Contents

• Overview
• Major Disaster Declarations: FY2000-FY2013
FY2015
• Types of Assistance Provided for Major Disasters
• Other Assistance Provided by the Disaster Relief Fund
• Additional Resources

Summary

The costs associated with providing assistance following a major disaster can be considerable. The agency with the primary responsibility for this relief is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Throughprimary source of funding for federal assistance authorized by a major disaster declaration is the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), FEMA is able to finance relief for all major disasters that are declared by the President. Thesewhich is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Major disaster declarations have occurred in every U.S. state since FY2000, with obligations for each incident ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to more than $3031 billion.

DRF obligation data provided by FEMA demonstrates a number of important points. First, there is considerable variation in federal spending for major disasters from one year to the next, regardless of the number of declarations. Second, the majority of DRF obligations are used to finance approved expenses under the Public Assistance (PA) program, which include debris removal operations and the repair and replacement of infrastructure. Third, compared to expenditures for other declarations, major disasters continue to be the largest source of DRF obligations each year.

The report below outlines the trend in DRF obligations for both the national and state level for the period FY2000 through FY2013. Linked to this report are individual profiles for each state. This report also includes additional resources and key policy staff that can provide more information on the programs that are discussed.

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This report summarizes DRF actual and projected obligations as a result of major disaster declarations at the national level for the period FY2000 through FY2015. CRS profiles for each state and the District of Columbia are linked to this report. Information on major disaster assistance from the DRF for tribal lands, U.S. territories, and freely associated states is available upon request. This report also includes lists of additional resources and key policy staff who can provide more information on the emergency management issues discussed.

Major Disaster Assistance from the Disaster Relief Fund: State Profiles

Overview

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288) authorizes the President to declare major disasters and emergenciesissue major disaster declarations in response to certain incidents that overwhelm the capabilities of states, tribestribal, state, and local governments and therefore require federal assistance. The primary source of funding for federal assistance following an incident. The Stafford Act defines a major disaster as

any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under this chapter to supplement the efforts and available resources of states, local governments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused thereby.¹

Major disaster declarations can authorize several types of federal assistance to support response and recovery efforts following an incident. The primary source of funding for federal assistance following a major disaster is the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This fundWhile this fund also provides assistance as a result of major disaster declarations, emergency declarations, and Fire Management Assistance Grants. Major,² major disaster declarations historically account for the vast majority of obligations from the DRF.

In addition to providing a national overview, this report also includes a summary of DRF obligations for each individual state. Information is also provided on the types of assistance that are available for major disasters and other assistance that is financed through the Disaster Relief Fund. For each individual state, there is information on significant incidents within the state during this period, impacted localities, and a summary of total assistance received for major disaster declarations. Additional CRS resources that address these issues are included below. The electronic version of this report includes a summary of DRF obligations at the national level and links to the individual CRS reports on each of the states.

Many other federal programs provide assistance following a major disaster and are not funded through the DRF. While the specific agencies and programs

This report provides a national overview of actual and projected obligations funded through the DRF as a result of major disaster declarations between FY2000 and FY2015. In addition to providing a national overview, the electronic version of this report includes links to CRS products that summarize actual and projected obligations from the DRF as a result of major disaster declarations in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state profile includes information on the most costly incidents and impacted localities. In both the national and state-level products, information is provided on the types of assistance that have been provided for major disasters.

Many other federal programs that provide assistance following a major disaster are not funded through the DRF. While the specific agencies and programs called upon will vary from one disaster to another, an overview of selected programs can be found in CRS Report R42845, Federal Emergency Management: A Brief Introduction, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

Major Disaster Declarations: FY2000-FY2013

FY2015

A total of 844936 major disasters were declareddisaster declarations were made between FY2000 and FY2013. These declarations resulted in $123.2 billion in total obligations from the DRF. The highest single year was FY2005, when nearly $48 billion was obligated. Most of these funds were for states in the gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. Figure 1 displays the total obligations per fiscal year across the country.

Figure 1. Disaster Relief Fund Obligations for Major Disasters, FY2000-FY2013 (Amounts in millions of dollars) FY2015. These declarations resulted in more than $133.6 billion in actual and projected obligations from the DRF. There was a high level of variation in the amount of actual and projected funding obligated for major disasters each year, with more than $48.6 billion in actual and projected obligations for disasters in FY2005 alone. Figure 1 displays the actual and projected obligations for all major disaster declarations each fiscal year. In Figure 1, obligations associated with each declaration are reported in the fiscal year in which the major disaster was declared. However, disaster response and recovery expenses are often incurred over several years following an incident, including some of the incidents from FY2000 to FY2015. To account for the total amount of federal assistance ultimately obligated for major disasters, the obligations data used throughout this report reflect actual obligations as well as obligations projected under FEMA-approved spending plans. Figure 1. DRF Actual and Projected Obligations for Declared Major Disasters and Number of Declared Major Disasters, by Fiscal Year Obligations are in millions of dollars.

Source: CRS analysis of FEMA obligation data. Data includes projected obligations as well as actual obligations. DRF obligations and major disaster declarations data as of December 2015. Note: Actual and projected obligations are recorded in the fiscal year in which the major disaster was declared.

