Department of Homeland Security Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022 — Senate Hearing (April 14, 2021)
Summary
Transcript of an April 14, 2021 hearing of the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on Department of Homeland Security Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022, on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with Christopher Murphy presiding as chairman. The witness was Mr. Robert J. Fenton, Jr., Senior Official Performing the Duties of Administrator, whom Senator Murphy welcomes as Acting Administrator. Senator Murphy calls it the subcommittee's first hearing of the 117th Congress and says FEMA estimates obligations for COVID relief through fiscal year 2021 will be somewhere north of $115 billion. A response states that three tribes, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Navajo Nation and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, have each received a major disaster declaration. The subcommittee recessed at 3:18 p.m.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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“Department of Homeland Security Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022 — Senate Hearing (April 14, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/senate-hearing-117th-congress-department-of-homeland-security-appropri-681f8ba1fa/
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[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 2:03, in room SD-138, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher Murphy (chairman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Murphy, Shaheen, Capito, and Hoeven.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
STATEMENT OF MR. ROBERT J. FENTON, JR., SENIOR OFFICIAL
PERFORMING THE DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATOR
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER MURPHY
Senator Murphy. Good afternoon, everyone. We call this
hearing Subcommittee on Homeland Security to order. A general
reminder from the onset, this is a virtual, a hybrid hearing
where some of my colleagues couldn't be here in person, they
will be appearing virtually. And so, we'll do our best to
ensure that everybody is aware when it is their turn to speak.
This is the subcommittee's first hearing of the 117th
Congress, and my first meeting as chairman. I'm also a new
member of the Committee, and so, I will cop at the outset to a
learning curve and I'm very grateful to be able to have the
advice, and counsel, and partnership of a ranking member and
prior Chairwoman Capito. I'm looking forward to doing some good
work together on this subcommittee.
Let me welcome the Acting Administrator of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Bob Fenton. This is his second
tour of duty in this acting capacity, and we are grateful to
him for his willingness to shuttle back and forth from his
responsibilities on the west coast to help us during these
interregnum periods.
We're going to examine today the Agency's response to
COVID-19, and other challenges, in emergency management. We're
thankful that you're here to testify before us in person.
FEMA exists to coordinate the Federal Government's role in
disaster preparation, prevention, and relief and we typically
see FEMA serve as an emergency manager when there is a certain
area of the country that's hit with a natural disaster. But
COVID-19, it impacted the whole country and the size, and the
scale of the Federal responses really have been like nothing
we've ever seen before. FEMA estimates that obligations for
COVID relief through fiscal year 2021 are going to be somewhere
north of $115 billion. That's more than double the Department
of Homeland Security's annual discretionary budget.
And I want to acknowledge at the outset all of the great
work that's been done by Emergency Management personnel at the
Federal, State, and local levels who have just worked
tirelessly over the past year to respond to and confront this
pandemic. We all thank them. Your staff in particular for their
ongoing work.
When COVID-19 was declared an emergency back in March of
last year, FEMA was directed to lead a whole of Government
Federal response to the pandemic. But a coordinated Federal
response for all intents and purposes did not materialize.
Instead, the Trump Administration decided to outsource most of
the disaster responsibility to states, to local governments,
and to private health systems.
On many days, my state's leaders will tell you, the Federal
Government was sometimes more of a hindrance than help. There
was a lot of confusion amongst non-Federal Governments and
healthcare providers regarding overlapping roles and
responsibilities of our Federal response agencies. Some days,
it seemed like FEMA was in charge, other days it looked like
the White House Task Force was in the driver's seat, other
times HHS appeared to be calling the shots. GAO cited one
Federal--excuse me, one local public health official who said
the response was, ``Incoherent, confusing, and uncoordinated.''
This was especially true with regard to the medical supply
chain. Early on, there was a serious and damaging perception
that medical supplies and personal protective equipment were
not being distributed to the places in the country that had the
greatest need, but rather based on other motives, whether they
be political or personal. Governors and local officials who
competed for months for lifesaving supplies often saw the
Federal Government redirect those supplies without explanation.
