U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ report outlines possible FEMA improvements

Not waiting for a report from a Republican task force set up by President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, District 11, issued a 61-page report on April 15 that concluded that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while flawed, is needed to help Western North Carolina recover from Tropical Storm Helene. (You can read the full report at avl.mx/eq3.)

Edwards is also part of the larger FEMA Review Council led by Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee, and includes U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx, District 5; and Tim Moore, District 14. It has a year to examine the value of FEMA.

“Western North Carolina cannot afford for recovery to be interrupted by total terminations of critical recovery programs,” the report, titled Report to the President: What’s Needed to Advance Hurricane Helene Recovery in Western North Carolina, states. Its recommendations are intended to increase the functionality of disaster response programs while reducing the size of the federal disaster footprint.

“As the Administration reviews opportunities to reform FEMA and make the agency more efficient, please consider the suggestions … and employ a similar, cautious approach that preserves access to federal resources for Hurricane Helene recovery,” the report reads.

The document provides 17 recommendations on how to improve disaster response and recovery in WNC, noting that FEMA programs are geared toward storms hitting coastal areas, not mountainous regions. Below are the key points of the report. 

Pay to repair private roads and bridges

The N.C. Office of State Budget and Management calculates that half of the roads and bridges in the state are privately owned and Tropical Storm Helene damaged more than 7,000 of them. Edwards recommends FEMA pay for those repairs. Citing one example, one homeowner in Avery County received a quote of $100,000 for him and his four neighbors to replace their bridge that was destroyed in the storm. The homeowners have not been able to access their property by anything other than all-terrain vehicle since September. FEMA awarded the homeowner $3,000. The report notes, “Western North Carolina communities are at risk of ghostland properties that were once inhabited but have since been deserted because families decide it is economically more feasible to relocate than to spend tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars rebuilding their private road or bridge.”

Automatically approve Asheville’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) fund by June 30

The report notes if the grant is not automatically approved, the timeline will be detrimental to the region’s progress. In part, it notes, “experienced government officials, including officials within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) itself, continue to warn of the lengthy approval process for CDBG-DR action plans — stating that it will likely take over a year or more for North Carolina and the City of Asheville to get their action plans approved.” The grants can help both homeowners and small businesses. 

Cover the full cost of repairing Interstate 40 and major corridors

The state could be on the hook for $262 million for its portions of the repairs, a large chunk of its $7 billion annual budget. The report uses as an example the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which was awarded a 100% federal cost share for $2 billion to repair the bridge from the collapse that was caused by a private cargo ship hitting one of its piers in March 2024. Maryland cited the bridge’s importance to economic growth and maintaining strength in America’s economy in its request. The same can be said for I-40 in Western North Carolina, the report says.

Expand RAPID Pay reimbursement 

The RAPID Reimbursement Program is limited to bridge projects and does not include the rest of the state’s transportation system. North Carolina must front 100% of secondary route repair costs and await eventual reimbursement from FEMA, which may take anywhere from a few months to a few years, the report says. As of March 14, North Carolina reports spending $510 million on Helene recovery and receiving $84 million in reimbursements through FEMA’s RAPID Reimbursement program. N.C. Department of Transportation reports 150 road closures, 100 of which are closed to all traffic. Over 3,100 damaged sites remain untouched.

Eliminate the duplication of assistance restriction 

Under current law, a loan is considered duplicative of a grant. Thus, if home or business owners qualify for a federal disaster recovery loan from the Small Business Administration, they are ineligible to receive a federal recovery grant through the CDBG-DR program. “The region’s families and businesses should not be restricted from accessing federal resources simply because the entity needed capital to stay afloat during recovery and loans happened to be made available first.” The report notes small businesses make up over 99% of all businesses in the state and employ over 1.7 million. According to 2021 Census Bureau data, Transylvania County, for example, is entirely composed of small businesses with 500 employees or fewer.

Prior to Helene, Buncombe County had over 1,300 thriving businesses. Today, permanent or temporarily closed businesses account for over 18% of the county’s pre-Helene business population, the report says. 

Simplify getting farm relief

The report requested an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expedite the rulemaking process for agricultural disaster relief aid provided by Congress in December. Lack of clarity in the rulemaking process for natural disaster programs will prevent many farmers from being able to overcome the financial impact of Helene, the report says.

