Dive Brief: - The Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council’s long-awaited final report, released Thursday, recommends a fundamental reorientation of disaster response, giving states and local governments primary responsibility for managing disasters while streamlining recovery and mitigation grant and assistance programs. - “How do we respond to a disaster at the federal level? First, we recognize that it’s locally executed,” Review Council member Michael Whatley, former chair of the Republican National Committee, said during a Thursday meeting to release the report. “Locally executed, state-managed and federally supported — that was our North Star.” - The council recommends rolling out 10 guiding principles and key recommendations over two to three years so states and local governments can build fiscal and operational capacity before they take on the new responsibilities. Dive Insight: President Donald Trump established the FEMA Review Council in January 2025 to advise him on FEMA’s ability to address disasters and recommend changes to how the agency operates. Two months later, he signed an executive order shifting more responsibility for disaster preparedness to state and local governments. A December meeting to discuss the council’s final recommendations was abruptly canceled amid news reports that then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s office had severely edited the report. The council solicited input from state and local governments, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, the research community and residents affected by disasters and held “listening sessions” in 13 cities, according to the report. Review Council member Mark Cooper, chief of staff for former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, said it was “one of the most extensive public engagement efforts to assess and strengthen FEMA and DHS in its history.” Tampa, Florida, Mayor Jane Castor, also a Review Council member, said the report’s recommendations “are going to dramatically impact cities and counties in a positive way.”