Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act of 2023

This bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to update its rules for evaluating whether to declare a major disaster and provide public or individual assistance. It sets specific percentage weights for each factor FEMA must consider.

Sec. 2, Regulatory action required: Within 120 days of enactment, FEMA must amend its rules to assign specific weighted valuations to criteria for evaluating public assistance needs. For public assistance, the weights are: estimated cost of assistance (10%), localized impacts (40%), insurance coverage (10%), hazard mitigation (10%), recent multiple disasters (10%), other federal assistance (10%), and economic circumstances (10%). For individual assistance, the weights are: concentration of damages (20%), trauma (20%), special populations (20%), voluntary agency assistance (10%), insurance (20%), average individual assistance by state (5%), and economic considerations (5%). The rules must also consider economic circumstances of the affected local area and state. The amended rules apply to any governor's request for a major disaster declaration denied on or after January 1, 2012.