Types of Assistance Provided for Major Disasters

A major disaster declaration can includeauthorize funding for different purposes, depending on the needs of the state. These purposes include the following:

• Public Assistance (PA) that is used to, which is used by tribal, state, or local governments, or certain private nonprofit organizations to provide emergency protective services, conduct debris removal operations, and repair or replace damaged public infrastructure, and other assistance;
• Individual Assistance (IA) that, which provides direct aid to impacted households, and other assistance;
• Hazard Mitigation (HM) that funds resilience Assistance, which funds mitigation and resiliency projects and programs, typically across the wholeentire state; and
• FEMA administrative costs associated with each disaster declaration;³ and
• Mission Assignment, which tasks and reimburses other federal entities that provide direct disaster assistance.
The decision concerning which types of assistance to provide is made either when the major disaster is declared or when the declaration is amended. For many major disasters, all of the assistance types outlined above are authorized. For others, some assistance types are not authorized. Figure 2 compares the actual and projected obligations for different types of assistance provided as a result of a major disaster declaration from FY2000 to FY2015.
Figure 2. DRF Actual and Projected Obligations for Declared Major Disasters by Assistance Type, FY2000-FY2015

Obligations are in millions of dollars, truncated.

associated with each disaster declaration. This amount includes the costs of temporary hires, facilities, travel, and training associated with specific disasters.

The decision to provide certain types of assistance is made at the time of the major disaster declaration. For many major disasters, both public assistance and individual assistance will be provided. For others, only one of these may be included. In almost all cases, funds are available for hazard mitigation activities. Figure 2 below compares the total amounts obligated for each of these activities between FY2000 and FY2013.

Figure 2. Major Disaster Obligations by Assistance Type, FY2000-FY2013 (Amounts in millions of dollars)

Source: CRS analysis of FEMA DRF obligation data as of December 2015. Note: The specific assistance within each of the identified types may have changed in the period FY2000 to FY2015obligation data. Data includes projected obligations as well as actual obligations.

Other Assistance Provided by the Disaster Relief Fund

In addition to the major disasters listed above,Other FEMA Assistance Funded Through the DRF In addition to the major disaster assistance described above, there are other forms of assistance are alsothat are funded through the Disaster Relief FundDRF. These include both emergency declarations and assistance associated with Emergency Declarations and with Fire Management Assistance Grants. The assistance provided for these declarations typically involves lower obligation levels thanfunding associated with these types of assistance typically results in lower obligation levels than assistance provided as a result of major disaster declarations, although there is significant variation across incidents.

Emergency Declarations are often made at the time a threat is recognized and are issuedin order to assist state, local, and tribaltribal, state, and local efforts prior to thean incident. For the period FY2000 through FY2013FY2015, total obligations for emergency declarations were just over $2.37$2.4 billion.

Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAGs) are issued to provide aid related tofor the control, management, and mitigation of fires. Total obligations for FMAGs from FY2000 through FY2013FY2015 were slightly highermore than $1.0 billion, with nearly the entire total obligated for public assistance21 billion.FEMA Assistance Not Funded Through the DRF: National Flood Insurance Program Floods represent a majority of all major disaster declarations nationwide. One of the primary sources of assistance for flooding events is the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is not funded through the DRF. For more information on the NFIP, please refer to CRS Report R44593, Introduction to FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

Additional Resources

Many existing CRS products address issues related to the Disaster Relief FundDRF, the disaster declaration process, and federal emergency management policytypes of DRF assistance. Below is a list of several of these resources:

• CRS Report R41981, Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed];

• CRS Report R43519, Natural Disasters and Hazards: CRS Experts, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed];

• CRS Report RL34146R43784, FEMA's Disaster Declaration Process: A Primer, by [author name scrubbed];

• CRS Report R42845, Federal Emergency Management: A Brief Introduction, coordinated R43537, FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Selected Issues, by [author name scrubbed];

• CRS Report R43537R44619, FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Selected Issues Disaster Housing: The Individuals and Households Program—Implementation and Potential Issues for Congress, by [author name scrubbed];

• CRS Report RL33053, Federal Stafford Act Disaster Assistance: Presidential Declarations, Eligible Activities, and Funding, by [author name scrubbed].

FEMA is also responsible for administering the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). More information on whether a community participates in this program can be found in the NFIP Community Status Book, https://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program/national-flood-insurance-program-community-status-book.

analysis of FEMA DRF obligations data as of December 2015.

Note: All state profiles appear as "archived" products on CRS.gov.

Author Contact Information

Acknowledgments

Assistance with this report was provided by [author name scrubbed], Section Research Manager; [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Emergency Management Policy; [author name scrubbed], Analyst in American National Government; and [author name scrubbed], Analyst in Emergency Management and Homeland Security Policy.

The previous iteration of this report and the associated state profiles were authored by [author name scrubbed], former Research Assistant.

Key Policy Staff

Footnotes

1.

P.L. 93-288, 42 U.S.C. §5122(2).

2.

Emergency declarations and Fire Management Assistance Grants will be discussed briefly under "Other FEMA Assistance Funded Through the DRF." For more information on the types of declarations authorized under the Stafford Act, see CRS Report R42702, Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2015: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

3.

For more information concerning what is included in FEMA Administrative Costs, see U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Emergency Management Agency: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Oversight of Administrative Costs for Major Disasters, GAO-15-65, December 17, 2014, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-65.