Chair DeFazio Statement from Hearing to Examine FEMA’s Assistance Programs’ Ability to Help Before, During, and After Wildfires

The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) during today’s hearing titled, “Are FEMA’s Assistance Programs Adequately Designed to Assist Communities Before, During, and After Wildfire?”

Video of opening remarks from Chairs DeFazio is here.

More information on the hearing can be found here.

Chair DeFazio:

Thank you Chair Titus and thank you to our witnesses for being with us today. In particular, I’d like to thank Andrew Phelps, the Director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management who is joining us as a witness. His leadership has been critical in responding to the growing number of natural disasters that have impacted the state of Oregon in recent years. 

The issues we’ll be discussing are critical for states like mine that experience wildfires. Climate change and an expanding wildland urban interface are causing wildfires to inflict an unprecedented amount of damage to the natural and built environment. 

Oregon understands the gravity of this issue all too well. In 2020, Oregon experienced the most devastating wildfire season in our state’s recent history. More than 5,000 structures across the state were damaged, including thousands of homes in low-income communities. Tens of thousands of Oregonians were forced to evacuate and, tragically, nine people lost their lives. I remain committed to helping Oregonians though the long recovery process in the wake of these fires.

The recovery process in Oregon has highlighted the importance of FEMA’s assistance programs and making sure they are designed to meet the needs of wildfire survivors. I am grateful for FEMA’s tireless work in Oregon and across the U.S. to help disaster-impacted communities recover. However, the growing number and severity of wildfires and their impact, particularly in the West, makes it necessary to reevaluate whether FEMA’s programs are doing enough to support local communities.

In the last year alone, FEMA has provided assistance to states experiencing wildfires by issuing 33 Fire Management Assistance Grants or F-MAGs and 5 Major Disaster Declarations. F-MAGs provide wildfire suppression assistance to states so they can stop fires before they become Major Disasters.

This high number of declarations causes us to ask the question, “what can we do to protect our communities from these fires?” The answer is to invest in mitigation efforts. Mitigation is a commonsense way to save lives and property, and it’s cost effective. That’s why I strongly support finding ways to expand funding for mitigation projects at the local and individual level.

After a F-MAG or Major Disaster Declaration, states are eligible for Hazard Mitigation Grants or HMGP. However, local stakeholders have told me that it is challenging to use HMGP funds for wildfire mitigation projects. As I said previously, mitigation is the key to reducing the devastating impact these disasters have upon communities. Investing in defensible space around a home can be the difference between a family’s home being saved and being burned to the ground. We must make sure that HMGP and other federal mitigation grants are designed to accommodate the type of mitigation needed to protect communities from wildfires.

As Chair Titus mentioned in her statement, I am pleased to have introduced the Resilient AMERICA package. The improvements to hazard mitigation that this legislation provides will help individuals and communities make the investments in mitigation that are needed to combat natural hazards.

While mitigation efforts can reduce the impact of wildfires, they cannot eliminate it completely. That’s why it is also vital that relief programs are meeting the needs of survivor’s post-fire.

In September of 2020, I was proud to pass the FEMA Assistance Relief Act. This bill reduces the financial burden on states and communities after natural disasters. I am eager to continue this work and evaluate the F-MAG program to consider how amendments may reduce the financial burden our communities face after a wildfire.

In May of this year, myself, Chair Titus, Ranking Member Graves, and Ranking Member Webster sent a letter to FEMA raising concern regarding denial rates for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program and increasing instances of fraud. I plan to work with FEMA to resolve these issues and safeguard qualifying applicant’s access to assistance.

Once again, thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. I look forward to hearing your testimony and learning from your local experience.