Ounce of Prevention Act

This bill would change the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 so that communities receiving Community Development Block Grant money can spend it on natural disaster mitigation, including building new structures and fixing existing ones. To qualify, a grantee would have to state in its plan that it is in a high-risk area, based on the FEMA National Risk Index or a state hazard risk index, and the federal housing secretary would have to certify that risk. Grantees doing this work could count assisted housing units as a single structure and would be exempt from certain public benefit standards. The Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide technical help and would have to write rules within one year treating weather-related disaster risks as urgent community needs.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Sam T. Liccardo Democrat sponsor
• 7 cosponsors