IAEM-USA is conducting its biennial survey, seeking information from U.S. local government and tribal emergency management offices regarding Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funding. IAEM is seeking responses from local and tribal emergency managers, and IAEM is asking members and non-members to respond. 

Purpose of the EMPG Survey

The emergency management community has made significant progress in recent years, educating members of Congress on the importance of building and maintaining strong emergency management programs at the local level, as well as the role of funding – particularly EMPG funding – in building such programs.

The past year underscored the challenges facing state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions. Senior Administration officials repeatedly signaled opposition to the full suite of preparedness grants, arguing that these programs are duplicative, inefficient, or better managed at the state and local levels. Our final report will help demonstrate the importance of EMPG to the federal-state-local partnership to counter the misguided notion that these grant programs should be eliminated.

• Joint Effort: As in previous years, IAEM is conducting this survey in collaboration with NEMA. NEMA is using a separate survey for state directors to report on state activities, while IAEM is seeking input from local and tribal jurisdictions. NEMA will analyze the state data, and IAEM-USA will analyze the local and tribal data. 
• Joint Report: Once the data is compiled, IAEM and NEMA will write a joint report to be distributed to key policymakers on Capitol Hill and within the Trump Administration. 
• For the jurisdictions that have completed this survey in the past, this year's survey will look very similar to previous surveys you have completed.

Importance of Narrative Questions in the Survey

The survey's narrative questions are particularly important. If you have examples of how EMPG was directly related to an emergency response or EM program activity, we would like to cite them in our effort to paint the picture of EMPG's importance.

Online Survey Link and Practice PDF Version

• Please complete the online survey here.
• To help you gather the data you will need to complete the survey, a practice PDF version of the survey is available for viewing or download here, but please use the online survey link to enter your information.

Survey Deadline

• The deadline for the 2026 EMPG Survey is 6:00 p.m. EST, Feb. 13,  2026. 
• If you need to exit the survey before completing it, you can return to it from the same computer at any time before 6:00 p.m. EST on Feb. 13 to finish it by following the online survey link.

Questions?

• If you have any technical problems or questions with the survey, please contact Julie Husk.
• If you have any questions about the survey questions, please contact Thad Huguley.