Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief
Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief
Updated January 16, 2025
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R47676
Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief
Congressional Research Service
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Projected DRF Shortfalls and Responses ........................................................................................ 1 What Is the DRF Used For? ............................................................................................................ 2
DRF Structure ........................................................................................................................... 3
Major Disasters Category ................................................................................................... 3 DRF Base Category ............................................................................................................ 3
DRF Appropriations .................................................................................................................. 4
Annual and Supplemental ................................................................................................... 4 Continuing Resolutions ....................................................................................................... 6
Historical DRF Funding and Obligation Levels ................................................................. 7 When the DRF Runs Low ................................................................................................... 8
Why Does the DRF Run Low? ......................................................................................... 10
Figures
Figure 1. DRF Appropriations History, FY1964-FY2024 ............................................................... 5
Figure 2. DRF Annual and Supplemental Appropriations, FY2015-FY2024 ................................. 7 Figure 3. DRF Unobligated Balances and Obligations, FY2015-FY2024 ...................................... 8
Tables
Table A-1. DRF Annual and Supplemental Appropriations, FY2013-FY2024 ............................. 12
Table A-2. DRF Unobligated Balances and Obligations, FY2013-FY2024.................................. 12
Appendixes
Appendix. Data Tables .................................................................................................................. 12
Contacts
Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 13
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Introduction
The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is one of the most-tracked single accounts funded by Congress each year. It is the primary source of funding for the federal government’s domestic general disaster relief programs.
The DRF receives appropriations in excess of the annually requested level through annual and supplemental appropriations on a frequent basis. Even so, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) projected that the unobligated balance available to pay the costs associated with major disaster declarations would be inadequate from the beginning of the fiscal year in both FY2023 and FY2024.
After providing a brief narrative of the past two years of projecting DRF funding shortfalls and responses, this report summarizes
• what the DRF is used for, and how its structure reflects that;
• how it is funded;
• its 10-year funding history; and
• why it remains reliant on supplemental appropriations even when its budget request is met or exceeded, as was the case in FY2023 and FY2024.
More detailed history and policy discussion of the DRF is included in CRS Report R45484, The Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Issues.
Projected DRF Shortfalls and Responses
Since the beginning of FY2023, FEMA has projected a series of shortfalls in funding for major disaster costs. Delaying more than $8 billion of long-term recovery and mitigation obligations through Immediate Needs Funding (INF) restrictions prevented depletion of the DRF before the end of the fiscal year. After the DRF received interim budget authority under a continuing resolution for FY2024 and a supplemental appropriation of $16 billion in the same consolidated appropriations package,1 the INF restrictions were lifted on October 2, 2023.
Three weeks later, the Biden Administration requested $9 billion in supplemental appropriations for the DRF, to cover another anticipated shortfall, caused in part by catastrophic disaster activity and the shift of delayed project costs into the next fiscal year. It would also restore a $2 billion reserve intended to pay immediate response costs from an otherwise unanticipated large incident.2 Congress did not address this request for supplemental funding in FY2024.
Once the annual level of FY2024 DRF appropriations was set in March 2024, FEMA reported a projected shortfall of nearly $7.4 billion for the DRF major disasters subaccount, with the subaccount being depleted in August 2024.3 On August 7, 2024, FEMA announced the implementation of INF restrictions, delaying obligations for long-term recovery and mitigation
1 P.L. 118-15, Division A, Sections 128 and 129.
2 Office of Management and Budget, “Technical Materials Regarding Critical Funding Needs for FY2024,” posted on OMB website, October 25, 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Funding-Request-to-Meet- Critical-Needs.pdf, p. 4. The Administration’s October 2023 supplemental appropriations request had not been acted on by Congress as of the date of publication of this report.
3 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of March 31, 2024, April 9, 2024, p. 4.
