President Trump signed an executive order fast-tracking the reconstruction of Los Angeles a year after the devastating fires.
Condemning the actions of California leadership, the order states that the fire’s aftermath exemplifies 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.”
“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,” the order adds. “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.”
President Trump’s order calls for “maximum speed” in rebuilding federally funded projects involving homes and businesses across the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon. To do so, the order directs agencies to cut California’s bureaucratic red tape.
Under the order, the heads of the SBA and FEMA will issue regulations that override the state’s permitting requirements in order to allow builders to 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.”
Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) press office condemned the order, stating federal authorities “need to release funding not take over local permit approval speed — the main obstacle is COMMUNITIES NOT HAVING THE MONEY TO REBUILD.”
The office urged the Trump administration to “release the federal disaster aid you’re withholding that will help communities rebuild their homes, schools, parks, and infrastructure.”