Now, some might say that with the COVID threat still real
and present, that isn't the time to look backward, but we need
to be learning these lessons in real time. We can't afford to
just keep repeating the mistakes of the past. And while the
Biden Administration has straightened out much of this
confusion, this Committee obviously has the responsibility to
fund FEMA in a way that doesn't doom us to the same failures
the next time a pandemic hits.
Of course, we also want to hear today about the Agency's
present state of operations. We need to know how the Defense
Production Act authorities are being used, what FEMA is doing
to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccine support, and we
need to know about the financial health of the Disaster Relief
Fund.
And while COVID-19 will obviously be the primary subject of
this hearing, FEMA does face other challenges. Currently, the
Agency is supporting 960 declared disasters across the country;
at least 1 in every single state and territory. We spent a lot
of time focusing on the emergency response, but we should also
be talking about focusing on investments that make us more
resilient.
With that in mind, I'll have questions about FEMA's
implementation of what's known as the Brick Program. That's the
money we use to build resiliency in our communities.
And we'll also want to look at how FEMA is assisting
efforts at the southwest boarder. Senator Capito and I were
there recently, and obviously, FEMA is deeply engaged in
helping the Department of Health and Human Services find
suitable facilities for unaccompanied children, and funding
assistance to support local Social Service Agencies to provide
humanitarian relief.
There's a lot to cover today, and I look forward to your
testimony, Mr. Fenton. And I'll now turn to the ranking member
of the subcommittee, Senator Capito, for any opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO
Senator Capito. Yes. Thank you, Chairman Murphy, and
congratulations on your first hearing. You're doing a great job
so far, and I look forward to working with you and really
getting to know you. We've already had, on our trip to the
border, had an opportunity, even though we've served together
for several years, to really forge a relationship that I think
is going to be important as we move through fiscal year 2021
and begin to formulate the Bill for fiscal year 2022.
So, I thank you for scheduling this hearing. FEMA is
exceedingly important, and their role in supporting our State
and local partners in responding and recovering from a historic
number of disasters facing our nation. I think all of us in our
individual states get to know our FEMA regional and local reps
very, very well.
So, I want to thank the Acting Administrator, Robert
Fenton, who I have learned obviously has very good sense
because he's married to a West Virginian. So, thank you for
that. Thanks for joining us here today.
FEMA's mission is helping people before, during, and after
disasters. These words are more important than ever, and the
Acting Administrator Fenton knows, and we all know, he has a
big job to ensure FEMA continues to live up to those--to that
promise. We are keeping a close eye on the progress we're
making concerning COVID-19, including many of the areas the
Chairman talked about, the various Federal support mechanisms
in place to distribute much-needed PPE, vaccines, and other
necessary supplies and personnel to combat the pandemic.
FEMA is playing an integral role in that effort, helping to
support vaccine distribution centers, resupply our states with
necessary PPE, and providing additional resources to ensure
success. We have also been following the recent non-COVID-
related disasters, including severe winter storms, damaging
tornadoes. We even talked about the situation in Texas a bit,
flooding and fire events across the nation.
FEMA is also playing an integral role in the current border
crisis, working with HHS and other DHS components to identify,
procure, and mange an array of temporary shelters and
processing centers for the thousands of unaccompanied children
crossing our southern border. Mr. Fenton, the men and women of
FEMA are a vast network of responders coordinating the full
spectrum; and we want to say thank you for what you do.
Speaking of the border crisis, I would be remissive if I
did not say some additional words on this topic. Last month,
Secretary Mayorkas acknowledged that we are headed towards more
southwest border encounters than we've seen in 20 years and the
numbers are proving him correct. In March, CBP faced 172,331
encounters at the southwest border, which is 66 percent higher
than the march of the last border surge, which was in March of
2019, where there were 103,731 encounters.
We can't dismiss these numbers as a seasonal migration
pattern. DHS has been forced to set up multiple influx
facilities to deal with the surge at the border. HHS has
already set up 10 emergency facilities to house nearly 20,000
migrant children, spending $60 million a week, in conditions
even HHS would admit amount to little more than crisis care.
