H.R. 10486 — Relief Without Delay Act

This section directs the Administrator of FEMA to continue all disaster relief, recovery, and mitigation operations funded through the Disaster Relief Fund during a lapse in appropriations. It requires the obligation and disbursement of fund balances for existing and future disaster declarations, including individual and public assistance under Stafford Act sections 403, 406, 407, 408, and 502, and the maintenance of personnel and contract support for uninterrupted claims processing.

This section ensures that all unobligated balances in the Disaster Relief Fund remain available to the FEMA Administrator for expenditure during a lapse in appropriations. It prohibits the withholding, sequestration, or reprogramming of those funds during such a lapse, except as required to comply with the Anti-Deficiency Act.

This section exempts operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized under this Act from government shutdown restrictions under the Anti-Deficiency Act by classifying them as essential to protect human life and property.

This section requires the FEMA Administrator to submit reports to the House and Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees on the status of all Disaster Relief Fund projects, beginning no later than 60 days after enactment and monthly thereafter. Each report must detail the fund’s unobligated balance, obligations, and disbursements; provide a breakdown by disaster declaration including affected states and territories, obligated and disbursed amounts, and disbursement percentages; list submitted, approved, and disbursed projects; identify projects pending obligation for more than 180 days; and note any withheld or reprogrammed funds with reasons and timelines. The Administrator must post each report on the FEMA website within 10 days and, within 90 days of enactment, establish a uniform open-data reporting template updated monthly.

This section requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to evaluate housing and infrastructure damage and identify affordable housing shortages and economic recovery needs after each major disaster declaration under the Stafford Act. It directs the Secretary to submit a report to Congress within 60 days and quarterly thereafter identifying unmet needs addressable by Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds and other federal disaster programs.

This section directs the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in coordination with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to establish a program improving tornado detection, forecasting, and warning capabilities. The program includes investments in next-generation radar, satellite, and sensor technologies; advanced forecasting models using artificial intelligence and machine learning; expanded localized impact-based warning systems; and integration of federal forecasting into state and local emergency management systems.

This section establishes a FEMA-administered grant program for state and local emergency management agencies to fund tornado preparedness and resilience in high-risk areas. Grants may support construction or retrofitting of community storm shelters in schools and mobile home parks, installation or modernization of warning systems with backup power, development of local emergency plans, and public education initiatives, with priority for high-risk, underserved, and low-income communities that lack existing shelters or warning systems.

This section requires the Administrator of NOAA and the Administrator of FEMA to coordinate with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments to improve tornado preparedness and response through data sharing and forecasting integration, joint emergency planning, and public education campaigns.

This section directs the NOAA Administrator, in coordination with the FEMA Administrator, to submit a report to the House Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Science, Space, and Technology, and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Appropriations upon implementation of the Act. The report must describe improvements in tornado detection and forecasting, the status of warning system upgrades, grants awarded under section 8 and their use for preparedness and resilience, remaining gaps, and recommendations for further action.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including the Disaster Relief Fund as the fund established under section 102(4) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, FEMA as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, high-risk area as a geographic area identified by the FEMA Administrator in coordination with NOAA as having high frequency or elevated risk of tornado activity, and NOAA as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.