Executive Order 12381 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12381—Delegation of Emergency Management Functions

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Wednesday, September 8, 1982

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2 min read (338 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Ronald Reagan on 1982-09-08, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Delegation of Emergency Management Functions." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C.

▪ 2251 et seq.), the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended (42 U.S.C.

▪ 7701 et seq.), and the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C.

▪ 12148 is amended to read as follows: "The functions vested in the President by the Disaster Belief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Total Words

338

2,051 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

9.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12381, Ronald Reagan (Sep 8, 1982). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12381-delegation-emergency-management-functions.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2251 et seq.), the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), and the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), and in order to conform delegations of authority to recent legislative changes, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Section 4-203 of Executive Order No. 12148 is amended to read as follows: "The functions vested in the President by the Disaster Belief Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), except those functions vested in the President by Sections 301 (relating to the declaration of emergencies and major disasters), 401 (relating to the repair, reconstruction, restoration, or replacement of Federal facilities), and 409 (relating to food coupons and surplus commodities), are delegated to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.". Sec. 2. Section 4-204 of Executive Order No. 12148 is amended to read as follows: "The functions vested in the President by the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), are delegated to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.". Sec. 3. A new Section 4-207 is added to Executive Order No. 12148 as follows: "Sec. 4-207. The functions vested in the President by Section 502 of the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2302), are delegated to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.". Sec. 4. Section 5-202(b) of Executive Order No. 12148 is amended by deleting "Section 610" and substituting therefor "Sections 305, 501, and 610". Sec. 5. In accord with the termination of certain river basin commissions by Section 5 of Executive Order No. 12319, Section 5-213 of Executive Order No. 12148 is revoked. RONALD REAGAN The White House, September 8, 1982. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:04 a.m., September 9, 1982]