A new federal report released this week calls for a dramatic restructuring of the nation’s disaster response system by significantly shifting more responsibility and untenable fiscal risk onto states and local governments.
The 75-page report from the President’s FEMA Review Council argues that disaster response should become “locally executed, state or tribally managed, and federally supported.”
That philosophy drives nearly every recommendation in the report, including raising federal disaster thresholds, limiting federal recovery assistance, restructuring FEMA reimbursement programs, expanding private flood insurance, and narrowing the federal government’s long-standing role in disaster recovery.
For county governments, the report reinforces concerns that local emergency managers and county leaders have raised for months as federal preparedness funding, disaster declarations, and FEMA’s long-term role face growing uncertainty.
The recommendations also come in the wake of FEMA’s denial of Maryland’s request for federal disaster assistance following catastrophic flooding in Allegany and Garrett counties, despite damage estimates that far exceed existing federal thresholds.
The report argues that current federal disaster standards discourage states and local governments from investing enough in preparedness and resilience. It recommends tougher declaration standards and says federal assistance should apply only to disasters that truly exceed state and local capacity.
Among the proposed changes:
- Higher federal disaster thresholds
- Annual minimum spending requirements before states can seek federal declarations
- Greater emphasis on state fiscal capacity
- Expanded state responsibility for recovery operations
Those recommendations could make it substantially harder for states to secure federal disaster declarations for mid-sized disasters.
The report also proposes a major overhaul of FEMA’s Public Assistance program, which reimburses local governments for debris removal, infrastructure repairs, and other disaster recovery costs.
Instead of the current reimbursement-heavy system, the Council recommends a new “RAPID” funding model that would send states lump-sum payments within 30 days of a federal declaration based on projected damages.
States would then manage project eligibility, procurement, environmental reviews, and funding distribution themselves. The report specifically recommends allowing states to rely on their own procurement and environmental review standards rather than many current federal requirements.
While the proposal could reduce some federal administrative delays, it would also place far more responsibility on states and local governments to manage recovery operations and financial exposure.
The report also recommends sharply narrowing FEMA’s Individual Assistance programs.
Under the proposal, FEMA would move toward a simplified direct-payment model focused primarily on residents whose homes become uninhabitable after disasters.
The Council also recommends shifting more responsibility for evacuation support and temporary sheltering to states and local governments while limiting FEMA’s role in long-term housing recovery.
Flood insurance reform represents another significant component of the report.
The Council describes the National Flood Insurance Program as financially unstable and recommends transitioning more policies into the private insurance market, increasing risk-based pricing, and concentrating mitigation investments on repetitive-loss properties.
Those recommendations could carry major implications for Maryland’s coastal communities and flood-prone areas, especially as counties already contend with rising insurance costs and growing resilience demands.
The report also repeatedly criticizes FEMA’s expanding responsibilities over the past two decades, arguing that “mission creep” and administrative complexity weakened the agency’s effectiveness.
At the same time, the Council recommends preserving several core preparedness and coordination programs, including:
- Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG)
- Urban Search and Rescue
- IPAWS emergency alerts
- Regional coordination structures
- EMAC mutual aid agreements
The report also ties future federal cost shares directly to state preparedness benchmarks.
Under the recommendations, states that maintain disaster reserve funds, hazard mitigation programs, preparedness systems, interoperable communications, insurance coverage standards, and statewide emergency management capabilities could receive more favorable federal cost shares following disasters.
That proposal adds even more pressure on states and local governments to build long-term emergency management capacity as federal support becomes less predictable. It also closely mirrors broader discussions already underway in Maryland around sustainable emergency management funding, mutual aid coordination, preparedness investments, and the State Disaster Recovery Fund.
The report does not eliminate FEMA, but it clearly envisions a much smaller federal role focused primarily on catastrophic incidents and national coordination rather than broad-based disaster management.
Many of the recommendations would require congressional approval before taking effect. The report itself acknowledges Congress would need to approve several of the proposed reforms before implementation.
Read the complete report for more information.
Useful Links
NACo: County Leaders Advocate for Federal Disaster Reform in Visit to Washington, D.C.
