Disasters and the American State by Patrick S. Roberts

Posse Comitatus Act (1878)- Passed in 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act is a federal law which limits the powers of the federal government in using the military to enforce state laws.

 

Federal Disaster Relief Act of 1950- The Disaster Relief Act authorized federal agencies, through the authority of the President, to provide assistance to states and localities when state and local capabilities had been overwhelmed by a major disaster or catastrophe.

 

Disaster Relief Act of 1974- Disaster Relief Act of 1974 established the process of presidential disaster declarations and was designed to streamline the federal government’s response to disasters throughout the 50 states.

 

Executive Order 12127 (1979)- Signed by President Jimmy Carter, this executive order consolidated many of the former federal agencies involved in disaster response into the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) of 1988- Amended the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 to establish the procedures by which states and localities could request emergency assistance from the federal government. It created the system in place today by which a presidential disaster declaration of an emergency triggers federal assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Act of 2002- The Homeland Security Act created the United States Department of Homeland Security and the new cabinet-level position of Secretary of Homeland Security.

 

Disaster Relief Act of 1974, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended in 2006- A federal law that established a system for federal natural disaster assistance for state and local governments. It created the formal system in place today by which a presidential disaster declaration of an emergency triggers financial and physical assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 

Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006- Passed in response to the failures associated with the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, this law reestablished Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an entity within the Department of Homeland Security.

 

FEMA Needs to Refocus (2012)- oped published in The Hill- Dr. Roberts and Scott Gabriel Knowles argue that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should refocus its efforts on preparing for natural hazards.

 

Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013- A federal appropriations bill that authorized $60 billion for disaster relief agencies in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

 

To learn more about Roberts' research on disasters, emergency management, security organizations, and policy, visit his website.