Overview
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288) authorizes the President to issue major disaster declarations in response to certain incidents that overwhelm the capabilities of tribal, state, and local governments. 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). While this fund also provides assistance as a result of emergency declarations and Fire Management Assistance Grants,2 major disaster declarations historically account for the majority of obligations from the DRF.
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-FY2015
A total of 936 major disaster declarations were made between FY2000 and 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.
Types of Assistance Provided for Major Disasters
A major disaster declaration can authorize funding for different purposes, depending on the needs of the state. These purposes include the following:
- Public Assistance, 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;
- Individual Assistance, which provides direct aid to impacted households;
- Hazard Mitigation Assistance, which funds mitigation and resiliency projects and programs, typically across the entire state;
- 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.
Other FEMA Assistance Funded Through the DRF
In addition to the major disaster assistance described above, there are other forms of assistance that are funded through the DRF. These include assistance associated with Emergency Declarations and with Fire Management Assistance Grants. The funding 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 in order to assist tribal, state, and local efforts prior to an incident. For the period FY2000 through FY2015, total obligations for emergency declarations were just over $2.37 billion.
- Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAGs) provide aid for the control, management, and mitigation of fires. Total obligations for FMAGs from FY2000 through FY2015 were slightly more than $1.21 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 DRF, the disaster declaration process, and types 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 R43784, FEMA's Disaster Declaration Process: A Primer, by [author name scrubbed]
- CRS Report R43537, FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Selected Issues, by [author name scrubbed]
- CRS Report R44619, FEMA Disaster Housing: The Individuals and Households Program—Implementation and Potential Issues for Congress, by [author name scrubbed]
- CRS Report R43990, FEMA's Public Assistance Grant Program: Background and Considerations for Congress, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]
State Profiles
In the electronic version of this report, Table 1 includes links to CRS products that summarize major disaster assistance from the DRF for each state and the District of Columbia. Actual and projected obligations from the DRF as a result of major disaster declarations for tribal lands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau are available upon request.
Table 1. Major Disaster Assistance from the DRF: State Profiles
State Profiles include declarations between FY2000 and FY2015
Source: CRS analysis of FEMA DRF obligations data as of December 2015.
Note: All state profiles appear as "archived" products on CRS.gov.