CBP was so overwhelmed that the Washington Post has
reported that they are seeing 1,000 getaways per day. That's
the folks we don't get, and we don't encounter on the border.
That's tens of thousands of individuals who are now in this
country who all we really know about them is a fleeting
footprint or maybe an article of clothing they left behind. In
addition, CBP has had to resort to releasing illegal immigrants
from custody into the United States without a Notice to Appear
in Immigration Court, which is what I can describe as nothing
less than a failure of our nation's immigration system.
FEMA, which we are here to discuss has been at the
southwest border, and we appreciate that help because obviously
describing what I am describing, it's very much needed.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would ask, and I appreciate this
hearing, I hope that we can, in the near future, have a
discussion on this border crisis, as it is something that's
staring us in the face that's going to have a lot of input into
our jurisdiction in terms of funding. And I think that
hopefully that we cannot continue to encourage by policies or
others migrants to come in and enter our country, making that
very dangerous journey.
And so, I also think that we will need to make sure that
CBP and ICE are fulfilling and executing their Mandate under
the Law. Mr. Chairman, I hope you and I can work together on
these goals in the future.
Returning to the topic at hand, and I'll try to be briefer
here. FEMA continues to see a high level of incident management
workforce deployments with only 21 percent of the personnel
remaining for deployment to future events. I thought this was
an interesting fact: out of the 52 Federal Coordinating
Officers that FEMA currently deploys for disaster management,
there is only one remaining who is not assigned to an existing
declared disaster. So, our manpower is getting low. The men and
women of FEMA perform very diverse array of duties and I think
that's something, as we're looking at funding, we should look
at.
So financially, FEMA executed an extraordinary level of
funding because of the CAREs packages, and the COVID reliefs,
and the great strain on the Disaster Relief Fund. Sixty-eight
billion dollars for state, local, and travel assistance
including National Guard deployments. Close to $60 billion
remaining in the Disaster Fund. It would seem that our
resources would be sufficient, but they're going out the door
very, very quickly. And our data is giving us a different story
in terms of how we're going to be able to maintain a sufficient
level of funding for FEMA.
On a personal note, as I'm sure you all--the three of us in
the room here, have seen the impact FEMA has and can have
during and after a disaster. The COVID response, reopening, and
operating support FEMA continues to provide to West Virginia
after our flood are much appreciated. In 2016, we lost 23 lives
that day, hundreds of homes, millions of dollars in damages.
And almost 5 years later, we still remember the things that we
lost, and recognize the ongoing efforts.
I would like to thank you and your now Deputy Acting
Administrator MaryAnn Tierney, who I mentioned to you is our--
was our Regional Director for her and your continued attention
to this recovery. So that's one of the--did you say 900
disasters that are still ongoing. It's just--it takes so long
sometimes to rebuild.
So, thank you for appearing with us today, and I look
forward to hearing your testimony.
Thank you.
Senator Murphy. Thank you, Senator Capito. By way of
introduction, our witness is the acting FEMA administrator,
well now serving as the Acting Administrator. Mr. Fenton is the
FEMA Region 9 Administrator. It's a career position. He's been
with FEMA since 1996, and he's been involved in a number of
significant large-scale response and recovery operations,
including Katrina, the Southern-California wildfires of 2003,
and the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
We appreciate you being before us today. Following your
opening statement, each member is going to be recognized by
seniority for up to five minutes for statement and question.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF MR. ROBERT J. FENTON
Mr. Fenton. Good morning, Chairman Murphy, and Ranking
Member Capito, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for
the opportunity to discuss FEMA's role in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. This is an unprecedented challenge that has
claimed the lives of over 558,000 of our neighbors, friends,
and family members across the country. It caused grave damage
to the global economy and put a spotlight on inequities
throughout our nation.
At FEMA, we are committed to ensuring that everyone has
access to vaccination. This is our highest priority, and its
success is dependent upon the whole community being unified to
achieve this goal. Our current work can be grouped into three
broad categories.
