WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order to cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up reconstruction in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas one year after devastating wildfires destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses in Los Angeles.
The Order directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to issue regulations that preempt State and local procedural permitting requirements and enable builders to self-certify to a Federal agency designee that they have complied with State and local substantive health, safety, and building standards.
The Order directs agencies to use all available authorities under Federal environmental, historic preservation, and natural resource laws, including the National Environmental Protection Act , Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act, to expedite waivers, permits, and approvals that may be required from the Federal government.
The Order further directs the development of legislative proposals that would enable FEMA and the SBA to address situations in which State or local governments are not enabling timely recovery after disasters.
It orders FEMA to determine whether any of California's nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds were awarded arbitrarily or contrary to law, and to conduct a full audit of California's use of those funds.
The Executive Order is the latest in a series of decisive actions that President Trump is taking to overcome California and Los Angeles's permitting failures that have left numerous families, businesses, and houses of worship displaced and unable to rebuild a year after the wildfires.
The White House says that only about 2,500 of the tens of thousands of homes and businesses destroyed have received permits to rebuild. Now a year after the fires, less than 10 homes have been rebuilt.
The White House alleged that state and local barriers prevent survivors from returning home, reopening businesses, and restoring communities, prolonging hardship and economic loss.
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