FEMA ANNOUNCES FINAL RULE ON ASSISTANCE TO EVACUEE HOST STATES

November 21, 2009

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 21, 2009 ) WASHINGTON The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced a final rule enabling host states that shelter residents evacuated from presidentially declared disaster areas to receive reimbursements from FEMA more quickly and efficiently.

Public Assistance Eligibility' http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-27883.pdf takes effect December 21, 2009, and finalizes the 2006 interim rule that first introduced the current process for federal assistance to host-states. A significant improvement to this rule allows for host-states to be directly reimbursed by FEMA for the base salary costs for state and local employees providing assistance as part of the host-state sheltering grant from FEMA. Previously, host-states had to be reimbursed for these straight-time costs via a mutual aid process. This applies when a host-state receives direct reimbursement from FEMA through a grant, pursuant to FEMA policy.

Today's announcement ensures that our national emergency response team is better equipped to assist partner states and the citizens we serve in times of emergencies or disasters, said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. As we have learned in recent years, disaster response is a team effort, and the changes made by this rule will improve the ability of states outside a declared disaster area to provide quick support to the families and individuals who have been impacted. These efforts go a long way as we continue to build a stronger and more resilient national emergency response team.

The final rule also improves the process by clarifying regulations and procedures established under the interim rule - including making key language more consistent and precise, better defining which entities are eligible for the reimbursement and addressing the responsibility of the non-federal cost-share portion of assistance.

Historically, costs incurred outside of the disaster declared area were not reimbursable except through mutual aid agreements. In the exceptional case of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, forty-five states requested and received emergency declarations to recover sheltering costs for tens of thousands of evacuees from the Gulf Coast. FEMA issued the interim rule in July 2006 to create a more efficient and appropriate way to provide assistance to these host-states. Mutual aid remains the appropriate option in most disaster situations.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
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