House committee approves FEMA overhaul bill

The legislation would make the Federal Emergency Management Agency independent.

A bipartisan bill that would dramatically reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency cleared a major procedural hurdle Wednesday.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced H.R. 4669, the “Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act,” in a 57-3 vote. The lone “no” votes came from Republican Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Eric Burlison of Missouri.

The bill, led by Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and ranking member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), may be Congress’ best chance of reforming disaster management during this congressional term.

The measure would make FEMA an independent agency, with the administrator reporting directly to the president. FEMA is currently housed under the Department of Homeland Security.

It also includes a litany of provisions to streamline the grant application process for states and individuals, increase coordination across the federal government and set up accountability measures, including an inspector general for FEMA.

And it would return some authority over disaster management to state and local jurisdictions, letting them further spearhead their own mitigation and recovery plans with federal funding.

The committee’s bipartisan leadership forged ahead with the bill this summer, releasing bill text in July even as President Donald Trump continued to mull the future of FEMA.

Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have at times suggested that FEMA should be eliminated entirely, with jurisdiction over disaster recovery returned to the states.

Although FEMA’s future has been an increasingly politicized issue since Trump took office, the Wednesday T&I markup of the bill saw near unanimous support from both sides of the aisle.

Numerous members from both parties spoke in favor of the bill, citing their districts’ experiences with natural disasters.

“I’m very proud of this bill,” Graves said. “All these reforms in the bill are designed to address one simple fact that we all recognize: Members of Congress, the president and most importantly Americans who have been impacted by disasters all know that FEMA is not working the way it should for our communities.”

“There will always be more ways to improve. But this bill hits the largest pain points that we have heard from our states, localities, professional emergency managers and more,” added Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), a co-sponsor of the bill.

None of the Republicans who voted “no” spoke against the bill during the markup. All three are from the deeply conservative wing of the House GOP conference.

But leaders on the Natural Resources Committee raised concerns about certain provisions related to environmental reviews and endangered species protections.

Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) asked that conversations continue about a portion of the bill that would allow an exemption from Endangered Species Act requirements during portions of natural disaster recovery. He voted in favor of the bill.

Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) also voted in favor of the measure. But he expressed concerns about provisions that allow expedited permitting during natural disaster rebuilds, circumventing environmental reviews.

“I of course share the goal of cutting red tape. We want disaster-stricken families to be able to rebuild faster. There are ways to do that that also ensure that recovery is durable, resilient and sustainable; that we rebuild once. These are things that NEPA helps to ensure,” Huffman said.

By:  Amelia Davidson
Source: Politico Pro

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