Contact Tobias Sellier, Senior Director of Media Relations and Communications at MediaRelations@PublicPower.org or 202-467-2927
Washington, D.C., September 3, 2025 — The American Public Power Association applauds the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on passing H.R. 4669, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plays a critical role in disaster preparation, response, and recovery. It helps state and local entities by coordinating federal response before, during, and after an event, and by providing public assistance grants when local resources are overwhelmed. Knowing that there is a federal backstop in times of disaster also allows state and local governments to focus on saving lives and protecting property, including through maintenance and timely restoration of power. Unfortunately, disaster mitigation, response, and recovery are hindered as communities are forced to navigate a maze of complicated rules, conflicting timelines, and mountains of burdensome paperwork.
As a result, APPA strongly supports the FEMA Act’s goals of streamlining the process for claiming public assistance in the wake of an emergency or major natural disaster. Specifically, we support the move from the cost-based reimbursement model provided for permanent work under Stafford Act section 406 to an estimate-based method provided under proposed section 409. The bill would also accelerate the delivery of payments for emergency work and provide greater consistency in procurement requirements for state, local, and tribal entities.
APPA appreciates the work of Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen on advancing this important legislation, as well as Representatives Neal Dunn and Darren Soto, who folded critical language from H.R. 2836, the FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act, into the bill.
Public power utilities stand ready to respond to disasters and are encouraged to see the federal government working to make the process more efficient.