Federal proposals to change disaster aid policies could hurt Pennsylvanians affected by extreme events and shift a financial burden to state and local governments, according to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
PEMA director Randy Padfield sent a letter to his federal counterpart this month, calling for the agency to rethink the proposals aimed at saving money at the federal level.
The threshold for an event to qualify for a federal disaster declaration is $1.89 per capita in resulting damages to public infrastructure. For Pennsylvania, that's about $24.5 million.
That baseline would quadruple to about $100 million for the commonwealth under a proposal from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
With that criteria, Padfield said the state would not have qualified for a federal response since 2011's Tropical Storm Lee. Since then, the state has qualified for $467 million in assistance for seven major storms.
"The potential is that we're going to have more requests denied," Padfield said, "and it's going to ultimately fall back on the state for having the programs and the financial capability to be able to respond."
Padfield said the most common emergencies in Pennsylvania are driven by severe storms that can cause flooding and wind damage.
Weather-related disasters are becoming more likely with climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, dumping heavier, more dangerous rainfall during storms.
FEMA is also proposing raising the cost share for local and state governments from 25% to 50%.
Padfield said that could affect the state budget or shift a burden to municipalities. He said smaller communities, especially, can have trouble rebuilding after disasters.
"We still have municipalities that were affected by weather events in 2023 that do not have the funding to repair their roads and bridges," Padfield said, noting those events did not qualify for federal assistance.
Another proposal to stop deploying disaster survivor assistance teams could delay the work Padfield said is crucial to assess damage and enroll affected people for disaster benefits as quickly as possible. It could also mean a heavier reliance on volunteer groups.
FEMA is also proposing cuts to hazard mitigation grants. That money has been automatic, sending a percentage of the cost of a disaster to the affected state to help guard against future damages. Pennsylvania has received $147.9 million from the program since 2004.
Pittsburgh was able to use a hazard mitigation grant to stabilize hillsides in Mount Washington, where homes were destroyed in landslides.
Padfield said communication from FEMA has been "constrained" and it's not clear if or when the proposals would take effect. But he said FEMA is already changing how it responds. Washington state met its federal disaster threshold twice over for a series of storms last year, but its request for relief was denied in April.
" If this is the new normal, we need to make sure that we can adjust here," Padfield said. "But we need time to be able to adjust and make sure that we have the programs at the state level to be able to assist the residents."
Copyright 2025 90.5 WESA