Addressing State and Local Failures To Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters
Record date: 2026-01-29
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
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2026-01871
- Publication date
- 2026-01-29
- Citation
- 91 FR 3989
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
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 ( printed 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
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