Executive Order No. 14377. Addressing State and Local Failures To Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters

• Executive Order No.: 14377
• Published date: 29 January 2026
• Date: 23 January 2026
• FR Document: 2026-01871
• Pages: 3989-3992
• Citation: 91 FR 3989
• Issuer: Executive Office of the President
• Section: Presidential Documents

Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2026)

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2026)]
                [Presidential Documents]
                [Pages 3989-3992]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2026-01871]
                [[Page 3987]]
                Vol. 91
                Thursday,
                No. 19
                January 29, 2026
                Part IIThe President-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                Executive Order 14377--Addressing State and Local Failures To Rebuild
                Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters
                Executive Order 14378--Continuance of the Federal Emergency Management
                Agency Review Council
                 Presidential Documents
                Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2026 /
                Presidential Documents
                ___________________________________________________________________
                Title 3--
                The President
                [[Page 3989]]
                 Executive Order 14377 of January 23, 2026
                
                Addressing State and Local Failures To Rebuild
                 Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters
                 By the authority vested in me as President by the
                 Constitution and the laws of the United States of
                 America, it is hereby ordered:
                 Section 1. Purpose. One year ago, the California State
                 and Los Angeles city and county governments failed to
                 contain wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles and consumed
                 nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses. The State
                 and local governments failed to engage in responsible
                 forest management systems out of a misguided commitment
                 to naturalist and climate policies, which increased the
                 severity of the fires. They failed to maintain water
                 distribution and reservoir systems so that these
                 systems would be available and fully functional in case
                 of emergency. They then failed to quickly communicate
                 evacuation warnings and failed to act decisively or
                 cohesively to contain the fire once it started burning.
                 In fact, Mayor Karen Bass was not in Los Angeles to
                 respond to the crisis because she was traveling abroad.
                 This marked one of the greatest failures of elected
                 political leadership in American history, from enabling
                 the wildfires to failing to manage them, and it
                 continues today with the abject failure to rebuild.
                 While the Biden Administration made big promises,
                 debris removal did not actually begin until my
                 Administration, through Executive Order 14181 of
                 January 24, 2025 (Emergency Measures to Provide Water
                 Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response
                 in Certain Areas), initiated the fastest debris-removal
                 operation in United States history. The Federal
                 Government completed hazardous-materials sweeps and
                 cleared over 9,500 properties of over 2.6 million tons
                 of debris in just 6 months.
                 But since then, American families and small businesses
                 affected by the wildfires have been forced to continue
                 living in a nightmare of delay, uncertainty, and
                 bureaucratic malaise as they remain displaced from
                 their homes, often without a source of income, while
                 State and local governments delay or prevent
                 reconstruction by approving only a fraction of the
                 permits needed to rebuild.
                 The Federal Government has approved numerous individual
                 relief claims to provide financial support directly to
                 owners of homes and businesses and help survivors
                 repair, rebuild, return home, reopen their businesses,
                 and restore their communities. But many homeowners and
                 businesses have been unable to use these funds as they
                 navigate overly burdensome, confusing, and inconsistent
                 permitting requirements, duplicative permitting
                 reviews, procedural bottlenecks, and administrative
                 delays at the city, county, and State levels. Elected
                 leaders have refused to take even the minimum action
                 necessary to allow many of these survivors to move
                 forward and rebuild their lives--the ultimate tragic
                 failure of the State of California and City of Los
                 Angeles to live up to their moral and legal obligations
                 to their citizens. As a result, despite the Federal
                 Government expeditiously clearing debris and doing its
                 part to support survivors, the actions of State and
                 local authorities have ensured that the vast majority
                 of the tens of thousands of homes and businesses
                 destroyed in the wildfires have not yet been rebuilt a
                 year later.
                 In furtherance of the Presidential Declaration of a
                 Major Disaster for the State of California (FEMA-4856-
                 DR), immediate and decisive Federal action is required
                 to ensure that Federal disaster assistance is delivered
                 and utilized
                [[Page 3990]]
                 swiftly, effectively, and without obstruction by State
                 and local governments, to accomplish the purposes for
                 which it is allocated, as well as to support the
                 American people who have been devastated by the Pacific
                 Palisades and Eaton Canyon wildfires.
                 Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration
                 that federally funded reconstruction projects for homes
                 and businesses in the wildfire-impacted neighborhoods
                 of the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas proceed
                 with the maximum speed consistent with public safety,
                 and that Federal assistance not be frustrated by
                 unnecessary, duplicative, or obstructive permitting
                 requirements that prevent families and businesses from
                 rebuilding.
                 Sec. 3. Preempting State Permitting Obstacles. (a) The
                 Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), acting
                 through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
                 Management Agency (FEMA), and the Administrator of the
                 Small Business Administration (SBA) shall each consider
                 promulgating regulations to advance the policies of
                 this order. In particular, the Administrator of the SBA
                 and the Secretary, through the Administrator of FEMA,
                 shall consider promulgating regulations that:
                (i) preempt State or local permitting processes, and other similar pre-
