What has changed for qualifications?

There are new qualifications for distributions and loans when the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declares an emergency. Previously, FEMA could declare an emergency, but Congress had to pass legislation to approve the emergency as a distributable event in a qualified retirement plan. Now, if FEMA declares an emergency, it automatically makes it a distributable event. 

The IRS issued IR-2024 providing FAQs about disaster relief related to qualified federally declared disaster distributions. which stated that plan sponsors may rely on a participant's representation that participant's principal place of abode in is the disaster area, and they sustained economic loss because of the disaster and also clarified that repayments are treated as an eligible rollover distribution.