Measure targets bolstered natural disaster response training

U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-LA) have introduced legislation that would help local governments improve natural disaster response through enhanced training. 

The lawmakers recently detailed the Emergency Management Support Act (H.R. 3626). It ensures local emergency management personnel will routinely receive professional training to strengthen local emergency management capacity.

The legislation would amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to direct states, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Performance Grant, to require local emergency management directors to complete emergency management training within one year after the enactment of the bill and complete recurrent training with certifications to be submitted to FEMA annually. 

“In a world with more frequent and more intense natural disasters, greater responsibility is being placed on emergency managers to plan for and respond to these hazards,” Thompson, Committee on Homeland Security ranking member, said. “The destruction from the March 24 tornado in my district was a stark reminder that emergency managers face unprecedented disasters. Lessons learned from past disasters demonstrate that proper emergency management training improves disaster response and can save lives.  We must do more to ensure that our local jurisdictions have the capacity and training to respond to increasingly destructive disasters.”