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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9557 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9557
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow
certain grantees to use Community Development Block Grant amounts for
natural disaster mitigation activities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2026
Mr. Liccardo (for himself, Mr. Timmons, Ms. Tokuda, and Ms. Salazar)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow
certain grantees to use Community Development Block Grant amounts for
natural disaster mitigation activities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ounce of Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. USE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AMOUNTS FOR NATURAL
DISASTER MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.
(a) In General.--The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 101(c)--
(A) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(10) the mitigation of threats to the health and welfare
of a community posed by weather-related disaster and hazard
events.'';
(2) in section 102(a), by adding at the end the following:
``(25) The term `mitigation activities' means activities
that increase resilience to disasters and reduce or eliminate
the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss
of property, and suffering and hardship, by lessening the
impact of future disasters.'';
(3) in section 104(b)(3), by inserting ``support mitigation
of threats to the health and welfare of a community posed by
weather-related disaster and hazard events,'' after
``blight,''; and
(4) in section 105--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (26), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(27) natural disaster mitigation activities, including
new construction and rehabilitation of structures, if the
grantee--
``(A) includes within the consolidated plan
submitted under part 91 of title 24, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation, that the
grantee is in a high risk area, and the Secretary
certifies such risk, according to--
``(i) the National Risk Index developed by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or
``(ii) a natural hazard risk index
maintained by the State in which the grantee is
located; and
``(B) describes in such consolidated plan how such
activities will address natural disaster mitigation
needs.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Use of Grants for Natural Disaster Mitigation.--
``(1) Effect on aggregation standards.--A grantee that uses
grant amounts for natural disaster mitigation activities as
described in subsection (a)(27) may treat housing units
assisted under that activity--
``(A) as a single structure with respect to meeting
criteria for national objects as described in section
570.208 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or
any successor regulation; and
``(B) as exempted from any aggregate standards for
public benefit as described in section 570.209 of title
24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor
regulation.
``(2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary shall provide
technical assistance to grantees that use grant amounts for
natural disaster mitigation activities as described in
subsection (a)(27).''.
(b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall issue rules to include--
(1) mitigation efforts in areas with potential for natural
disaster risk--
(A) as an activity designed to meet community
development needs having a particular urgency, as
described in section 570.208(c) of title 24, Code of
Federal Regulations; and
(B) as criteria for national objects as described
in section 570.483 of title 24, Code of Federal
Regulations; and
(2) threats posed by documented weather-related disaster or
hazard risks as a serious and immediate threat to the health or
welfare of the community, as described in such section.
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