Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, and a year and a half after wildfires razed whole Los Angeles neighborhoods, survivors are still waiting for permission to rebuild. The disasters dominated the news for weeks, but the red tape has lasted far longer.
For families who lost homes, the greatest challenge today is no longer floodwater or fire. It is navigating the permits, approvals, restrictions, and bureaucratic hurdles that block them from rebuilding. Every month of delay means increased costs, prolonged trauma, and life in temporary housing — with children suffering the most.
It’s time to embrace innovative solutions … let’s call them “Trump Zones”— expansions of Opportunity Zones, Maritime Prosperity Zones, and streamlined regulatory areas on federal and private lands — to accelerate housing construction and restore stability.
Misguided government officials prevented civilians from helping their neighbors in North Carolina or cleaning up their own properties in California. A volunteer helicopter pilot conducting rescue missions after Helene was threatened with arrest by local officials, hampering grassroots efforts to save lives and deliver aid.
A similar attitude of overreach infects California, where strict regulations mandate that wildfire debris be removed only through approved processes, effectively barring property owners from cleaning up or rebuilding their own property without government micromanagement.
The issue has become so politically charged that a Palisades fire victim, Spencer Pratt, mounted a surprisingly strong campaign for Los Angeles mayor on a platform of cutting exactly this red tape — a signal that voters have had enough. Overzealous red tape stifles community resilience, leaving victims in limbo while officials dither.
President Donald Trump’s deregulatory vision, embodied in Trump Zones, offers a bold path forward.
Building on Opportunity Zones from his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which spurred investment in distressed areas, Trump has promised similar zones on federal lands to cut permitting delays. States could mirror these on private lands, streamlining approvals to build housing quickly.
Trump’s 2025 executive order on Los Angeles wildfire recovery is a strong first step, using federal self-certification to cut local delays. But his zones could be a much stronger step in that direction. His executive order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance introduces Maritime Prosperity Zones “outside of traditional coastal shipbuilding and ship repair centers.”
These zones will extend beyond shipbuilding to incentivize investment in waterfront communities, encompassing housing and other developments to revitalize areas hit by disasters. Trump Zones with voluntary insurance-underwritten pilots offer even stronger, scalable policies for rapid recovery.
To make this a reality, we must tackle the notorious delays in federal permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which adds an average of 4.5 years to projects. Congress took a step forward last summer with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), but statutory deadlines alone rarely change agency culture.
Voluntary pilots can test streamlined approaches without gutting environmental protections — and insurance underwriting provides what legislation cannot: A market mechanism that makes speed real, not just mandated. Builders could voluntarily opt to go to the head of the line by bringing insurance (not merely self-certification) to underwrite their compliance. Insurers, before committing funds, would analyze environmental impacts — like runoff prevention, emission thresholds, and historic preservation—and review the builder’s track record. Compliance obligations remain unchanged; only the bureaucratic process shifts. If builders falter, insurers—not taxpayers—foot the bill.
Why participate?
Builders reach market years faster, while insurers, already versed in post-construction risks, eagerly underwrite earlier. Homebuyers win through increased supply, lowering prices.
This leverages voluntary pilots of permit by rule, surety bonds, and transparency technology for monitoring. The Clinton administration ran 50 voluntary environmental pilots without notice-and-comment rulemaking — a bipartisan precedent that can be used to accelerate rebuilding.
Critics, including Democrats and environmentalists, might object that testing reforms of the process risks weakening safeguards. But if courts allowed the Clinton administration to test alternative processes with voluntary pilots, why not Trump?
The real risk is delay itself — slower recovery means worse health outcomes, including mental health, for victims stuck in limbo. Fully insured developers can move more quickly through the streamlined permitting and break ground on new homes faster. And safeguards would stay intact, just enforced smarter.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, drawing on his experience as a developer, echoed these red-tape concerns in his Senate confirmation hearing, stating that about a third of the cost of new housing is regulatory compliance costs, ultimately driving up prices for consumers. With federal housing budgets under pressure, regulatory reform—which costs nothing — must carry more of the recovery load.
Trump Zones represent pragmatic, pro-growth policy. By cutting red tape while upholding standards, we empower communities to rebuild stronger, help children in disaster-struck areas thrive, and break cycles of poverty and instability.
For disaster victims, delay is the most expensive regulation of all. North Carolina and California survivors can’t wait — let’s zone in on faster recovery.
Stephen Hollingshead is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President George W. Bush, CEO of the regulatory technology startup ChangeInEx, and chairman of the Center for American Interests and Policy, where he writes on regulatory reform and expeditionary economics.
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