Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on President Biden’s decision to double FEMA funding for disaster preparedness:

“President Biden wisely recognizes that we need to do more to prepare for natural disasters precipitated by climate change, in particular the growing threat of wildfires.

“While doubling FEMA mitigation funds from $500 million to $1 billion is just a small portion of what we spend each year recovering from natural disasters, it’s a smart investment. An analysis by the National Institute of Building Sciences found that for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation, $6 is saved in lower recovery costs.

“FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in particular is a key part of California’s effort to prepare for wildfires and other natural disasters. I also applaud the administration’s decision to target a large amount of these funds to disadvantaged areas.

“Later this week I plan to introduce legislation to fund several programs to help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Those programs include large-scale landscape forest restoration projects, funding for infrastructure hardening to better cope with wildfire and a push to better train foresters and forest managers to reduce fire risk.

“We need a whole-of-government approach to wildfire and climate change, and increasing FEMA’s funds to help prepare for disasters is a smart move.”

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