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projects in favor of preserving resources for response and recovery activities.4 With the enactment of a continuing resolution (CR) on September 26, 2024, $20.261 billion in temporary budget authority became available on October 1, and the restrictions were lifted.5 Implementation of INF restrictions for that 55-day period had delayed roughly $9.5 billion in obligations, allowing FEMA to meet the immediate needs stemming from major disasters through the end of the fiscal year, and carry over $2.03 billion into FY2025.6
On October 1, the major disaster portion of the DRF had $22.25 billion in unobligated balances available for the costs of major disasters. However, the available resources available had dwindled to $3.61 billion by the end of November, 2025.7 When INF restrictions were lifted, the delayed recovery and mitigation projects proceeded, as did ongoing response and recovery efforts for Hurricanes Helene and Milton. FEMA projected in early November that unless additional resources were provided, or INF restrictions reimplemented, the major disasters portion of the DRF would be exhausted in January.8
On November 18, 2024, the Biden Administration requested $40 billion in supplemental appropriations for the DRF, as part of a nearly $100 billion supplemental appropriations request for a variety of unmet needs.9 As a part of a consolidated appropriations measure responding to this request and an extension of the existing CR through March 14, 2025 (The American Relief Act, 2025; P.L. 118-158), a supplemental appropriation of $29 billion was provided for the DRF, with $28 billion being specifically for the costs of major disasters.10
As a result of this additional funding, FEMA projected (at the start of calendar year 2025) that the exhaustion of the major disasters portion of the DRF would be delayed until early July 2025.11 However, this forecast is predicated on the assumption that FY2025 annual DRF funding would match the level provided in the CR, without a lapse in appropriations. It also did not account for the 2025 catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles.12
What Is the DRF Used For?
The DRF funds disaster activity pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (Stafford Act; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.). It pays for several key
4 Federal Emergency Management Agency, “FEMA Announces Implementation of Immediate Needs Funding,” FEMA Advisory, August 7, 2024, https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDHSFEMA/2023/08/29/file_attachments/ 2597953/ FEMA%20Advisory%20FEMA%20Announces%20Implementation%20of%20Immediate%20Needs%20Funding%20 20230829.pdf.
5 The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (CR; P.L. 118-83) and the associated temporary budget authority will expire on December 20, 2024. For more details on the CR and its provisions, see CRS Report R48214, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2025 (Division A of P.L. 118-83), by Drew C. Aherne.
6 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund Monthly Report as of November 30, 2024, p. 4.
7 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of October 31, 2024, November 15, 2024, p. 4; FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of November 30, 2024, December 9, 2024, p. 4.
8 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of October 31, 2024, November 15, 2024, p. 15.
9 Letter from President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to The Honorable Michael Johnson, Speaker of the House, November 18, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Letter-regarding-critical-disaster-funding-needs.pdf.
10 P.L. 118-158, Division B, Title IV. $4 million of that amount is to be transferred to the DHS Office of Inspector General for oversight.
11 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of December 31, 2024, January 10, 2025, p. 15.
12 See CRS In Focus IF12871, January 2025 Los Angeles County Wildfires, coordinated by Diane P. Horn and Alicyn R. Gitlin.
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disaster response, recovery, and mitigation programs that provide assistance to communities impacted by presidentially declared emergencies and major disasters.13
The DRF does not fund all federal disaster assistance. Many federal agencies other than FEMA have specific authorities and resources to support certain disaster response and recovery efforts. However, the DRF does provide most of the federal government’s support for immediate disaster response, through FEMA’s own capabilities, and through the mission assignment process, whereby FEMA coordinates a government-wide response and reimburses agencies it calls into action that do not have independent authority nor funding for disaster recovery operations.14
DRF Structure
Major Disasters Category
Since 2012, the DRF has been split into two categories. The larger of the two—the “major disasters” category—is for costs pursuant to specifically declared major disasters. In recent years, this category has represented more than 95% of DRF obligations.
The DRF “major disasters” category funds several different Stafford Act programs identified as “Direct Disaster Programs”:
• Individual Assistance (IA);15
• Public Assistance (PA);16 and
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).17
Under the Disaster Recovery Reform Act,18 an automatic set-aside was created within the “major disasters” category for pre-disaster mitigation grants through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program.19
Most public discussion about depletion of the DRF is technically a discussion about depletion of the unobligated balance of the major disasters category of funding, not including the BRIC set- aside.
DRF Base Category
The smaller category, known as the DRF “base,” covers most other Stafford Act-related costs including
13 For more details on disaster declarations, see CRS Report R41981, Congressional Primer on Responding to and Recovering from Major Disasters and Emergencies, by Elizabeth M. Webster and Bruce R. Lindsay.
14 For details on how this process, known as “mission assignments,” works, see https://www.fema.gov/partnerships/ mission-assignments.
15 For more detail, see CRS In Focus IF11298, A Brief Overview of FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, by Elizabeth M. Webster.
16 For more detail, see CRS In Focus IF11529, A Brief Overview of FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, by Erica A. Lee.
