[StBernard] Landrieu Statement on FEMA Hazard Mitigation Reversal

[Westley Annis]

Landrieu Statement on FEMA
Hazard Mitigation Reversal
Echoes Landrieu legislation in finally reconsidering policy on eligibility
for homeowners who show initiative.

 

WASHINGTON - United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today released a
statement following an announcement by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) that it would revisit its eligibility requirements for the
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).  Previously, the agency's policy had
been to deny grants to homeowners that took the initiative to start their
disaster preparedness work before completing the HMGP application process.
Until today's announcement, FEMA insisted that it could not revisit the
eligibility rules without new legislation being enacted.

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in
August unanimously passed Sen. Landrieu's SMART RESPONSE Act, which included
among its provisions language to reverse this denial of grants.  Sen.
Landrieu chairs the committee's Disaster Recovery Subcommittee.

Sen. Landrieu today said:

"Today's announcement that FEMA intends to revisit the HMGP eligibility
rules is a welcome step that I have been pressing them to take for many
months.  The 'self-starter penalty' discourages swift rebuilding and
protection against future floods, and instead perpetuates a
bureaucracy-laden status quo.  While it took unnecessarily long to get here,
the agency's recognition that an act of Congress was not needed to fix the
problem is a breakthrough I hope we can build on.

"Retroactive eligibility is essential, and new momentum toward expedited
reviews is encouraging, but a streamlined process is also needed for
cost-benefit analyses, post-construction inspections and data coordination.
Without a top-to-bottom shedding of red tape, the program cannot get on
track.

"The SMART RESPONSE Act addresses these issues and helps to close the Road
Home funding gap.  I will continue my fight to encourage its passage, and
will keep working with FEMA to identify more immediately-actionable
solutions."

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