Submission to the President, via OMB, of legislative proposals enabling FEMA and SBA to address situations where state/local governments impede timely recovery.
Source summary
The President issued an executive order directing federal agencies to speed federally funded rebuilding in wildfire-damaged neighborhoods of
Los Angeles (Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon), citing state and local failures in prevention, emergency response, and permitting. The order directs FEMA and the SBA to consider regulations that can preempt obstructive state or local permitting (including replacing them with builder self-certification to a federal designee), to publish proposed regulations within 30 days and final rules within 90 days, and to expedite environmental and historic-preservation reviews as allowed by law. It also requires a federal audit of nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to determine misuse and calls for legislative proposals within 90 days to address state or local obstacles to recovery.