Reforming Disaster and Emergency Response

Abstract

Abstract : Over the past two decades, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has focused too much on day-to-day disasters, from snow storms to forest fires, tripling the number of disaster declarations and overstretching its resources. During this time, FEMA has been federalizing routine natural disasters that had historically been handled entirely by state and local governments. Congress and the Administration should focus on lessening the role of the federal government in day-to-day state-level emergencies and emphasize greater responsibility among state and local communities for preparing and developing response plans for local disasters. Federal disaster policy creates incentives for governors to apply for disaster declarations because the federal government will pay at least 75 percent of the disaster response. To curb the continued nationalization of disasters, Congress should amend the Stafford Act and expressly limit what types of disasters qualify for federal aid. Almost all disasters are local, which is why the vast majority of them should be responded to, run by, and funded by state and local governments. Save federal resources for the exceptional catastrophes that truly require the federal government to step in.