Trump-Named Panel Recommends Shifting Disaster Response Leadership to States

A President Trump-appointed panel is recommending that the Federal Emergency Management Agency transition into a “lean organization” that plays a supporting role while states and localities assume primary responsibility for disaster response.Mr. Trump, long a critic of FEMA, previously suggested eliminating the agency and, in an executive order early last year, established the FEMA Review Council to recommend “structural changes” to it. In a long-delayed final report Thursday, the council provided 10 key recommendations that would transform the agency.The report recommends toughening the criteria for federal disaster assistance to reduce the number of federal disaster declarations. The Bipartisan Policy Center says FEMA has declared more than 1,500 major disasters over the past 25 years. The think tank says the frequency of declared disasters has grown over the years, straining the agency’s capacity to adequately respond.“Federal assistance should only be reserved for truly significant events,” the panel stated in its recommendations.The panel also called for streamlining assistance programs, speeding aid to individuals with a single direct payment program, and reducing administrative costs to free up more money for disaster response.The council says it received nearly 12,000 public comments during an eight-month review process.One key recommendation in the report calls for changing the National Flood Insurance Program. The council said the program has “significant issues” and is deep in debt. The report recommends the federal government get out of managing flood insurance and turn it over to the private sector. The report recommends updating risk data and making insurance pricing reflect the actual risk while updating flood maps.It is unclear whether Mr. Trump will accept all of the report’s recommendations, but many of them would require congressional action since they can not be accomplished simply through regulation or executive orders.Critics of the Trump administration say the plan would shift too much of the financial burden of disaster relief to state and local governments. “The proposed changes would leave communities without the necessary funding, information and access to insurance to stay prepared and safe when disasters strike,” an Environmental Defense Fund associate vice president, Will McDow, said in a statement.But the members of the review council said that FEMA’s mandate is to provide immediate assistance after disasters and not get involved in long-term recovery efforts. “We need to refocus FEMA to get it back on what its mission originally was,” the Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department.FEMA has undergone turmoil in the past year. The agency last month reinstated 14 employees who had been on paid administrative leave for eight months after signing a public letter warning that FEMA was not prepared to provide proper disaster response. The letter also criticized a rule imposed by the then-Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, that required her personal approval of any expense exceeding $100,000. Mr. Mullin has ended that requirement.David Richardson abruptly resigned in November after only six months as the head of the agency. Mr. Richardson had replaced a FEMA administrator who was ousted by Ms. Noem for publicly contradicting the White House. President Trump has not nominated anyone to take over as a permanent administrator.Reversing another controversial decision last week, FEMA also began offering new appointments to disaster workers who had contracts that were not renewed in January.

Trump-Named Panel Recommends Shifting Disaster Response Leadership to States

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