The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for implementing the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) and working in partnership with states as they play a lead role in the recovery process. As shown in the figure below, FEMA coordinates federal recovery stakeholders using six Recovery Support Functions--structures through which fed

GAO's recent work highlights both the progress and challenges in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) efforts to strengthen federal preparedness. (1) In December 2014, GAO reported that the federal departments responsible for coordinating emergency support functions (ESF) in preparation for national disaster response carry out their responsibili

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) obligated $12.7 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) for its administrative costs from fiscal years 2004 through 2013 and has taken some steps to reduce and better control these costs. This $12.7 billion represents 13 percent of the $95.2 billion obligated from the DRF for the 650 major disasters declared during this time frame. FEMA's average

GAO's recent and ongoing work examining the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) administrative costs of providing disaster assistance highlights opportunities to increase efficiencies and potentially reduce these costs. In September 2012, GAO reported that FEMA's administrative costs for disaster assistance had doubled in size as a percentage of the overall cost of the disasters since fi

SBA has continued to make progress in addressing provisions of the Act, although continued attention to certain provisions will be important for sustained progress. As of November 2011, SBA met requirements for 16 of 26 provisions of the Act and partially addressed 6. Four provisions do not require any action at this time. For example, SBA updated its Disaster Recovery Plan annually, most recentl

The U.S. government plans to allocate about $918 million of the $1.14 billion in supplemental Haiti reconstruction funds available through the end of fiscal year 2012 to USAID and State. USAID and State plan to allocate $770 million and $148 million, respectively, to projects in three geographic regions of Haiti, selected for their development potential, and four key sectors: (1) infrastructure a

Congressional action is needed to increase the financial stability of NFIP and limit taxpayer exposure. GAO previously identified four public policy goals that can provide a framework for crafting or evaluating proposals to reform NFIP. These goals are: (1) charging premium rates that fully reflect risks, (2) limiting costs to taxpayers before and after a disaster, (3) encouraging broad participa

SBA has made some progress since GAO's July 2009 report in addressing provisions of the Act and continued attention to certain provisions will be important for sustained progress. As of May 2010, SBA met requirements for 15 of 26 provisions of the Act and partially addressed 6. Five provisions do not require any action at this time. Since July 2009 SBA has taken a number of actions. For example,

As the federal lead for long-term disaster recovery, FEMA's LTCR played two major roles in the three disasters that we reviewed--facilitating the coordination of federal, state, and nongovernmental assistance for recovery and helping communities to develop long-term recovery plans. GAO found two broad challenges related to this assistance. First, the criteria for when to involve LTCR and ESF-14 i

While SBA has taken some steps toward implementing the Act, the agency still needs to take additional steps to completely address 8 provisions. According to SBA officials, the agency has not yet completely addressed some provisions that require new regulations because to do so, the agency must make extensive changes to current programs or implement new programs--such as the Immediate and Expedite