Make Community Disaster Loans more accessible 

The onerous documentation required to apply for Community Disaster Loans to tide local governments over while its tax base rebuilds means not one WNC county has applied for it. Local governments are required to provide extensive financial information, such as annual real estate property taxes and audit reports, operating budgets for at least four fiscal years — the year of the disaster and the three subsequent fiscal years — to apply for loan forgiveness. Many smaller WNC communities don’t have staff they can dedicate to grant writing, especially when loan forgiveness is not guaranteed. The report said the program “continues to ensure elitist communities are able to access the resources they need to recover, while rural America is left behind.” 

Reimburse local governments within 14 days

The report suggests FEMA reimburse local governments within 14 days of request for costs toward debris removal and emergency protective measures. “Purchases made … should be reimbursed first, and questions should be asked second.” The report notes that zero new assistance obligations were made to WNC communities for public assistance between Feb. 24 and March 24. “This kind of gap in resources is unacceptable.”

Suspend federal procurement rules

The federal procurement process requires that applicants implement a full and open competitive bidding process. But workforce shortages in trade industries across WNC have forced “applicants to repeatedly and unnecessarily expend additional administrative overhead for contracts with one eligible contractor.” Local contractors have estimated that the federal procurement process adds 10%-20% to the overall project cost and increases the total project length by 12-18 months compared to the state’s procurement process.

Hold local governments harmless for good-faith errors

The task force asks the administration to direct FEMA to eliminate the applicant’s liability during an audit in the event of an error made in good faith. “Inconsistent information severely inhibits a community’s ability to ensure compliance with program requirements and unfairly increases the risk of future repayment for misuse of funds.” For example, a WNC government submitted an application for reimbursement but was told the application did not include the information that FEMA needed. The local leader asked FEMA what information was needed, but FEMA didn’t provide explicit information; the local leader resubmitted the application. For a second time, the local leader was told that the application was missing critical information. When the local leader asked what information FEMA needed, the FEMA representative stated that agency officials “do not know, but they will know it when they see it.’”

Looking inward

The task force also outlined ways in which FEMA itself can improve.

Eliminate duplicative programs and processes

The task force seeks an evaluation from FEMA of its programs and processes for pre- and post-disaster grant programs, including the timelines and steps taken by the agency as well as when and how funding was approved and released. The goal is to reduce steps and cut process timelines by half. FEMA is asked to compile a list of duplicative FEMA and non-FEMA programs that could be consolidated or eliminated. The report continues, “FEMA grants involve 30-plus steps with zero transparency into the application or review process. This broken system wastes taxpayer resources, slows down recoveries, and undermines the United States’ ability to prepare for the next disaster.”

Update technology

The report calls for further investing in FEMA in the form of private sector technology. “While updated technology may be expensive upfront, innovative technology will save money, speed up assessments, and lead to better and faster outcomes for disaster survivors across the country,” the report says.

Refocus resiliency grants

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program allocates money both through formula funding and a national competition for larger grants, which the report says “favors wealthy, coastal cities that can afford grant writers and consultants who are familiar with FEMA procedures. It disadvantages less wealthy inland communities, such as the mountains of Western North Carolina, who are forced to compete with coastal elites but lack adequate resources to be a true contender for federal BRIC awards.” The report wants more money to be distributed via formula directly to state and local governments. “A bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., cannot and does not understand the merits of a BRIC application for risk mitigation, nor can that bureaucracy understand the unique risks associated with every American community applying for mitigation funding. Disaster preparedness is best handled by our state and local governments.” 

Simplify applications

The report recommends that survivors be allowed to submit one application across all agencies: FEMA, SBA, USDA and HUD. The report also recommends agencies tell applicants what information is missing before rejecting the claim and forcing the person to appeal. The appeal process can take up to three months.

Ease building code timeline

The report suggests changing the law so states with building codes up to six years old still qualify for resiliency funds. Right now, it’s three years, shutting out states with less capacity to frequently update codes.

Additional recommendations:

• Allow state and local officials to perform inspections of temporary or transportable housing units.
• Let North Carolina waive Environmental Historic Preservation (EHP) requirements to reduce permitting or environmental review timelines. 
• Keep project delivery managers who assist local governments in place longer. When they are reassigned, it disrupts project submissions, sometimes forcing local governments to resubmit information.
• Streamline the waterway debris removal process between local stakeholders and the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Increase transparency in FEMA communication with disaster survivors and the media so the public knows what FEMA is doing and how the community is progressing throughout recovery. 

Editor’s note: This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing. This article was updated April 21 to clarify that the report came solely from U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards.