Comment Submitted by Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina | North Carolina Emergency Management
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Summary: The State of North Carolina, through the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina and the NC Department of Public Safety, supports the Council's goals of creating a faster and more flexible disaster system. However, they express specific concerns regarding potential reductions in survivor assistance, the shifting of federal costs to state and local governments, and the need for parametric triggers that account for inland and non-tropical hazards.
The State of North Carolina respectfully submits the attached public comment in response to Docket No. DHS-2026-0067, regarding the Final Report of the President's Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The full comment is provided as a signed PDF attachment to this submission. It is submitted jointly by the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) and North Carolina Emergency Management.
Drawing on North Carolina's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene, the comment supports the Council's goals of a faster, more flexible disaster system while raising specific concerns and recommendations regarding: (1) protecting a floor of assistance for survivors under the proposed FAIR framework; (2) ensuring any adjustment to the per-capita declaration indicator is held to a true inflation basis; (3) avoiding an unfunded shift of federal compliance obligations onto state and local governments under RAPID, R3P, and FAIR; and (4) setting any state-spending threshold at accessible levels that do not disadvantage low-wealth, rural communities.
We respectfully ask that the attached comment be entered into the record in full. Please direct any questions to WNCRecovery@nc.gov or (919) 814-2000.