This report provides summary information on supplemental appropriations legislation enacted since FY2000 after significant large-scale disasters. It includes funds appropriated to various departments and agencies. The funds cited in this report were provided by Congress in response to major disasters declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 92-288, hereinafter the Stafford Act) and include appropriations for disaster relief, repair of federal facilities, and hazard mitigation activities directed at reducing the impact of future disasters. Disaster assistance provided for agricultural disasters, counterterrorism, law enforcement, and national security appropriations are generally authorized by an authority separate from the Stafford Act and are not included in this report. In addition, in some cases it is difficult to discern the specific purposes for the funds. Unless otherwise noted, this report does not take into account rescissions or transfers after Congress appropriated the funds for disaster assistance. When a state is overwhelmed by an emergency or disaster, the governor may request assistance from the federal government. Federal assistance is contingent on whether the President issues an emergency or major disaster declaration. Once the declaration has been issued, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides disaster relief through its Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). Funds from the DRF are used to pay for ongoing recovery projects from disasters occurring in previous fiscal years, meet current emergency requirements, and as a reserve to pay for future incidents. In addition, FEMA often uses what are known as "Mission Assignments" to task and reimburse other federal entities that provide direct assistance during emergencies and major disasters. The DRF is funded annually and is a "no-year" account, meaning that unused funds from the previous fiscal year (if available) are carried over to the next fiscal year. In general, when the balance of the DRF becomes low, Congress has provided additional funding through both annual and supplemental appropriations to replenish the account. When a catastrophic incident threatens to deplete the DRF, the President typically submits a request to Congress for a supplemental appropriation (see Table 1 ). Historically, FEMA is the second-largest recipient of supplemental appropriations. In addition to the funds provided to the DRF to reimburse Mission Assignments, Congress often provides direct funding to various agencies such as the Small Business Administration (SBA), or the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for disaster assistance. This is particularly true for supplemental appropriations for large-scale incidents such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. It is useful to note that a low DRF balance is not necessarily needed to spur congressional efforts to provide additional assistance. As previously mentioned, most supplemental appropriations originate with a request from the Administration for additional funds. However, Congress has initiated supplemental appropriations without a formal request from the Administration. For example, in 2007, Congress provided additional assistance for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ( P.L. 110-28 ). In 2008, Congress added DRF supplemental funding ( P.L. 110-329 ) to the FY2009 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill on its own initiative, in response to the Midwest Flooding and Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. While there were no formal requests from the Administration for additional funds, the amount of funding for the supplemental appropriation was based on estimates provided to Congress by FEMA and other federal entities that were involved in response and recovery efforts. Supplemental appropriations often have an "emergency designation." Congress uses emergency designations to exempt a provision in legislation from the budgetary effects of certain enforcement procedures. As a result of the concern over the size of the federal deficit and debt, Congress has implemented measures to limit federal spending. For example, the Budget Control Act ( P.L. 112-25 , hereinafter the BCA), includes measures to limit spending. The BCA placed caps on discretionary spending for the next ten years, beginning with FY2012. If these caps are exceeded, an automatic rescission—known as sequestration—takes place across most discretionary budget accounts to reduce the effective level of spending to the level of the cap. The BCA, however, includes special accommodations to address the unpredictable nature of disaster assistance. First, it redefined "disaster relief" as being federal government assistance provided pursuant to a major disaster declared under the Stafford Act, rather than assistance provided through the DRF. Second, funding designated as disaster relief would now be "paid for" by adjusting upward the discretionary spending caps (also referred to as an allowable adjustment). The allowable adjustment for disaster relief is limited, however, to an amount based on the 10-year rolling average (excluding the highest and lowest years) of what has been spent by the federal government on relief for major disasters. The BCA requires OMB to annually calculate the adjusted 10-year rolling average of disaster relief spending that sets the allowable cap adjustment for disaster relief. These calculations are included in the final sequestration report and sequestration update report issued under Section 254 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 as amended (BBEDCA). In recent years, Congress has provided more funding for the DRF through annual appropriations than in the past. Many policy experts believe that the BCA's cap adjustments have led Congress to rely more on annual appropriations to fund disaster assistance than in the past. The influence of the BCA on disaster assistance is discussed further in-depth in " The Debate over the Use of Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance " section of this report. It is worth noting that the cap is calculated in nominal dollars and does not adjust for inflation. This may become more significant over time if inflation rises, and if the allowable adjustment begins to decrease as projected in 2016. This section provides summary information on emergency supplemental appropriations legislation enacted since 2000. The funds cited include both supplemental appropriations and loan authority to certain federal agencies that undertook disaster relief, repair of federal facilities, and hazard mitigation activities directed at reducing the impact of future disasters. Funds used for activities such as research, oversight, or administrative costs have been omitted from this analysis in an attempt to focus solely on disaster relief and assistance. Moreover, counterterrorism, law enforcement, and national security appropriations are not included in this compilation. Unless otherwise noted, this report does not take into account rescissions approved by Congress after funds have been appropriated for disaster assistance. As reflected in Table 1 , supplemental appropriations have generally been enacted as stand-alone legislation. In some instances, however, disaster assistance funding has been enacted as part of regular appropriations measures, continuing appropriations acts (continuing resolutions), or as a part of omnibus appropriations legislation. Also, while the need for additional funds has historically been tied to a single, large-scale major disaster such as Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy, in recent years the need for assistance has increasingly been caused by a string of incidents. For example, legislation passed in FY2010 and FY2012 provided disaster relief for several incidents rather than a single, large scale disaster. Supplemental appropriations for disaster relief provide funding to a wide array of federal agencies depending on the unique needs of each disaster. In general, agencies, such as FEMA or the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are consistently included in supplemental appropriations for disaster relief. On the other hand, many smaller agencies or programs have received funding for certain disasters and not others. Figure 1 and Figure 2 below outline the total funding that has been given to each agency since FY2000. Of the total amount provided for all agencies ($265 billion), nearly 50%, or $122 billion, has gone to FEMA. Overall, eight agencies account for 96% of the total appropriation during this time. During the 113 th Congress, P.L. 113-2 , the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, provided $50.3 billion in disaster assistance through numerous federal agencies and entities in response to Hurricane Sandy. The bill provided $11.5 billion for the DRF, $5.3 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, and $13.0 billion for the Department of Transportation. Enacted during the 112 th Congress, P.L. 112-77 , the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012, provided an additional $8.1 billion in disaster assistance including $6.4 billion for the DRF and roughly $1.7 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to repair damages to federal projects resulting from major disasters, operations and expenses, and other projects to prepare for floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. During the 111 th Congress, P.L. 111-212 , the Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010, provided $5.5 billion for disaster relief. The bill included $5.1 billion for the DRF. During consideration, the underlying bill ( H.R. 4899 ) became a vehicle for additional non-disaster funding, including $33 billion for the Department of Defense, and funding for court case relief for veterans, Native Americans, and minority farmers. During the 110 th Congress, President George W. Bush signed into law four measures ( P.L. 110-28 , P.L. 110-116 , P.L. 110-252 , and P.L. 110-329 ) that provided roughly $44.0 billion in supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and recovery (most of it for the DRF). P.L. 110-28 , signed on May 25, 2007, included an appropriation of $7.7 billion for disaster assistance, $6.9 billion of which was classified for Hurricane Katrina recovery. P.L. 110-116 , signed into law on November 13, 2007, provided a total of $6.4 billion for continued recovery efforts related to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, and for other declared major disasters or emergencies. Specifically, $500 million of these funds were included for firefighting expenses related to the 2007 California wildfires. P.L.