                approval requirements, that each agency has found to have unduly impeded
                the timely use of Federal emergency-relief funds by homeowners, businesses,
                or houses of worship in rebuilding such structures following a disaster;
                and
                (ii) replace preempted State or local permitting regimes, or other similar
                pre-approval requirements, with a requirement that builders self-certify to
                a Federal designee from each agency that they have complied with all
                applicable substantive State and local health and safety standards with
                respect to the structure proposed to be rebuilt using Federal emergency-
                relief funds.
                 (b) The Secretary, through the Administrator of
                 FEMA, and the Administrator of the SBA shall each
                 publish proposed regulations under subsection (a) of
                 this section, if any, within 30 days of the date of
                 this order and final regulations within 90 days of the
                 date of this order. Each agency head shall further
                 consider whether notice and comment is unnecessary
                 under 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other statute.
                 (c) The Secretary, through the Administrator of
                 FEMA, shall continue to review all repairs and
                 construction activities conducted under this order for
                 compliance with applicable health, safety, and other
                 substantive standards.
                 Sec. 4. Expediting Federal Response. (a) The Federal
                 Government has already taken action to expedite
                 administrative processes related to water delivery, as
                 detailed in Executive Order 14181 of January 24, 2025
                 (Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in
                 California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain
                 Areas). In addition, the heads of relevant executive
                 departments and agencies (agencies) shall seek to use
                 all authorities available under Federal environmental,
                 historic preservation, natural resource laws, or other
                 similar laws, including the National Environmental
                 Protection Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Endangered
                 Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the National
                 Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.),
                 to expedite waivers, permits, reviews, consultations,
                 or approvals with respect to homes, businesses, or
                 other such structures proposed to be rebuilt using
                 Federal emergency-relief funds that are required to
                 facilitate Federal response and recovery actions that
                 will advance the policy of this order, consistent with
                 applicable law.
                 (b) The heads of relevant agencies shall take steps
                 to ensure that the process for evaluating and issuing
                 such waivers, permits, reviews, consultations, or
                 approvals shall be limited to the minimum scope and
                 duration required to expeditiously advance the policy
                 of this order and implement Individual Assistance and
                 Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs while ensuring public
                 health and safety.
                [[Page 3991]]
                 (c) The heads of relevant agencies shall each
                 designate a senior official from their agency to ensure
                 timely execution of these actions without delay.
                 Sec. 5. Legislation. Within 90 days of the date of this
                 order, the Secretary, through the Administrator of
                 FEMA, and the Administrator of the SBA, in consultation
                 with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
                 and the White House Director of Legislative Affairs,
                 shall submit to the President, through the Director of
                 the Office of Management and Budget, legislative
                 proposals that enable FEMA and SBA to address
                 situations in which States or local governments are not
                 enabling timely recovery after disasters, including
                 through appropriate regulation.
                 Sec. 6. Accountability for Use of Taxpayer Dollars. (a)
                 The Secretary, through the Administrator of FEMA,
                 shall:
                (i) within 30 days of the date of this order, determine what amount, if
                any, of the nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
                (HMGP) funding granted to California, which was awarded to mitigate
                hazards, including the threat of future wildfires to the citizens of
                California, was awarded arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to law; and
                (ii) within 60 days of the date of this order, conduct a Federal audit of
                California's use of HMGP funding, including of whether funded projects were
                completed as approved and on time, whether projected risk reduction matched
                actual outcomes, and whether California used Federal funding in a way that
                demonstrably mitigated the impact of future wildfires on its citizens.
                 (b) Within 30 days of the completion of the audit
                 described in subsection (a)(ii) of this section, the
                 Secretary, through the Administrator of FEMA, shall
                 make administrative determinations in light of the
                 audit's findings and recommendations, and shall enforce
                 such determinations by, where appropriate, imposing
                 future grant conditions, initiating recoupment or
                 recovery actions in accordance with applicable law, or
                 deploying oversight and technical assistance to
                 expedite the administration and use of HMGP funds for
                 individuals, families, and small businesses, to
                 implement this order.
                 Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
                 shall be construed to impair or otherwise effect:
                (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
                the head thereof; or
                (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
                related to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
                 (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
                 applicable law and subject to the availability of
                 appropriations.
                 (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
                 create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
                 enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
                 the United States, its departments, agencies, or
                 entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
                 other person.
                [[Page 3992]]
                 (d) The costs for publication of this order shall
                 be borne by the Department of Homeland Security.
                
                
                 (Presidential Sig.)
                 THE WHITE HOUSE,
                 January 23, 2026.
                [FR Doc. 2026-01871
                Filed 1-28-26; 11:15 am]
                Billing code 4410-10-P