S. 3895 — Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act of 2026

This section directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to amend the evaluation factors in 44 C.F.R. § 206.48—used to assess public assistance (PA) and individual assistance (IA) needs in major disaster declaration requests under the Stafford Act—within 120 days of enactment by assigning the following specific weighted valuations to criteria. For the PA program: (1) estimated cost of assistance, 10%; (2) localized impacts, 40%; (3) insurance coverage, 10%; (4) hazard mitigation, 10%; (5) recent multiple disasters, 10%; (6) other Federal assistance programs, 10%; and (7) economic circumstances, 10%. Economic circumstances must consider the local economy (i.e., assessable tax base, local sales tax, median income and poverty rate compared to the state) and state economy (i.e., unemployment rate compared to the national rate). For the IA program: (1) concentration of damages, 20%; (2) trauma, 20%; (3) special populations, 20%; (4) voluntary agency assistance, 10%; (5) insurance, 20%; (6) average amount of IA by state, 5%; and (7) economic considerations, 5%. Economic considerations must include the local assessable tax base, local sales tax, median income compared to the state, and poverty rate compared to the state. The amended rules apply to any disaster for which a governor requested a major disaster declaration that FEMA denied on or after January 1, 2012. (Thus, such denials may be eligible for reconsideration under the new weighted criteria.)