Reading Room Document
Authority of FEMA to Provide Disaster Assistance to Seattle Hebrew Academy
The Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 and its implementing regulations permit the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide federal disaster assistance for the reconstruction of Seattle Hebrew Academy, a private religious school that was damaged in an earthquake in 2001. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment does not pose a barrier to the Academy's receipt of such aid. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/623861/download.
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit