Austin News

U.S. Senators John Cornyn and John Fetterman have introduced the Promoting Resilient Buildings Act aimed at enhancing the resilience of homes susceptible to natural disasters. This legislation seeks to extend eligibility for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program to more states and local communities.

"Natural disasters can wreak havoc on homes and cause devastating and costly hardships for Texans in their aftermath," stated Sen. Cornyn. "This legislation would help homeowners update at-risk homes in a cost-efficient way and help more families in Texas and across the country prepare for future storms."

Senator Fetterman emphasized the importance of adapting building practices, saying, "Too many American families have seen their homes damaged or destroyed by extreme weather and other disasters. We can’t afford to keep rebuilding the same way and expecting different results." He referenced Hurricane Debby as an example of recent devastation, which left thousands of Pennsylvania families struggling after losing everything last summer.

The bill proposes several measures to fortify at-risk residences, such as funding for elevations, flood-proofing, tornado-safe rooms, seismic retrofits, wildfire mitigation, and wind-resistant construction. It aims to maintain local authority by allowing state governments to adopt suitable building codes without unfunded mandates while improving access to FEMA's mitigation funding based on financial need.

A significant element of this legislation is the Residential Retrofit and Resilience Pilot Program. This initiative offers a cost-effective method for reinforcing older homes against natural disasters without imposing additional requirements on new constructions. The program limits its funding to 10% of FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program's annual budget.

The National Association of Homebuilders has endorsed this legislative effort.