Washington Waves: Waterway News From D.C.
Members of the public have until June 8 to weigh in on the much-anticipated report approved by President Donald Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council.
Adopted and forwarded to the president by a voice vote, the report includes recommendations ranging from helping states and local communities to lead disaster responses with the federal government in a supporting role to reforming the National Flood Insurance Program with a shift toward a primary role for the private market.
“President Trump looks forward to reviewing the recommendations put forth by the FEMA Review Council,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
“The president remains committed to getting resources to communities in need while also working with states to ensure they invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in his statement that “FEMA is not the first responder, but rather a force multiplier standing shoulder to shoulder with states, tribes and local governments to ensure rapid and effective recovery.”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the sponsor of major legislation to reform FEMA, said he welcomed the opportunity to continue working with the administration to ensure FEMA works for taxpayers and communities hit by disaster.
“The key doctrine of the council’s findings is that disaster response should be ‘locally executed, state or tribally managed and federally supported,’ and that closely conforms with one of the chief principles of our bipartisan FEMA Act of 2025,” Graves said.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, warned that the recommendations adopted by “President Trump’s hand-picked, partisan FEMA Review Council” would weaken FEMA, shift greater, unfunded disaster responsibilities onto states and local communities and take resources away from disaster survivors.
The council’s full report can be viewed at https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/05/07/fema-review-council-releases-final-report.
Comments may be submitted via http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. DHS-2026-0067, by email at FEMAreviewcouncil@hq.dhs.gov with the docket number in the subject line of the message or by mail at Michael Miron, Committee Management Officer, Office of Partnership and Engagement, Mailstop 0385, Department of Homeland Security, 2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20032.
For additional information, contact Patrick Power at 202-891-2283 or FEMAreviewcouncil@hq.dhs.gov.
FEMA Administrator Nominated
President Donald Trump, as expected, nominated Cameron Hamilton of Virginia to be the next administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House announced.
Hamilton was removed last year as acting FEMA chief after telling Congress the agency needed changes but should not be eliminated, which was viewed at the time as a break with the Trump administration’s stance.
Today, Hamilton’s approach appears to be in sync with the position Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took during his confirmation hearing. “It needs to be restructured, not eliminated,” Mullin said of FEMA.
EPA Permitting Map
The maritime and inland waterways industries are expected to be among those to benefit from the Environmental Protection Agency’s launch of the EPA Permitting Authority Map. According to the agency’s announcement, the interactive map identifies which regulatory agencies issue the permits covering all of the permitting programs and environmental statutes.
“Maritime and inland waterway operators, including vessel operators, shipbuilders and port authorities, routinely cross jurisdictions and must navigate a patchwork of environmental permitting requirements,” the agency said in response to an inquiry from The Waterways Journal.
“The EPA Permitting Authority Map gives them a single, live reference to instantly identify whether EPA, a state, territory, Tribal nation or local agency holds permitting authority for a given location, saving time and reducing the risk of misdirected applications or compliance missteps.”
In the agency’s announcement, EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said, “Thanks to the Trump EPA, anyone can now select a location and see exactly which permitting authority is responsible for issuing environmental permits with the click of a button.”
Construction Management Platform
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced it is set to deploy the Construction Management Platform (CMP), powered by Kahua, in 2027.
“This industry-standard, cloud-based system will replace the current Resident Management System (RMS) and establish a new standard of collaboration across USACE projects,” the Corps said.
It added, “As a commercial off-the-shelf system operating on a project-based model, CMP is designed to be a secure, adaptable and user-friendly platform that meets the evolving needs of USACE, its project stakeholders and our valued industry partners.”
