INSIGHTi
HSA@20 Episode Companion: Evolution of
Emergency Management
September 1, 2023
This Insight accompanies the “Evolution of Emergency Management” episode of The Homeland Security
Act at 20 podcast series and includes background information on the issues discussed during the podcast.
Click this link to ask questions, provide feedback, or offer suggestions for future topics. You can also
email the podcast team at HSA20@loc.gov. Thank you for your engagement.
Initial History
The Federal Disaster Assistance Administration (FDAA) at the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) was established by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1973.
• Dissolved the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Emergency Preparedness.
• All of the office’s functions related to preparedness for and relief of civil emergencies
and disasters were transferred to HUD.
• Other pieces of emergency management remained elsewhere, such as the Department of
Defense and Department of Commerce.
This reorganization was the first of several driven in part by response and recovery efforts after Hurricane
Agnes.
Frustration remained among state emergency managers with the process of finding assistance.
FEMA Establishment
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was established as an independent agency under
Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978.
• Five agencies from the Departments of Defense, Commerce, HUD, and the General
Services Administration were merged.
• The Plan noted that “Most State and local governments have consolidated emergency
planning, preparedness and response functions on an ‘all hazard’ basis to take advantage
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
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of the similarities in preparing for and responding to the full range of potential
emergencies. The Federal Government can and should follow this lead.”
Establishing the Nonfederal Share
The Mount St. Helens eruption declaration was the first time public assistance for federal disasters
required a 25% monetary nonfederal cost share.
• The nonfederal share of assistance was outlined in the federal-state agreement outlining
the assistance requested by the state and to be provided by FEMA.
• Since the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, a 25% nonfederal share had been required for
assistance to individuals and families.
• Requiring cost-sharing was not universally popular. See CRS Report R47646, Stafford
Act Cost Shares: History, Trends, Analysis, for further discussion.
Early Struggles
Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticism of FEMA management.
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1988:
• Renamed the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 the Robert T. Stafford “Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act,” and together, these two measures formed the foundation of
current federal disaster policy.
• Put the 75% cost share for FEMA’s Public Assistance program in statute.
The Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988 created a FEMA Office of Inspector General.
GAO report on Hurricane Hugo and Lomo Prieta Earthquake.
Selected remarks from Senator Hollings regarding FEMA:
• September 28, 1989;
• October 2, 1989; and
• October 6, 1989.
FEMA Elevated
Clinton Administration / James Lee Witt
• Public perception of agency revitalization under the Clinton Administration
• Northridge earthquake and mitigation
• February 1996: FEMA was elevated to cabinet status
Early George W. Bush Administration / Joseph Allbaugh
• January 2000: FEMA lost its cabinet status under the new Administration
• Director Allbaugh maintained access to the President as part of his inner circle
• FEMA given responsibility for response to terror attacks prior to 9/11
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FEMA Reorganized
Homeland Security Act (HSA)
• Section 503 of the HSA incorporated FEMA into DHS
• Section 507 of the HSA gave FEMA a specific role
Secretarial Reorganization (Section 872)
• In January 2004, a reorganization split FEMA’s preparedness and disaster response
functions.
• Secretary Tom Ridge departed, and was replaced by Secretary Michael Chertoff.
• A second reorganization in July 2005 further reorganized FEMA’s preparedness functions
under the Six-Point Agenda.
August 2005—Hurricane Katrina
• First of a cluster of hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast states in 2005 and 2008.
• House Select Committee report: “A Failure of Initiative”
Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act
P.L. 109-295, Title VI:
• Defined FEMA’s primary mission (Sec. 611; 6 U.S.C. §313(b)(1));
• Established FEMA as a distinct element within DHS (6 U.S.C. §316); and
• Designated the FEMA Administrator as the principal presidential advisor on domestic
emergency management (6 U.S.C. §313(c)(4)).
• This statutory reorganization was complemented by administrative reorganization.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate congressional testimony five years later:
The importance of PKEMRA to the emergency management community cannot be stressed enough.
For the first time, it gave FEMA clear guidance on its mission and priorities, and provided us with
the authorities and tools we needed to become a more effective and efficient agency, and a better
partner to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments.
For Further Information
CRS Report WMR10001, CRS Guide to Federal Emergency Management, by Lauren R. Stienstra et al.
CRS Report R47646, Stafford Act Cost Shares: History, Trends, Analysis, by Erica A. Lee.
Next Episode
Emergency Management After PKEMRA.
Music: “Icas,” by Audiorezout, as carried on freemusicarchive.org, under the terms of its Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
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Author Information
William L. Painter, Coordinator
Specialist in Homeland Security and Appropriations
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
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