in effect
Executive Order 14377, signed January 23, 2026, is a presidential directive responding to the pace of rebuilding after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. It instructs federal agencies — primarily FEMA and the Small Business Administration — to use existing authority to reduce or replace state and local permitting barriers for federally funded reconstruction, and to audit how California spent federal hazard-mitigation grant money.
FEMA and SBA must each consider and, if adopted, publish proposed regulations within 30 days and final regulations within 90 days that could legally override California and Los Angeles permitting processes for projects using federal disaster funds, substituting a builder self-certification of compliance with state and local health-and-safety standards in their place. Federal agencies handling environmental, endangered-species, and historic-preservation reviews are directed to process any required waivers or approvals as narrowly and quickly as possible. Within 30 days, FEMA must assess whether any portion of nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds awarded to California was granted improperly; within 60 days, a full audit of how California used those funds must be completed. Within 30 days after the audit, FEMA must act on findings — potentially imposing new grant conditions, seeking repayment, or adding oversight. Within 90 days, FEMA and SBA must send Congress legislative proposals giving federal agencies broader tools when states slow post-disaster recovery.
Homeowners, renters, and small-business owners in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas who received federal disaster assistance are the intended beneficiaries — the order is aimed at removing permit delays that have prevented them from using those funds to rebuild. California state agencies and Los Angeles city and county permitting offices face potential federal preemption of their approval processes for any federally funded reconstruction project in the affected areas. FEMA and SBA are directly bound by the order’s deadlines and must each designate a senior official to track compliance.