The "Sustainable and Flood Resilient Engineering for Rural Areas Act," or SAFE Rural Act, aims to enhance flood resilience in vulnerable rural communities, Tribal lands, and territories. It addresses the heightened risks these areas face due to limited resources, aging infrastructure, and lower capacity to secure and manage hazard mitigation grants, recognizing a gap in dedicated pre-disaster investments for these regions. The Act amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to establish a mandatory program, the SAFE Rural Program , within the existing BRIC framework. This program will provide formula-based pass-through grants to eligible states and Indian tribal governments, ensuring a consistent and predictable funding stream for flood mitigation efforts. A key provision is the creation of the SAFE Rural Fund , which will receive a 2% set-aside from all amounts appropriated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund annually. These funds are specifically earmarked for rural flood resilience and cannot be commingled with other program funds. Eligible uses of these subgrants include the construction or restoration of flood-resilient public infrastructure, mitigation projects for critical facilities, and a strong emphasis on nature-based and green infrastructure solutions like wetland restoration and living shorelines. The bill also introduces an operations and maintenance plan requirement for projects, with a standardized template for entities with limited administrative capacity. The legislation outlines a formula for fund allocation, considering population, median income, and demonstrated capacity for hazard mitigation. It also mandates a Community Assistance Program (CAP-MIT) , providing annual grants of $1 million to $5 million to states and Indian tribal governments to build their capacity for administering hazard mitigation programs and assisting communities. To further support smaller communities, the Act establishes a small project set-aside and streamlined track , reserving at least 15% of annual allocations for projects under $500,000. These small projects benefit from a simplified application process, waiving benefit-cost analysis for projects under $200,000 and requiring quicker state/tribal decisions. The bill also adjusts cost-sharing requirements, allowing for a reduction or waiver for underserved or economically distressed rural, Tribal, or territorial communities. Overall, the SAFE Rural Act seeks to proactively reduce long-term Federal disaster expenditures by investing in pre-disaster flood mitigation and resilience in historically underserved areas.