The head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency told state officials this week that they must build bigger financial reserves and stronger emergency teams to handle most disasters without federal help.
Administrator Cameron Hamilton gave the details at the National Emergency Management Association conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by Politico. He said changes could begin "in the next six months".
What Hamilton asked of states
"Every state must have the appropriate financial reserves" and other capabilities "to ensure that recovery efforts can start immediately and not necessarily be held up simply because of the federal disaster declaration process", he said.
He described a future in which fewer presidential disaster declarations would be needed because state capability would be high. Hamilton also said FEMA will launch "national mutual aid", under which states help each other recover from storms, floods and wildfires, and will ask for waivers of some federal environmental and historic preservation reviews.
The agency's own report finds thin budgets
The shift faces practical problems. A FEMA report released on Friday found that state disaster agencies "are typically understaffed and underfunded" and that many depend heavily on federal money.
Eric Holdeman, a former emergency management director for King County, Washington, wrote that many states have very small emergency offices and slim rainy-day funds, and could not replace federal recovery money without raising taxes. He also argued that presidents of both parties would ignore a policy of fewer declarations when it becomes politically inconvenient.
The argument for change
Hamilton said states that skip federal aid could start cleanup and repairs much faster, because they would not have to file a detailed application and wait weeks or months for a decision. "Federal dollars should be building greater capability, not creating greater dependency," he said.
Critics say the timing is hard. The change would land as states face rising costs from floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and as the agency itself is being reshaped. FEMA did not respond to a request for comment on the remarks.