This bill would establish an independent National Disaster Safety Board, modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board, tasked with examining the underlying causes of disasters and making recommendations to inform smarter resilience policies across all levels of government. The Board would offer technical assistance to help communities implement its recommendations, and would make its recommendations with a specific eye towards protecting disproportionately impacted communities.

WHY WE LIKE IT

There is currently no comprehensive after-action review process for disasters that looks across all federal agencies and all levels of government. The creation of the National Disaster Safety Board will save lives and property by establishing a holistic process that studies the underlying causes of disasters – beyond just emergency response – by incorporating perspectives from a wide range of processional backgrounds and expertise across all levels of government.