{ "id": "R42702", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42702", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 463735, "date": "2017-08-28", "retrieved": "2018-05-10T12:40:52.774714", "title": "Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2016: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress", "summary": "The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the President to issue declarations that provide states, tribes, and localities with a range of federal assistance in response to natural and man-made incidents. Since 1953 the frequency of declarations has increased. For example, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 1960 to 1969 was roughly 18.6 per year. In contrast, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 2000 to 2009 was 57.1 per year. The highest number was declared in 2011, with 97 major disaster declarations.\nDeclarations are of concern to Members of Congress and state delegations when incidents occur in their states and/or congressional districts. Declarations are also of broader congressional interest for at least two reasons: (1) the costs involved with the federal assistance provided by the declarations, and (2) concerns that declarations may be used as political tools\u2014especially during election years. \nAnalysis of Stafford Act declarations from 1953 to 2016 demonstrates that:\nmost emergency declarations are for winter storms and hurricanes;\nmost major disaster declarations are for floods, tornados, winter storms, and hurricanes;\nthe average number of declarations issued per year in presidential election years from 1974 to 2016 is slightly higher than the average number of declarations in other years from 1974 to 2016, but the number is not significant enough to draw a decisive conclusion regarding their use as a political tool.\nAfter providing an overview of each type of declaration, this report discusses factors that may be responsible for the increase in frequency of declarations, including federal policy changes, increases in severe weather incidents, population growth, and development. \nSome may contend that declaration policies should not be changed because they trigger important federal assistance to states and localities. Others argue that policies should be implemented to reduce either the number of declarations being issued each year, or the amount of federal assistance that they provide, or both. These policies include \namending certain Stafford Act policies;\nchanging the per capita threshold formula used to recommend the issuance of a declaration;\nimplementing a state capacity indicator to assess whether the state is capable of addressing an incident on its own;\nsubstituting federal loans to states for recovery grants; and\nadjusting the federal to state cost-share.\nSuch changes could reduce declarations and shift a portion of the funding back to the states. On the other hand, reducing declarations could hamper the ability of states and localities to recover from an incident and could create long-term consequences.\nThe selected approach will likely be influenced by how policymakers view the role of the government when a disaster strikes. It is generally agreed that the government should help disaster victims in times of need, but it is debatable whether the fiscal responsibility resides primarily with the federal or the state government. Many of the policy options described in this report shift a greater share of disaster-related costs to states and localities. It remains to be seen if reducing declarations and/or limiting the amount of disaster assistance provided to requesting states would severely disrupt the state\u2019s ability to respond and recover from an incident.\nThis report concludes that the upward trend in declarations will likely continue if declaration policies remain unchanged and severe weather patterns, population growth, and development continue to increase. All of these variables appear to play a role in declaration activity. It could be argued that the policy mechanisms used to address the increase in declarations should be shaped in response to the given variable or variables. This may prove to be difficult because it is unclear which of the variables (or combination of variables) has had the greatest impact on the increase in disaster declarations over the years. \nThis report will be updated as events warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42702", "sha1": "7fd33ee94743879843a59deebe23e0aeb1e89ad4", "filename": "files/20170828_R42702_7fd33ee94743879843a59deebe23e0aeb1e89ad4.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/6.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_aa08487f176a353c9aa1206a9e42a457db01a041.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/7.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_5e7e4e705ce4c07f1baaba0c683b0ab99f9591f7.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/3.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_2c97e4cb5cfc2b13c1e682d48ab459bad19129cb.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/4.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_36a1c12f0c18bde09a6e47d3c34bad119d019f72.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/1.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_8e257a85c76169469024ee5fb774a966a36f0b76.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/5.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_23e3b7bddfd310af1d6af4a20649c0ee9a709c6b.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/0.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_1ab9042cc6569eae9e4862a882d3441df3c2fc42.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42702_files&id=/2.png": "files/20170828_R42702_images_77e3c9a9ba7c7b3e9f6d2afaa7ed506e0b136f3a.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42702", "sha1": "5c578b70adb0586f36ed3817c42aef87ded9c746", "filename": "files/20170828_R42702_5c578b70adb0586f36ed3817c42aef87ded9c746.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 457859, "date": "2016-12-06", "retrieved": "2017-01-03T22:41:04.973948", "title": "Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2015: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress", "summary": "The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the President to issue declarations that provide states, tribes, and localities with a range of federal assistance in response to natural and man-made incidents. Since 1953 the frequency of declarations has increased. For example, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 1960 to 1969 was roughly 18.6 per year. In contrast, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 2000 to 2009 was 57.1 per year. The highest number was declared in 2011, with 97 major disaster declarations.\nDeclarations are of concern to Members of Congress and state delegations when incidents occur in their states and/or congressional districts. Declarations are also of broader congressional interest for at least two reasons: (1) the costs involved with the federal assistance provided by the declarations, and (2) concerns that declarations may be used as political tools\u2014especially during election years. \nAnalysis of Stafford Act declarations from 1953 to 2015 demonstrates that:\nthe number of Fire Management Assistance Grants, emergency declarations, and major disaster declarations issued each year have all increased over the past two decades;\nmost emergency declarations are for winter storms and hurricanes;\nmost major disaster declarations are for floods, tornados, winter storms, and hurricanes;\nthe average number of declarations issued per year in presidential election years from 1974 to 2015 is slightly higher than the average number of declarations in other years from 1974 to 2015, but the number is not significant enough to draw a decisive conclusion regarding their use as a political tool.\nAfter providing an overview of each type of declaration, this report discusses factors that may be responsible for the increase in frequency of declarations, including federal policy changes, increases in severe weather incidents, population growth, and development. \nSome may contend that declaration policies should not be changed because they trigger important federal assistance to states and localities. Others argue that policies should be implemented to reduce either the number of declarations being issued each year, or the amount of federal assistance that they provide, or both. These policies include \namending certain Stafford Act policies;\nchanging the per capita threshold formula used to recommend the issuance of a declaration;\nimplementing a state capacity indicator to assess whether the state is capable of addressing an incident on its own;\nsubstituting federal loans to states for recovery grants; and\nadjusting the federal to state cost-share.\nSuch changes could reduce declarations and shift a portion of the funding back to the states. On the other hand, reducing declarations could hamper the ability of states and localities to recover from an incident and could create long-term consequences.\nThe selected approach will likely be influenced by how policymakers view the role of the government when a disaster strikes. It is generally agreed that the government should help disaster victims in times of need, but it is debatable whether the fiscal responsibility resides primarily with the federal or the state government. Many of the policy options described in this report shift a greater share of disaster-related costs to states and localities. It remains to be seen if reducing declarations and/or limiting the amount of disaster assistance provided to requesting states would severely disrupt the state\u2019s ability to respond and recover from an incident.\nThis report concludes that the upward trend in declarations will likely continue if declaration policies remain unchanged and severe weather patterns, population growth, and development continue to increase. All of these variables appear to play a role in declaration activity. It could be argued that the policy mechanisms used to address the increase in declarations should be shaped in response to the given variable or variables. This may prove to be difficult because it is unclear which of the variables (or combination of variables) has had the greatest impact on the increase in disaster declarations over the years. \nThis report will be updated as events warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42702", "sha1": "fc719e5ae25888b7b5b59380e37886f7695e4ea9", "filename": "files/20161206_R42702_fc719e5ae25888b7b5b59380e37886f7695e4ea9.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42702", "sha1": "9daf85b2e3bb18c2548958aa45fefda1d6cfe60b", "filename": "files/20161206_R42702_9daf85b2e3bb18c2548958aa45fefda1d6cfe60b.