Industry Groups Back FEMA as ‘Essential’ Disaster Agency
By Thomas Frank
Utilities, energy companies and the wireless industry were among the groups that called for strengthening the agency as President Donald Trump considers dismantling it.
CLIMATEWIRE | The Federal Emergency Management Agency, facing potential upheaval under President Donald Trump, has received a wave of support from powerful groups such as the wireless industry, electric utilities, power companies and real estate agents.
They submitted testimony emphasizing the importance of FEMA in helping communities recover from disasters — and warning against the administration’s plan to weaken the agency.
“Rather than shifting responsibility to states, FEMA’s role at the federal level should be maintained,” the Large Public Power Council, which represents the nation’s biggest public power systems, told a Trump-appointed council reviewing FEMA.
Comments received by the council in recent days have highlighted little-known FEMA activities that help maintain services such as electricity, water and wireless communications during a disaster. Trump’s FEMA Review Council holds its first meeting Tuesday.
Trump and FEMA officials are looking at shrinking the agency and eliminating federal aid for most disasters that currently qualify for funding. FEMA would focus on catastrophic disasters such as Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires, while putting states in charge of other destructive events.
Industry groups warned against weakening the agency.
“Eliminating FEMA would significantly hinder [electric] cooperatives’ ability to recover from disasters and keep electric costs affordable,” said the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
A former U.S. intelligence official who served in Trump’s first term said ending FEMA disaster support would strain the military.
“A withdrawal of FEMA support would likely mean either greater demands on the military or worsened impacts on American populations,” said Erin Sikorsky, director of the Center for Climate and Security.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers noted that FEMA runs the nation’s largest flood insurance program, creates flood maps that identify at-risk areas and helps communities prepare for disasters.
“FEMA leadership and resources will always be necessary,” the association wrote.
The review council has received 9,500 public comments since Trump created it in January for the purposes of analyzing FEMA and suggesting changes. Trump has repeatedly criticized the agency as ineffective. The 13-member council, led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has until Nov. 16 to make its recommendations.
Many of the groups that submitted comments called for simplifying the administrative process of working with FEMA and accelerating payments. Several urged the administration to reinstate FEMA grant programs that were terminated by Trump officials.
Canceled programs, including the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, gave billions of dollars a year to cities and states for protection against storms, floods and other weather events.
The grants “provide one of the few federal sources of major funding for projects that address and mitigate hazards before major natural disasters happen,” wrote the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.
The National Association of Realtors urged the review council to “expand federal mitigation grant programs,” calling them “essential” for homeowners with “uninsurable or repeatedly damaged properties.” FEMA has spent billions of dollars to protect individual homes by elevating them above flood levels and taking other steps.
The agency plays a crucial role in receiving and disseminating information during disasters, which often disable wireless services, said CTIA, the wireless industry association.
The group urged the review council to "continue the federal government’s role” in responding to disasters and warned that changes “could have material impacts on wireless providers’ ability to nimbly and effectively respond to disaster events.”
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