Congressman Neal Dunn, who represents Florida’s 2nd district in the U.S. Congress, has introduced new legislation aimed at preventing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from reclaiming disaster recovery funds from communities affected by natural disasters.
The proposed bill, known as The Streamlined FEMA Cost Exemption Act, seeks to stop FEMA from attempting to recoup or “claw-back” Public Assistance grants that have already been allocated and spent on recovery projects. These grants are often used by cities, counties, and electric cooperatives to rebuild after events such as hurricanes and tropical storms.
“Communities impacted by natural disasters like tropical storms and hurricanes should not be concerned that government bureaucrats will attempt to recoup federal aid for recovery efforts years after the money has been spent rebuilding the community,” said Congressman Dunn. “Florida cities and counties are responsible stewards of federal funding when disaster strikes, and we cannot allow bureaucratic uncertainty to impact the recovery process. I’m proud to introduce legislation that will relieve this financial burden on our communities to allow them to focus on rebuilding.”
Currently, local governments submit requests for Public Assistance through the Florida Division of Emergency Management before they reach FEMA for review. While projects undergo several rounds of review prior to approval and funding, FEMA sometimes conducts additional reviews years later. This can result in attempts to recover funds already distributed, creating confusion among local officials and disrupting ongoing recovery efforts.
In recent years, several projects related to Hurricane Michael in 2018 were approved for disaster relief funding but later received Determination Memos indicating possible claw-backs—sometimes after project completion. According to Dunn, FEMA is currently seeking nearly $100 million in returned funds from his district alone, which could place significant financial strain on affected communities.
The Streamlined FEMA Cost Exemption Act proposes several changes:
– It would exempt certain costs associated with “covered projects” from being subject to claw-backs while a grant agreement is active.
– The bill would reduce the statute of limitations for recoupment actions from three years to two years.
– It includes provisions allowing FEMA waivers for some recoupments.
– The act gives FEMA discretion to prioritize cases where project overruns exceed five percent of total costs.
– It also requires the FEMA Administrator to establish an “acceptable error ratio” during eligibility negotiations.
Neal Dunn has served in Congress since 2017 after previously serving in the Florida House of Representatives. He was born in Boston in 1953 and currently resides in Panama City. More background information about Congressman Dunn can be found here.
The full text of The Streamlined FEMA Cost Exemption Act is available online.