17 For more detail, see CRS Insight IN11187, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Assistance, by Diane P. Horn.
18 Section 1234 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-254, Division D).
19 While the funding is “set aside” for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, it remains available for broader use for other activities within the “major disasters” category in the event the DRF runs low on budget authority. For more information on the BRIC program, see CRS Insight IN11515, FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation: The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program, by Diane P. Horn.
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• Pre-disaster surge activities;
• Activity pursuant to emergency declarations;
• Fire Management Assistance Grants; and
• Disaster Readiness and Support Activities.
The reason for the bifurcation of the DRF was the implementation of special budgetary treatment for the costs of major disasters in 2012. Under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA),20 a special accommodation was made that allowed for congressionally designated appropriations for costs incurred pursuant to Stafford Act major disaster declarations to not count against discretionary spending limits.21 Therefore, that spending had to be specifically identified, and the distinction between “major disasters” and the DRF “base” emerged.
Base funding for the DRF cannot be used for the costs of major disasters. Under appropriations law, providing a specific amount for an activity in statute means other resources not specifically designated for that activity cannot be applied to it without specific statutory direction.22
DRF Appropriations
Annual and Supplemental
The DRF receives an annual appropriation under FEMA within the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. When that annual appropriation proves inadequate to meet Stafford Act assistance needs, Congress has generally provided supplemental appropriations to ensure adequate resources are available.
As Figure 1 indicates, the DRF has relied significantly on supplemental appropriations to ensure it has the resources to fund Stafford Act programs. Prior to the implementation of budget controls, funding for disasters was provided as needed. With the implementation of deficit reduction efforts in the 1980s, disaster assistance had to “compete” for a limited pool of discretionary budget authority in the appropriations process. The use of “emergency” exceptions in supplemental appropriations allowed Congress to fund more disaster relief outside the annual appropriations process, “making room” for other priorities. These “emergency” designations were rarely used in annual appropriations measures.
20 P.L. 112-25.
21 For more detail, see CRS Report R45778, Exceptions to the Budget Control Act’s Discretionary Spending Limits, by Megan S. Lynch; and CRS In Focus IF10720, Calculation and Use of the Disaster Relief Allowable Adjustment, by William L. Painter.
22 See “Augmentation of Appropriations,” in Government Accountability Office, Principles of Appropriations Law (aka the “Red Book”), Third Edition, Volume II, pp. 6-162 et seq., available at https://www.gao.gov/legal/ appropriations-law/red-book.
CRS-5
Figure 1. DRF Appropriations History, FY1964-FY2024
Source: CRS analysis of appropriations legislation. Notes: Totals for FY2005, FY2006, FY2013, FY2018, and FY2020-FY2024, referenced by the arrows, are beyond the scale of the main graph and are shown on the inset. FY2013 numbers do not reflect the impact of sequestration. Supplemental data include contingent appropriations and all appropriations under the heading of “Disaster Relief” or “Disaster Relief Fund” including the language “for an additional amount.” Reductions reflected in the Net Total data include transfers and rescissions specifically enumerated in appropriations acts. For information on trends in the declarations that helped drive the demand for these appropriations, see CRS Report R42702, Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2016: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress, by Bruce R. Lindsay.
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As noted above, the BCA created a limited adjustment to discretionary spending limits specifically for the costs of major disasters. This “allowable adjustment” for disaster relief was first used for FY2012 supplemental appropriations, and first was implemented in the annual appropriations process for FY2013. That implementation allowed annual appropriations to cover a much larger proportion of actual DRF spending than before.23 While a handful of other disaster- related appropriations have periodically used the disaster-related flexibility, the DRF has exercised 95% of the available disaster relief adjustment.24
Even with this flexibility with regard to limits on discretionary spending, the annual appropriations request for the DRF usually only covers a portion of the what is needed: The DRF appropriations request notes, and has noted for many years, that in the event of a catastrophic incident (a disaster resulting in more than $500 million in spending from the DRF), supplemental appropriations will be required to meet response and recovery needs.25
Continuing Resolutions
If annual appropriations for the coming fiscal year are not enacted prior to the end of the current fiscal year, Congress often passes a continuing resolution to provide temporary budget authority so that federal government agencies can continue to operate until annual appropriations are finalized. This temporary funding is provided at a rate for operations, which is usually based on the prior year annual appropriation (with some adjustments or exceptions), and is usually provided for a limited period of time. In most cases, when a CR is in place for an agency, budget authority is gradually apportioned to it, as the final level of annual appropriations has not yet been set. Spending too large a proportion of an as-yet determined annual budget early in the fiscal year may create challenges later on. This is because the temporary budget authority of the CR will ultimately be replaced by the budget authority provided through the completion of the annual appropriations process, and sometimes supplemental appropriations.26 If obligations already made for the fiscal year exceed the funded amount, budget authority to meet those obligations has to be found elsewhere in the funded budget to make up the difference.
