New Heat Management Act Gives FEMA Power to Fund A/C and Cooling Centers Without a Disaster Declaration

The Heat Management Assistance Grant Act of 2025 (HMAG Act) is a big deal because it formally recognizes extreme heat as a federal emergency requiring its own specific response. Currently, federal disaster aid is generally triggered by things like hurricanes or floods. This bill changes the game by amending the Stafford Act to allow the President, operating through FEMA, to provide grants, supplies, and personnel to state and local governments specifically to manage and mitigate extreme heat events, even without a full major disaster declaration. This means faster access to federal resources when the temperature spikes.

The New Emergency Checklist: Proving the Heat is Deadly

If your city or state wants this new heat-specific aid, they can’t just say, “It’s hot.” They have to submit a formal application to the President that includes some serious data. Specifically, they must provide an assessment detailing the estimated number of deaths and the financial losses they’ve experienced in past heat events. They also have to list all other aid they’re receiving and detail any long-term infrastructure problems the heat might cause. This requirement (Section 2) puts the administrative burden on local governments to prove the risk with hard numbers, which could be tough for smaller jurisdictions that don't have robust data collection systems.

Mitigation Funds Get a Head Start

One of the most practical changes here is how the bill handles long-term planning. The HMAG Act allows the President to use existing hazard mitigation assistance authority (Section 404 of the Stafford Act) in any area receiving heat aid. Crucially, this can happen even if a major disaster hasn't been declared. Why does this matter to you? Hazard mitigation funds are what pay for things like upgrading power grids to handle high A/C loads, building cooling centers, or helping low-income residents purchase efficient air conditioning units. By decoupling mitigation from a full disaster declaration, the bill allows communities to proactively invest in heat resistance before the next heatwave hits.

Defining the Danger Zone

While the bill creates the framework, it leaves the actual definition of “extreme heat” up to the experts. FEMA, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the CDC, has 90 days after the bill becomes law to establish a specific threshold based on temperature and duration that qualifies an event for this new aid. This is a critical detail: if the definition is too narrow or set too high, it could exclude many communities that desperately need help but don't quite hit the federal danger mark. Conversely, once that definition is set, it provides clear, objective criteria, which helps cut through bureaucratic delays when the heat is on. For local governments, this means the clock is ticking to understand the new rules around eligibility, appeals, and what costs the federal government will actually cover.