what is the proposed parametric trigger for fema public assistance?

In the FEMA Review Councils Report there is a proposal to streamline how Public Assistance (PA) funding is provided.

Here is the wording:

“6. Reform the Public Assistance Program to Provide Direct Funding The current disaster recovery process under FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) program,3 which provides funding to communities after a federally declared disaster, is burdened by bureaucracy, leading to significant delays and frustration from states and communities. To address this, the Council proposes the Reformed and Partnered Initiative for Disasters (RAPID) program, a modern and agile framework that converts the existing PA program into a direct funding model that leverages pre-defined objective event criteria and cost estimates to accelerate and streamline 3 Public Assistance is FEMA’s largest grant program providing funds to assist communities responding to and recovering from major disasters or emergencies declared by the President. The program provides funding for emergency assistance to save lives and protect property and assists with funding for permanently restoring community infrastructure affected by a federally declared incident.

Utilizing a parametric trigger, funding would be released to states within 30 days of a major federal disaster declaration. This eliminates the need for time-consuming loss assessments and quickly provides a financial backstop and cashflow for rapid response and recovery. When paired with traditional insurance of public facilities, this can enable communities to quickly recover with manageable financial risk and burden to local taxpayers.”

I expect that many emergency managers are thinking, “What the heck is a parametric trigger?” It just so happens that I hosted a Disaster Zone Podcast: A Parametric Approach to Disaster Recovery earlier this year. I recommend it to you for your edification and to achieve a basic understanding—before in the months ahead (should Congress approve it) this methodology is used to provide PA funding.