Since FY2018, every continuing resolution that has funded DHS has included a provision that allows the temporary budget authority for the DRF to “be apportioned at a rate for operations necessary to carry out response and recovery activities under the Stafford Act.”27 This anomaly ensures that budget authority, rather than being slowly apportioned to FEMA like a typical continuing appropriation, would be available as needed in the event the DRF’s existing carryover balances are spent down while the CR is in effect. The anomaly essentially allows the temporary budget authority of the CR to act as a temporary supplemental appropriation.
The DRF appropriation is atypical in that its appropriations do not expire at the end of a given fiscal year, but are available for obligation until expended. This means that Stafford Act programs are often somewhat protected from the effects of a lapse in appropriations because the DRF usually has carryover balances available to continue to fund its operations. However, this is not
23 For the underlying analysis, see CRS Report R45484, The Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Issues, by William L. Painter.
24 See CRS In Focus IF10720, Calculation and Use of the Disaster Relief Allowable Adjustment, by William L. Painter.
25 See, for example, FEMA, “Disaster Relief Fund: Fiscal Year 2019 Funding Requirements,” Fiscal Year 2018 Report to Congress, p. 4, https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/disaster-relief-funding-requirements_fy-2019.pdf.
26 Such completion may take the form of an enacted annual appropriations bill, or a continuing resolution stretching through the end of the fiscal year.
27 Most recently, P.L. 118-15, Division A, Section 128.
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always the case, and several times in recent years the unobligated balance in the DRF has fallen to levels that risked impacting disaster response operations.
Historical DRF Funding and Obligation Levels
Over the last 10 years, the amount of budget authority appropriated to the DRF has risen substantially, as has the amount obligated from each year.
Figure 2 shows the total appropriations for the DRF, broken down by annual and supplemental appropriations, as well as the major disasters portion and the DRF base.
Figure 2. DRF Annual and Supplemental Appropriations, FY2015-FY2024
(nominal budget authority)
Source: CRS analysis of FEMA monthly DRF reports. Data available in Table A-1. Note: Information depicted reflects data as shown in FEMA’s monthly reports, and does not reflect reprogrammings, transfers, or rescissions.
Figure 3 shows the year-ending unobligated balance in the major disasters portion of the DRF, compared to the DRF overall, as well as a similar comparison for obligations. Unobligated balances declined from year to year after FY2020, while overall rates of obligation have remained high. Unobligated balances in FY2023 and FY2024 are the result of FEMA restricting obligations for long-term recovery and mitigation projects to preserve resources for immediate needs.
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Figure 3. DRF Unobligated Balances and Obligations, FY2015-FY2024
(nominal budget authority, as recorded at the end of the fiscal year)
Source: CRS analysis of FEMA monthly DRF reports. Data available in Table A-2. Notes: As “obligated” is not an end-state for budget authority, obligated funding levels rise and fall for a variety of reasons. This figure depicts snapshots in time of how things stood after closeout of the financial records for that fiscal year, as reflected in Appendix A of the monthly reports.
When the DRF Runs Low
At times, the balance in the DRF has dropped to a point that raises concerns about the potential lack of adequate resources in the DRF to address current and/or future incidents. When this occurs, FEMA implements “Immediate Needs Funding” (INF) restrictions, which allow FEMA to prioritize, to an extent, obligation of funds from the DRF, limiting them to “life-safety and life sustaining efforts.”
FY2023 Case Study
On August 29, 2023, FEMA announced the implementation of INF restrictions, noting that while FEMA “had intended to provide ten full days [sic] notice, the current disaster environment with a
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major fire and multiple hurricanes make it necessary to implement INF immediately.”28 The unobligated balance in the DRF was $3.4 billion that morning.
