Who can request a Presidential declaration of emergency or major disaster?

• A. The president
• B. The local mayor
• C. The state legislature
• D. The governor

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that the governor has the authority to request a Presidential declaration. After local governments respond and initial damages are assessed, the state’s governor submits the request for federal assistance through the state's emergency management system to FEMA, which evaluates the need under the Stafford Act. The President then decides whether to issue the declaration based on FEMA’s findings. A local mayor handles city-level emergencies and cannot unilaterally trigger a federal declaration for the whole state, and the state legislature does not directly request federal declarations. While tribes can request federal aid, the question focuses on the state level, so the governor is the correct issuer of that request.