President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week directing federal agencies to assume permitting authority for rebuilding homes and businesses destroyed in last year's Los Angeles wildfires, bypassing what he called obstructive state and local regulations that have stalled reconstruction efforts.
The order instructs the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration to issue regulations preempting state and local procedural permitting requirements. Under the new system, builders would self-certify to federal designees that they have complied with state and local health, safety and building standards, rather than navigating traditional permitting processes.
"It is the policy of my Administration that federally funded reconstruction projects for homes and businesses in the wildfire-impacted neighborhoods of the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas proceed with the maximum speed consistent with public safety," Trump stated in the order.
The directive comes one year after wildfires consumed nearly 40,000 acres in Los Angeles, destroying tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Trump criticized California state and Los Angeles city and county governments for what he termed failures before, during and after the fires.
"This marked one of the greatest failures of elected political leadership in American history, from enabling the wildfires to failing to manage them, and it continues today with the abject failure to rebuild," the order states.
Trump attributed the fires' severity to what he called a "misguided commitment to naturalist and climate policies" that prevented responsible forest management. He also criticized officials for failing to maintain water distribution and reservoir systems, quickly communicate evacuation warnings and act decisively to contain the fires. The order notes that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was traveling abroad when the fires began.
The order blames "overly burdensome, confusing, and inconsistent permitting requirements, duplicative permitting reviews, procedural bottlenecks, and administrative delays" at city, county and state levels for slow reconstruction progress.
What became known as the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed nearly 13,000 homes with estimates of $53 billion to $131 billion in property damage.
Within days of the disaster, state and local leaders vowed to rebuild quickly. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed emergency orders to speed reconstruction, waiving certain environmental and building code requirements that could slow recovery. Los Angeles Mayor Bass and county officials similarly ordered permitting fast-tracks for fire victims, especially for "like-for-like" home rebuilds — essentially recreating the same house as before, within 10% of the original size.
Governor Newsom hailed the permitting progress as historic, noting local agencies issued permits three times faster than in the five years pre-fire.
Both the City and County of Los Angeles opened one-stop permit centers and allowed self-certification pilot programs for simple rebuild plans, aiming to shave months off approval times. These swift approvals largely apply to like-for-like rebuilds. Under special recovery rules, such projects don't have to fully comply with modern zoning standards that might otherwise force design changes.
The roughly 2,600 residential rebuilding permits issued between Pacific Palisades and Altadena account for about one permit for every five homes lost.
However only a few hundred projects have started and less than 10 homes have been fully rebuilt.
Trump’s order said that the federal efforts including completion of hazardous materials sweeps and removal of over 2.6 million tons of debris from more than 9,500 properties in six months have gone well and that the delays are the fault of local agencies.
The order says even expedited reviews have taken an average of 93 days in the Palisades area, with permit fees and environmental reviews adding further delays and costs.
"American families and small businesses affected by the wildfires have been forced to continue living in a nightmare of delay, uncertainty, and bureaucratic malaise as they remain displaced from their homes, often without a source of income," the order states.
The federal government has approved numerous individual relief claims to provide financial support directly to property owners, but many have been unable to use these funds while navigating local requirements.
The executive order directs agency heads to use all available authorities under federal environmental, historic preservation and natural resource laws — including the National Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act — to expedite waivers, permits, reviews and approvals for structures being rebuilt with federal emergency relief funds.
FEMA will continue reviewing repairs and construction activities for compliance with applicable health, safety and other substantive standards.
The order also requires FEMA to determine within 30 days whether any of California's nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding was awarded arbitrarily or contrary to law. Within 60 days, FEMA must conduct a federal audit of California's use of those funds, examining whether funded projects were completed as approved and on time, and whether the funding demonstrably mitigated future wildfire impacts.
FEMA and SBA must publish proposed regulations within 30 days and final regulations within 90 days. Within 90 days, both agencies must submit legislative proposals to address situations where state or local governments fail to enable timely disaster recovery.