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 443046, "date": "2015-07-14", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:48:15.739370", "title": "Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2014: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress", "summary": "The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the President to issue declarations that provide states and localities with a range of federal assistance in response to natural and man-made incidents. Since 1953 the number of declarations issued each year has steadily increased. For example, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 1960 to 1969 was roughly 19 per year. In contrast, the average number of major disaster declarations issued from 2000 to 2009 was 56 per year. The highest number was declared in 2011, with 99 major disaster declarations.\nDeclarations are of congressional concern for at least two reasons: (1) congressional oversight of appropriations and the federal budget has led to an awareness of expenditures for disaster assistance, and (2) some are skeptical that declarations are solely made to provide disaster relief. They argue that declarations have become political tools\u2014especially during election years\u2014to gain political favor. Advocates of this position point to incidents which, in their view, could have been handled without federal assistance. \nThis report describes the declaration process and the types of declarations that can be declared under the Stafford Act: (1) Fire Management Assistance Grants, (2) emergencies, and (3) major disasters.\nThe discussion is followed by an analysis of each type of declaration that has been issued, and denied from 1953 to 2014. The analysis concludes that\nfrom 1970 to 2014 the average number of Fire Management Assistance Grants issued was 24 per year. This average grew from 21 per year from 1990-1999 to 55 per year for the period 2000 to 2009;\nemergency declarations have also increased in the past two decades. From 1974 to 2014 there has been an average of 9 emergency declarations issued each year. From 1990 to 1999 there was an average of 6 emergency declarations issued each year, and from 2000 to 2009, there was an average of 15 issued per year;\nmost emergency declarations are for hurricanes, followed by snow-related events, droughts, and severe storms;\nfrom 1953 to 2014 major disaster declarations averaged roughly 35.5 per year. However, the number of declarations being issued each decade has been increasing, particularly in the past two decades. From 1990 to 1999 there was an average of 46 major disasters declared each year, and from 2000 to 2009, there was an average of 56 per year;\nmost disaster declarations are for severe storms, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes;\nthere is a slight increase in the total number of declarations issued in presidential election years from 1974 to 2013, but the number is not significant enough to draw a decisive conclusion regarding their use as a political tool.\nThe analysis is followed by a discussion concerning the possible causes for the increase in declarations, including federal policy changes, increases in severe weather incidents, population growth, and development. \nSome may contend that policies governing declarations should not be changed because they trigger important federal assistance to states and localities. Others may argue that policy mechanisms should be implemented to reduce either the number of declarations being issued each year, or the amount of federal assistance that they provide, or both. These policy mechanisms include \nimplementing certain amendments to the Stafford Act;\nchanging the per capita threshold formula used to recommend the issuance of a declaration;\nimplementing a state capacity indicator to assess whether the state is capable of addressing an incident on its own;\nimplementing an expert panel to assess whether an incident warrants a declaration;\nsubstituting federal loans to states for recovery for grants; and\nadjusting the federal to state cost-share.\nThe analysis in this report suggests that such changes could reduce federal spending on disaster assistance and shift a portion of the funding back to the states. On the other hand, limiting federal disaster assistance could hamper the ability of states and localities to adequately recover from an incident and create long-term consequences.\nThis report will be updated as events warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42702", "sha1": "bdfb826dd6c79bc8d1786e0f832dc3195e9fee79", "filename": "files/20150714_R42702_bdfb826dd6c79bc8d1786e0f832dc3195e9fee79.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42702", "sha1": "21195ca8eb7fba7f01859d0925346505e3818dab", "filename": "files/20150714_R42702_21195ca8eb7fba7f01859d0925346505e3818dab.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc227800/", "id": "R42702_2012Aug31", "date": "2012-08-31", "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05", "title": "Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2011: Trends and Analyses, and Implications for Congress", "summary": "Report that describes the declaration process of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the types of declarations that can be made under the Stafford Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120831_R42702_6bc148014aa6552b357acd9f196bc10cc7b76c2b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120831_R42702_6bc148014aa6552b357acd9f196bc10cc7b76c2b.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Emergency management", "name": "Emergency management" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Disaster relief", "name": "Disaster relief" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Budgets", "name": "Budgets" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Economic Policy", "Immigration Policy", "Intelligence and National Security" ] }