Trump signs order to shift disaster preparations from Fema to state and local governments
Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that seeks to shift responsibility for disaster preparations to state and local governments, deepening the presidentās drive to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
The order, first previewed by the White House on 10 March, calls for a review of all infrastructure, continuity and preparedness and response policies to update and simplify federal approaches.
It said ācommon senseā investments by state and local governments to address risks ranging from wildfires to hurricanes and cyber attacks would enhance national security, but did not detail what they were or how they would be funded.
āPreparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local, and even individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible, and efficient federal government,ā the order said. āWhen states are empowered to make smart infrastructure choices, taxpayers benefit.ā
The order calls for revising critical infrastructure policy to better reflect assessed risks instead of an āall-hazards approachā, the White House said in a fact sheet on the order.
It creates a āNational Risk Registerā to identify, describe and measure risk to US national infrastructure and streamlines federal functions to help states work with Washington more easily.
Trump in January ordered a review of Fema that stopped short of shuttering the countryās lead disaster response agency and a White House official said the latest order was not aimed at closing Fema.
Rob Moore, the director of the flooding solutions team at the Natural Resources Defense Council, accused the Trump administration of systematically weakening US disaster readiness.
āFrom day one, the Trump administration has been eroding the nationās capacity to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters,ā Moore told Reuters.
āTheyāve overseen the dismissal of 1,000 Fema staff ā who wonāt be there to respond to a flood or wildfire ā and are withholding funding from local and state governments who are doing risk reduction projects and more.ā
Shana Udvardy, a senior researcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said she was concerned the order marked āanother dangerous stepā that would leave communities with fewer resources to prepare for future disasters.
āThe executive order shifts most of the responsibility for disaster preparedness to state and local governments, asking them to make more expensive infrastructure investments without outlining the federal role in that,ā she said.
About The Author
