H.R. 6462 — Rural Recovery Act of 2025

This section establishes a rural development disaster recovery technical assistance program within USDA's rural development mission area to provide assistance to eligible rural communities (generally census-designated places with populations under 20,000 inhabitants, as modified or waived by the Secretary) located in areas affected by a major disaster declared under the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). Technical assistance must cover disaster recovery planning, application preparation and submission to federal agencies such as the Economic Development Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency (as well as state agencies and USDA rural development), addressing application denials, and implementing received funding; it may address telecommunications, water infrastructure, housing, energy infrastructure, community facilities, business infrastructure, and local government infrastructure. Assistance is provided by state rural development offices, contracted public bodies or private nonprofits authorized under 7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(26) (with priority to those under 1926(a)(26)(B)), or both, with coordination among state governments and local stakeholders; multiple eligible communities per disaster may receive aid for up to three years from the disaster declaration date (extendable case-by-case for an additional three years). The Secretary must make funds available without application to affected state rural development offices as soon as practicable after a disaster declaration and allocate them via formula based on affected population using the latest decennial census data. This section authorizes $50 million annually to carry out the program.