FEMA’s New Definition of Emergency Management Raises Questions

On September 22, FEMA released a memo outlining a new definition of emergency management and a professional framework.  The memo, seemingly developed without consulting emergency management professionals, seeks to define (or redefine) emergency management in the context of mission requirements and a legal framework of existing authorities. The policy memo claims to be justified, in part, because “As the nation’s lead emergency management agency, FEMA has a responsibility to clearly articulate the profession it represents and ensure its programs, doctrine, training, and operations reinforce that standard.”  The memo identifies 12 coordination responsibilities of emergency management and the professional skills of emergency management. 

I would argue that professional standards are stronger when they’re informed by the people doing the work, rather than defined solely by an agency’s organizational priorities.

Following its release, the FEMA memo received mixed reactions.  One emergency management professional commented on LinkedIn: “If every state issued a similar memo, the wording would differ from one to the next, but the core mission areas would largely stay the same from state to state. Most of us, however, would differ from FEMA’s new definition. Each state defines emergency management through its own laws, authorities, and needs. That responsibility belongs to the states, not the federal government.”

The memo raises at least as many questions as it answers, including:

1) Does the memo signal potential changes to FEMA’s programs and responsibilities?
Could the memo lay the groundwork for further actions, such as an updated strategic plan that seeks to offload functions or programs that don’t meet this new definition of emergency management? For example, could it affect FEMA’s responsibility for coordinating the National Flood Insurance Program?  It should be noted that a significant number of the comments submitted in writing and expressed orally in meetings of the FEMA Review Council appointed by President Trump focused on improving and expanding hazard mitigation opportunities and long-term recovery efforts. 

2)  How does the narrow definition of emergency management square with existing legal authorities? 
The definition appears to ignore several statutory responsibilities assigned to FEMA by Congress, including hazard mitigation provisions of the Stafford Act and coordination of the National Flood Insurance Program as required under the National Flood Insurance Act.

Will FEMA follow the law?  Specialized professionals employed by FEMA, like actuaries, are needed to help run the insurance side of the NFIP.  Could the memo affect their ability to maintain professional certifications or meet continuing education requirements in light of the new narrow view of FEMA’s current and future role?

3)  Who should define the emergency management profession?
Why is FEMA defining the professional framework for emergency management while the administration emphasizes that states and communities, rather than FEMA, should take the lead in emergency management?

As an organization that administers the professional certification for floodplain managers, ASFPM follows best practices in administering the Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) program. This includes conducting job task analyses to better understand how the profession is evolving over time by asking…the professionals in the field.  It is up to the profession to define the profession, not a single agency at any level.

Until a clearer picture emerges of the impacts of this and other policy directives that are currently being issued by FEMA leadership, ASFPM will closely monitor how the agency is ultimately implementing the array of programs it is responsible for to better identify the short- and long-term impacts.  We will continue to provide both FEMA leaders and Congress feedback from the boots-on-the-ground floodplain management professionals.   

Your partner in loss reduction,