Author Archives: wsgribble

FEMA Public Assistance Appeal: Debris Removal – Support Documentation

PA ID# 153-03950-00; City of Bellevue

Conclusion: The Applicant did not document its work such that FEMA can separate the costs of eligible work along the improved trail from the ineligible debris removal performed in Lot 473.  Accordingly, the appeal is denied.

Headnote 1: 44 C.F.R. § 206.224 permits Public Assistance funding for debris removal when it is necessary to: 1) eliminate immediate threats to life, public health, and safety, or 2) eliminate immediate threats of significant damage to improved public or private property.  Debris removal from natural, unimproved land, such as heavily wooded areas and unused areas, is not eligible. The Applicant removed all vegetation from Lot 473.  The Applicant’s work removing hanging limbs and trees leaning over the improved Daniel Trail is potentially eligible, but its documentation does not distinguish between this eligible work and ineligible work removing debris from unimproved areas of Lot 473.  Therefore, because FEMA cannot distinguish between eligible and ineligible work, FEMA cannot fund the debris removal work in Lot 473.

Link: https://www.fema.gov/appeal/356206

FEMA Public Assistance Appeal: Debris Removal-Private Property and Legal Responsibility-Private Entity

PA ID# 013-UVZOO-00; Blackhawk Geologic Hazard Abatement District 

Date of Appeal: January 10, 2020

Conclusion: The Applicant does not have the legal responsibility to perform the work.  The Applicant also failed to obtain prior approval from FEMA for private property debris removal.  Additionally, the work performed does not meet eligibility requirements for emergency protective measures on private property.  Accordingly, the Applicant’s second appeal is denied.

Headnote 1: Section 407 of the Stafford Act authorizes FEMA to fund the removal of debris from private property, if specific criteria and requirements are met, including pre-approval. The Applicant did not request or obtain prior approval from FEMA, as required.

Headnote 2: 44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(3) states that for an applicant to be eligible for PA funding, it must be legally responsible for the work. The Applicant does not own any property within its boundaries and has not demonstrated legal responsibility for permanent repairs.

Headnote 3: The PAPPG states the applicant must demonstrate a widespread threat to the general public’s health and safety to receive funding for emergency protective measures on private property. The Applicant demonstrated a limited threat to certain private properties rather than a widespread threat to the general public’s health and safety.

Link: https://www.fema.gov/appeal/356211

New Law to Benefit Future eTexas Homeowners Following a Disaster

“After Harvey, some appraisal districts gave exemptions for damaged or destroyed homes, but others did not. House Bill 492 requires all appraisal districts to make an ad volorem…exemption after a disaster declared by the governor.”

Read More Here: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/How-a-new-tax-law-may-benefit-Texas-homeowners-14953395.php?fbclid=IwAR2M0vseGn4LbmziWNlf-bb58d7_An4bC3yxBj1r-lxi1lN2s40RWcHIFjI

Bexar County Emergency Services District Fighting San Antonio Annexation – The Texas Monitor

“Bexar County Emergency Services District 5 officials say a planned 2,200-acre annexation by the City of San Antonio could hinder their ability to provide fire and emergency medical services, KSAT reported.”

Follow this link to read more: https://texasmonitor.org/bexar-county-emergency-services-district-fighting-san-antonio-annexation/?fbclid=IwAR2QQbNX8SQ7Ue7TVhXa4SvsKqmAiVVUI_gEmIGt-PXe_rd_HzctmJW0-rU

HR 5429: SIREN Act of 2018

HR 5429: SIREN Act of 2018

The SIREN Act of 2018 was introduced on April 5, 2018 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (“SIREN”) Act of 2018 was introduced the the U.S. House of Representatives on April 5, 2018 with the aim to reauthorize the Rural Emergency Medical Service Training and Equipment Assistance Program with some modifications. HR 5429 includes a provision for $10 Million in appropriations to be authorized each fiscal year between 2018 and 2022.

This grant program has been in existence for several years. The grant was originally introduced as part of the Health Care Safety Net Amendments of 2002 that authorized several different grant programs.

Click here to read the full bill.

2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan

2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan

FEMA Released its 2018-2022 strategic plan in March 2018. The plan takes into account many of the lessons learned from the landmark year of disasters in 2017.

