New FEMA Review Council Report Fails to Keep Americans Safe

(WASHINGTON) — Today, the Trump administration unveiled its FEMA Review Council report. Environmental Defense Fund released the following statement from Associate Vice President for Coasts and Watersheds Will McDow:

"Americans are facing increasingly frequent and severe weather that’s devastating homes, roads and crops, and the FEMA Review Council’s recommendations don’t meet this reality. The proposed changes would leave communities without the necessary funding, information and access to insurance to stay prepared and safe when disasters strike.”

Slashing investments and functions of FEMA would shift enormous burdens onto states and communities and reduce government efficiency. Instead of one centralized agency that can respond for all states, we would need 50. State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe that a strong federal-state partnership is essential to effective disaster preparation and recovery. Narrowing the federal government’s disaster responsibility and the communities that qualify for relief, as the report recommends, would leave states with heavy financial burdens and fewer recovery resources after disasters.