FEMA has indicated that under INF, it would pause new Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation obligations that are not essential for lifesaving and life-sustaining activities. It further indicated that it would continue
• Individual Assistance payments directly to survivors for critical needs and housing;
• Public Assistance for states, tribes and territories essential for lifesaving and life- sustaining activities;
• State management costs;
• Mission assignments of federal partners for critical response activities;
• Fire Management Assistance grants; and
• Essential ongoing disaster operations, including salaries of FEMA field staff (Stafford Act employees).29
On October 2, 2023, after enactment of a continuing resolution30 that provided up to $19.95 billion in temporary budget authority for the DRF through November 17, 2023, and a $16 billion supplemental appropriation ($15.50 billion for the costs of major disasters, and $500 million for the DRF base),31 FEMA announced the lifting of the INF restriction.32 The INF restrictions pushed roughly $8 billion in obligations for long-term recovery and mitigation projects from FY2023 into FY2024.33
Other Recent Cases
Prior to FEMA’s implementation of INF restrictions in 2024 and 2023, the next most recent example of FEMA’s implementation of INF restrictions occurred in August 2017, when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, and Hurricane Irma was anticipated to strike U.S. interests. FEMA initiated INF restrictions on August 28, 2017, as the unobligated balance in the DRF fell below $2.8 billion in the middle of responses to multiple major disasters. FEMA lifted the INF restrictions on October 2, 2017, when the DRF was replenished by a $7.4 billion supplemental enacted on
28 FEMA, “FEMA Advisory: FEMA Announces Implementation of Immediate Needs Funding,” Office of External Affairs email, August 29, 2003.
29 FEMA, “Immediate Needs Funding Fact Sheet,” Office of External Affairs email attachment, August 29, 2023. According to FEMA, “The implementation of INF does not impact or change the delivery of IA [Individual Assistance] programs authorized by the Stafford Act. Assistance authorized under the Individuals and Households Program, Disaster Case Management Program, Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, and Disaster Legal Services will remain available” (email from FEMA Congressional Affairs Division to CRS, September 1, 2023).
30 P.L. 118-15.
31 P.L. 118-15, §129.
32 FEMA, “Continuing Resolution Allows FEMA to Lift Restrictions on Disaster Relief Funding,” October 3, 2023, press release (FEMA Release Number HQ-23-205), https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20231003/continuing- resolution-allows-fema-lift-restrictions-disaster-relief-funding.
33 CRS analysis of FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of September 30, 2023, October 10, 2023, Appendix F.
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September 8, 2017,34 and by the release of additional temporary budget authority pursuant to the continuing resolution.35
Prior to the 2017 implementation, INF restrictions were put into place seven times: each year from 2003 through 2006, as well as each year from 2009 through 2011.36 After FY2011, when the DRF came close to depletion, FEMA changed the internal processes of obligation from the DRF, to maintain unobligated balances longer over the course of regular operations.37
FEMA has indicated in recent years that the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) mitigation funding could be redirected to help cover the immediate response and recovery needs for major disasters once the DRF major disasters subaccount is otherwise depleted.38 The BRIC mitigation funding set-aside has never been actually used in this way before.39
Why Does the DRF Run Low?
In recent history, three major factors have contributed to the need for frequent supplemental appropriations for the DRF:
1. The formula for calculating the requirement for the DRF does not include
“new” catastrophic disasters: FEMA uses a combination of cost estimates from past catastrophic disasters where recovery is ongoing, and a 10-year rolling average of non-catastrophic disaster obligations to develop the annual budget request for the “major disasters” element of the DRF. The formula does not include funding for any “new” catastrophic incidents—neither those occurring in the year the request is made, nor those potentially occurring in the year the request covers. In recent years it has included a reserve for initial response to a “significant event.”40
2. The timing of the budget process: The request for annual appropriations for the
DRF for a given fiscal year is based on data finalized roughly nine months prior to the start of that year. Therefore, the public debate and appropriations developed in Congress are not necessarily responsive to the current situation.
3. The volatility of disaster needs: The request for the major disasters portion of
the DRF relies heavily on bottom-up cost estimates developed at the state level to project the need for a given fiscal year. The estimates used to develop the request are not necessarily congruent with the spending plans in place at the beginning of the funded fiscal year, and the timing of actual obligations is subject to clearance and approval processes on both the federal side and recipient side. For instance, projecting obligations for the COVID-19 pandemic response, with its
34 P.L. 115-56, Division B.
35 P.L. 115-56, Division D, §129.
36 FEMA, “Immediate Needs Funding Fact Sheet,” Office of External Affairs email attachment, August 29, 2023.
37 This reformed approach, known as Strategic Funds Management, obligates certain recovery projects costing more than $1 million on a rolling basis. For details, see FEMA, “Recovery Standard Operating Procedure 9570.24: Strategic Funds Management—Implementation Procedures for the Public Assistance Program,” December 21, 2012, https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/fema_9570.24_startegic-funds-mgmt_SOP_12-21-2012.pdf.
38 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report as of August 31, 2023, September 11, 2023, p. 4, footnote 3.
39 According to FEMA reporting on the DRF, there was roughly $4.5 billion in available mitigation funding as of the end of FY2024.
40 In the FY2025 request, there was a $2 billion reserve for catastrophic incidents, and $1 billion for BRIC mitigation funding. FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2025 Funding Requirements, May 6, 2024, p. 7. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_disaster-relief-fund-funding-requirements_fy25.pdf.
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unprecedented scope and application of the Stafford Act, has proven difficult for FEMA and its state-level partners.
A new factor arose in the Administration’s FY2025 request for the DRF. Rather than basing its request for major disasters on the formula it has relied on in recent years, the Administration chose to limit its official request for DRF major disaster funding for FY2025 to the size of the allowable adjustment to budget limits to cover the costs associated with major disasters. According to FEMA’s annual statement of the requirements for the DRF for FY2025, this reduced the request by more than $5.2 billion.41
These factors all contribute to an increased likelihood of the DRF being underfunded by the annual appropriations measure. However, given the unpredictability of catastrophic incidents, Congress may find itself weighing which of these options is preferable:
• providing larger annual appropriations for the DRF in anticipation of events which may not occur, or
• continuing to rely on a limited reserve and faster-moving supplemental appropriations, or
• making significant changes to the disaster relief programs under the Stafford Act that drive these costs.
For further discussion, see CRS In Focus IF12822, The Disaster Relief Fund: Requests Versus Reality, and CRS Report R45484, The Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Issues, by William L. Painter.
41 FEMA, Disaster Relief Fund Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2025 Funding Requirements, May 6, 2024, p. 7. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_disaster-relief-fund-funding-requirements_fy25.pdf.
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Appendix. Data Tables
Table A-1. DRF Annual and Supplemental Appropriations, FY2013-FY2024
($millions of nominal budget authority)
Fiscal Year
Annual
Appropriations—
Major Disasters
Supplemental
Appropriations—
Major Disasters
Other DRF
Annual
Appropriations
Other DRF
Supplemental
Appropriations
2013 6,400 11,488 608 0
2014 5,626 0 595 0
2015 6,438 0 595 0
2016 6,713 0 661 0
2017 6,713 7,400 615 0
2018 7,366 42,170 535 0
2019 12,000 0 258 0
2020 17,352 40,000 511 5,000
2021 17,142 52,000 0 0
2022 18,799 0 0 0
2023 19,945 5,000 0 0
2024 20,261 15,500 0 500
Source: CRS analysis of FEMA monthly DRF reports. Note: Information provided reflects data as shown in FEMA’s monthly reports, and do not reflect reprogrammings, transfers, or rescissions.
Table A-2. DRF Unobligated Balances and Obligations, FY2013-FY2024
($millions of nominal budget authority, as recorded at the end of the fiscal year)
Fiscal Year
Unobligated
Balance—
Major
Disasters
Total DRF
Unobligated
Balance
Obligations—
Major
Disasters
Total DRF
Obligations
2013 6,682 8,492 10,435 11,005
2014 4,968 6,978 7,754 8,540
2015 3,133 5,317 8,545 9,120
2016 85 1,819 9,954 10,479
2017 2,966 3,356 12,562 13,207
2018 27,500 28,285 25,932 26,693
2019 28,470 28,975 12,943 13,763
2020 10,347 14,835 76,598 78,041
2021 28,327 32,364 57,870 58,911
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2022 9,110 12,624 41,987 42,744
2023 2,547 3,261 37,126 37,893
2024 2,033 2,530 38,136 39,002
Source: CRS analysis of FEMA monthly DRF reports. Notes: As “obligated” is not an end-state for budget authority, obligated funding levels rise and fall for a variety of reasons. This table depicts snapshots in time of how things stood after closeout of the financial records for that fiscal year, as reflected in Appendix A of the monthly reports.
Author Information
William L. Painter Acting Section Research Manager
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