FEMA released the 2018-2022 strategic plan last month. The new plan focuses on three goals: (1) Building a culture of preparedness; (2) making the nation ready for catastrophic disasters; and (3) reduce the complexity of FEMA. Throughout the document, FEMA acknowledges many of the issues it learned while responding to many disasters in 2018. Appendix 1 of the Strategic plan will showcase FEMA’s progress along it’s measures of performance (“MOP’s”) through 2022.

GOAL 1: The first goal of building a culture of preparedness acknowledges the issues that many Americans face with not having enough resources to react to a disaster. It’s not as much of being aware (something the profession has focused in the past), as it is having a “real” plan and the resources to back it up. For example, Goal 1, Objective 3 not only includes training and
planning measures of performance, but also to “increase the percentage of people with savings set aside for an emergency.” It would be interesting to see if this question is included on the census scheduled for 2020.

GOAL 2: The second goal focuses on building the readiness of the federal government to answer the call of state and local governments when needed. This comes not only from building a ready on-call incident workforce, but also by improving the logistics tail that supports that workforce and impacted communities. One of Goal 2, Objective 4’s three performance measures includes to increase the number of states with comprehensive continuity plans and
programs that comply with the Continuity of Guidance Circular. (Keep in mind, CGC 1 and 2 were combined this past February into a single document). There was talk in 2017 that FEMA would begin soliciting input from the field to better develop these grant conditions. Inclusion as a performance measure in the strategic plan could mean that FEMA could planning to follow through on its interest in making CGC planning a condition of future grant funding.

GOAL 3: Goal three focuses on reducing the complexity of FEMA, something many will probably celebrate. Much of this goal sounds like there is a good departure from Classical Public Administration with an embrace of New Public Administration (and some aspects of New Public Service). In short, this is a shift from focusing on the process to one that is responsive to customer/citizen needs, transparent, and focuses on the outcomes. Something to keep an eye out for is feedback solicitations in the Federal Register. FEMA will likely seek feedback from the field as it looks at the impacts of process and program changes to make sure they have their intended effect.

Read the full strategic plan by clicking here.

HR 4930: Disaster Assistance Rental Fairness Act

HR 4930: Disaster Assistance Rental Fairness Act

Disaster Rental Fairness Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 5, 2018.

On February 5, 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives introduced and referred the Disaster Assistance Rental Fairness Act to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The bill was sponsored by Representative John Culberson of Texas. The bill seeks to add a subsection to the Stafford Act by prohibiting the consideration of “income of an individual or household in determining whether to provide, or continue to provide, to that individual or household rental assistance under this section.”

42 USC §5174(j) allows for the president to promulgate rules on determining eligibility. 44 CFR §206.113 speaks in generalities and doesn’t have a specific provision requiring the use of income in determining rental assistance eligibility. See also 44 CFR §206.117 (Referring to §206.113 when determining eligibility for rental assistance). However, the Individuals and Households Program Unified Guidance details exactly how the amount of rental assistance is determined by using the monthly adjusted gross income of adults in the household receiving rental assistance. This bill seeks to change that.

Click Here to Read the Full Text of the Bill

Texas Extends State Disaster Declaration for Harvey

Texas Extends State Disaster Declaration for Harvey

Governor Abbott extended the disaster declaration for 60 counties in Texas to aid in the response and recovery for Hurricane Harvey.

On February 16, 2018 Governor Abbott extended the disaster declaration for 60 counties in Texas. This is the sixth renewal of a disaster declaration for the counties in the declaration. To view the full extension of the disaster declaration, click here.

HR 4995: Due Diligence for FEMA Disaster Contractors Act of 2018

HR 4995: Due Diligence for FEMA Disaster Contractors Act of 2018

HR 4995 was introduced in February seeking more scrutiny when selecting contractors for disaster response/recovery work.

HR 4995 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 8th and seeks to bring more scrutiny to the selection of contractors to perform disaster response and recovery work. The bill is styled as the “Due Diligence for FEMA Disaster Contractors Act of 2018”. This bill comes just months after public controversy over contractors tasked with supporting the Puerto Rico recovery efforts.

Click Here to Read the Full Text of the Bill