filed by C. Franklin (R-FL) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the Commerce Department's Standards and Technology office to establish a 5-year advisory commission to develop standardized methods for evaluating hazard risk assessment tools—the models and maps used by federal agencies, insurers, and builders to assess flood, wildfire, earthquake, and other natural disaster risks. The commission will include federal agencies, state/local officials, FEMA, and representatives from insurance, banking, construction, real estate, and engineering sectors, and will recommend quality standards, data protocols, and procurement best practices for these tools, which federal agencies will then be encouraged to adopt.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is establishing a commission to develop and recommend uniform standards for hazard risk assessment tools used across federal procurement and private markets. It is fundamentally a governance and transparency measure, not a subsidy or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The commission's membership heavily weights private-sector interests (insurance, banking, construction, real estate, utilities) alongside government and NGOs, potentially influencing standards toward industry-preferred methodologies rather than maximum public transparency.
- Federal agencies are only required to adopt standards 'to the maximum extent practicable,' creating a soft compliance pathway that may allow continued use of non-standard tools without strong enforcement.
- The bill does not establish funding for the commission or specify resources for federal agencies to implement new standards, potentially limiting real-world adoption.
- Private vendors selling hazard risk assessment tools gain a clear pathway to federal procurement if they document compliance with adopted standards, creating a competitive advantage for early adopters and potentially locking in certain vendors' methodologies.
- The 'material change' definition (>10% update threshold) may allow vendors to deploy significant model updates without re-validation, creating a loophole in the quality-control intent.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Standardizing hazard risk assessment tools improves transparency and consistency in how government and private entities evaluate natural disaster exposure, reducing the risk of underestimated or hidden risks that could harm homeowners, renters, and communities. The bill includes conflict-of-interest safeguards and requires federal agencies to document compliance, creating accountability for tool selection.
Who stands to gain
- Insurance companies (standardized risk assessment reduces uncertainty and may lower claims exposure)
- Real estate and construction firms (standardized tools reduce liability and procurement friction)
- Hazard risk assessment tool vendors (standardization creates a federal procurement pathway and compe
- Banking and lending institutions (standardized risk assessment improves underwriting consistency)
Named in the bill
Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, Commission on Hazard Risk Assessment Tools, FEMA, Federal Acquisition Regulations, Insurance industry, Banking industry, Construction industry, Real estate industry, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 4 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Apr 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,280,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 83 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 41% of bills with at least one filing.
C. Franklin, the sponsor, reported $400,086 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Liberty Mutual Group — $740,000 on 1 filing
- National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies — $540,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,113 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; 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 Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. 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 Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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