H.R. 9804 — SAFE Rural Act

This section states congressional findings that rural communities, Tribal lands, and territories face heightened flood risks due to limited tax bases, aging infrastructure, and lower grant administration capacity, and that targeted predisaster mitigation investments reduce long-term federal disaster expenditures.

This section requires the President to carry out a predisaster hazard mitigation program providing technical and financial assistance to States and Indian tribal governments, rather than permitting the President to establish such a program for States and local governments.

This section revises the predisaster hazard mitigation assistance program by allocating funds among states and Indian tribal governments under a formula—50 percent divided equally, 30 percent weighted toward higher-population and lower-income entities using decennial census data, and the remainder to those adopting FEMA-approved advanced hazard mitigation plans or the two most recent editions of the International Building Code with flood provisions. It limits eligibility to states and Indian tribal governments that submit administrative plans by October 1 of the preceding fiscal year detailing streamlined subgrant applications (limited to 10 pages for projects and 5 for planning), 12-month obligation timelines, and 6-month review periods, with presidential approval required by February 1 and funds released on the first day of the following fiscal year.

This section expands eligible uses of predisaster hazard mitigation assistance to include nature-based and green infrastructure solutions such as floodplain and wetland restoration, living shorelines, bioengineered streambank stabilization, riparian buffers, retention and detention facilities using natural or hybrid designs, upland reforestation, and watershed restoration. It applies paragraph (2) requirements to Indian tribal governments rather than local governments.

This section requires recipients of predisaster hazard mitigation funds to consider eight factors when selecting projects: project need and risk reduction potential; short- and long-term community benefits and sustainability; cost-effectiveness and budget clarity; collaboration with State, Tribal, regional, or watershed authorities; environmental and landscape impacts, including nature-based approaches; long-term operational feasibility; applicant capacity, with allowance for limited technical sophistication from first-time, low-capacity, small, or rural applicants; and location in an area with high or very high hazard potential, a low-income community, or a community affected by a major disaster within the preceding 10 years.

This section establishes the SAFE Rural Fund, funded annually by 2 percent of Disaster Relief Fund appropriations, and creates the Sustainable and Flood Resilient Engineering for Rural Areas program to deliver formula-based pass-through grants to States and Indian Tribal governments for flood resilience projects in rural communities. It sets minimum allocations of the lesser of $5,000,000 or 1 percent of available funds and maximums of the lesser of 15 percent or $150,000,000 per recipient, requires subgrants within 12 months with no more than 5 percent retained for administration, and authorizes uses including construction of flood-resilient infrastructure, mitigation for critical facilities and farms, and nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration and living shorelines, subject to operations and maintenance plans.

This section modifies the federal cost share for predisaster hazard mitigation under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by applying it to projects funded under the section rather than to mitigation activities approved by the President.

This section requires the President to set aside an amount equal to 10 percent of the aggregate appropriations to the Disaster Relief Fund from the previous fiscal year to provide technical and financial assistance for predisaster hazard mitigation measures under the program.

This section requires each state and Indian tribal government to reserve at least 15 percent of its annual allocation for predisaster hazard mitigation grants for small projects with total costs of $500,000 or less, including culvert replacement, roadway drainage improvements, and small-scale stormwater infrastructure. It establishes a streamlined application process that waives benefit-cost analyses for projects under $200,000, limits required materials to a project description, site map, cost estimate, and eligibility attestation, and requires decisions within 60 days, with unexpended funds available for carryover to the next fiscal year.

This section requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to transfer an amount equal to 2 percent of the Disaster Relief Fund balance, as of the date of enactment, to the SAFE Rural Fund.