Document Type
Paper
Publication Date
6-2026
Abstract
Climate change is fueling an unprecedented number of extreme weather and climate disasters with dire costs on human life and property. States and local governments now face a responsibility to adapt to these increasing disaster risks to improve community resilience and avoid an ever-growing magnitude of loss. Congress passed the Stafford Act in 1988 to provide a means for sustained and coordinated federal aid in response to disasters. The Stafford Act includes a comprehensive non-emergency hazard mitigation program. Hazard mitigation assistance empowers states, tribes, and local governments to engage in planning and mitigation activities that improve disaster outcomes and minimize losses in their jurisdictions.
A key component of the Stafford Act’s hazard mitigation assistance programs, which are implemented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is the development of state hazard mitigation plans. The Stafford Act requires state hazard mitigation plans to “identify the natural hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities of areas in the State.” This paper argues that, under the Stafford Act, state plans must consider the impacts of climate change on natural hazard risks and vulnerabilities. Part I provides background information on hazard mitigation assistance programs, including the statutory framework, FEMA guidance and regulations, and existing state plans, most of which already consider climate impacts. Part II argues that, using available tools of statutory interpretation, the Stafford Act must be read to require consideration of climate change in state hazard mitigation plans. It also addresses relevant developments in administrative law and potential pathways to enforce this requirement. Part III argues that FEMA’s existing regulations, too, must be interpreted to require state plans to consider climate change.
Disciplines
Administrative Law | Environmental Law | Law | Legislation
Center/Program
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Recommended Citation
Olivia N. Guarna, Stafford Act's Requirement to Consider Climate Change in State Hazard Mitigation Plans, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (June 2026).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/274
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