U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation that requires FEMA to accept requests from Tribal governments to receive a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) Declaration.
Currently, FEMA can accept Emergency and Major Disaster Declaration requests from Tribal governments, but the agency is not authorized to accept FMAG requests directly from Tribes. This limitation impedes Tribes’ capacity to access federal resources for wildfire management and undermines Tribal independence by forcing them to work through state governments rather than having the option to interact directly with federal authorities for this specific type of assistance.
“Tribal governments have the right to interact directly with the federal government as sovereign nations, especially in times of crisis,” said Senator Peters. “My bipartisan bill closes a crucial gap in our disaster response system, authorizing FEMA to give Tribal governments the option of direct access to federal resources, and ultimately improving our ability to respond to the increasing threat of wildfires.”
Currently, FEMA offers three types of declarations for wildfire disaster assistance: Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) Declarations, Emergency Declarations, and Major Disaster Declarations. While the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act granted federally recognized Tribal governments the authority to directly request Emergency and Major Disaster Declarations from the President or go through a state request, this does not extend to FMAG Declarations. As a result, FEMA is not authorized to accept direct requests from Tribal governments, which means Tribes can only receive FMAG assistance as subrecipients of state-approved declarations, despite their status as sovereign nations.
The bipartisan Fire Management Assistance Grants for Tribal Governments Act would amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require FEMA to accept Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAGs) requests directly from Tribal governments that are affected by a fire. The bill would ensure FEMA is authorized to accept Tribal governments requests for a FMAG Declaration directly or through a state request, making it the same for all three declaration types.
Comments