H.R. 2979 — BUILD Act of 2025

This section establishes a grant program under Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (i.e., Building Up Infrastructure for Local Departments Grant Program) authorizing the Attorney General to award grants to state and local law enforcement agencies serving jurisdictions with fewer than 50,000 residents for projects to modify, upgrade, or construct agency facilities with a substantial nexus to improving emergency services, officer training and development, officer recruitment and retention, community engagement, or community safety. Grants may not exceed $4 million each, with $250 million authorized for each of FY2026 through FY2028; the Attorney General must issue program guidance within 120 days of enactment, distribute information to eligible agencies, ensure equitable geographic distribution to the extent practicable, and submit biennial reports to Congress through the sixth year after enactment. This section further requires (1) the Attorney General to periodically conduct and publish studies of met and unmet construction and renovation needs for a national sample of law enforcement agencies, potentially as a supplement to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics program; and (2) the Government Accountability Office, within one year of enactment, to study and report to Congress on the sufficiency of capital infrastructure for law enforcement agencies serving jurisdictions with fewer than 50,000 residents, including met and unmet needs and projections over one-to-five years, five-to-ten years, and more than ten years.

This section authorizes the FEMA Administrator to make grants to career, combination, and volunteer fire departments serving jurisdictions of 50,000 or fewer residents to modify, upgrade, or construct facilities, with a maximum grant amount of $4 million and a requirement for equitable geographic distribution. Grant funds may be used for (1) improving emergency services, including firefighting or EMS; (2) training and developing firefighting or EMS personnel; (3) recruiting and retaining such personnel, including by improving safety; (4) community engagement; or (5) improving community safety. The section further requires the Administrator to distribute program information; review applications demonstrating financial need; submit biennial reports to Congress for six years beginning two years after enactment; and periodically study nationwide construction and renovation needs, while directing the GAO to study such needs for small-jurisdiction departments within one year of enactment, including projections over one-to-five, five-to-ten, and more-than-ten-year periods. The section authorizes $250 million for each of FY2026 through 2028.