First, at the President's direction, FEMA is reimbursing
100 percent of the costs of the Title 32 National Guard
activations, as well as 100 percent of eligible emergency
protective measures expenses incurred by states, local, tribal,
and territorial partners in response to COVID-19 through
September 30th. This includes reimbursement for vaccination
efforts, screening and testing, and personal protective
equipment.
The President also directed FEMA to expand the eligibility
of emergency protective measures from January through September
of this year to support the safe opening and operating of
public facilities. This includes, among other things, eligible
schools, childcare facilities, transit systems of those that
have been impacted by COVID-19.
Second, FEMA is working to support state, territorial,
tribal, and local government's lead community vaccination
efforts, also known as CVCs. FEMA is doing this through the
deployment of Federal personnel, the provision of equipment,
supplies, and technical assistance, and the awarding of
expedited financial assistance.
Third, and finally, FEMA is teamed up with the Department
of Defense and other agencies in establishing pilot CVCs across
the country. These sites are stood up in partnership with state
and local authorities to better reach under-served and
historically marginalized communities. These CVC sites come
with additional temporary, eight-week vaccine allocation, and
is above and beyond the normal state allocation and some can
administer up to 6,000 vaccinations a day.
As of April 12, FEMA has obligated more than $4.53 billion
for COVID-19 vaccination efforts. There are 1,567 federally
supported vaccination sites and 357 mobile units including
these 30 pilot community vaccination sites that have been stood
up since January 20th.
To date, 189.6 million vaccine doses have been administered
across the United States with 172 million of those taking place
since President Biden was inaugurated. Furthermore, the
Administration has been able to provide states and territories
with a three-week vaccination supply allocation. As of early
April, this allocation stood at approximately 26.8 million
doses. Over the last three weeks, close to 90 million total
doses have been sent to states, tribes, territories, and
through Federal channels.
President Biden has made equity a cornerstone of the
Administration's COVID-19 efforts. At FEMA, we've established a
Civil Rights Advisory Group with our Federal partners to ensure
equity is incorporated into all of our activities. Since its
inception in January, the Civil Rights Advisory Group has
supported the development of the methodology used to determine
federally led community vaccine pilot site selections, worked
with all 10 FEMA regions to collect and analyze demographic
data, identified under-served communities, and collaborated
with community-based organizations. As of early April, 58
percent of all doses administered at the federally led pilot
CVCs went to communities of color.
We have reason to be hopeful in the months ahead. We expect
that vaccine supplies will continue to increase substantially
in the months to come so that everyone who wants a vaccine will
have access to one.
In closing, we greatly appreciate this subcommittee's
steadfast support for FEMA's efforts throughout the COVID-19
pandemic and for appropriating the resources our agency has
needed to meet the historic mission requirements.
I'd just like to end with saying how much of an honor it is
to be the Acting Administrator and lead. In my eyes, the finest
group of civil servants that I've had the opportunity to work
with. Their ability to work tirelessly through disaster after
disaster to help Americans when at the greatest need, just
shows you how dedicated this work force is in the challenging
times that you've all highlighted.
So, thank you for taking the opportunity to testify. I look
forward to answering your questions today.
The statement follows:
Prepared Statement of Mr. Robert Fenton
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and Members of the
Subcommittee, my name is Robert Fenton. I am the Senior Official
Performing the Duties of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Administrator. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss FEMA's role in
the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an unprecedented
challenge that has claimed the lives of over 558,000 of our friends,
relatives, and neighbors across America, caused grave damage to the
global economy, and put a spotlight on inequities throughout our
nation.
At FEMA, we are committed to advancing access and equity in the
COVID-19 vaccination program. This is our highest priority and its
success is dependent upon the whole community being unified to achieve
this goal. To accomplish this, we are executing the President's
National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness
with the help of our Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial
partners.
As of April 12, 2021, 189.6 million vaccine doses have been
administered across the United States with over 172 million of those
taking place since President Biden was inaugurated. Furthermore, under
the President's leadership, the Administration began providing states
and territories with a new dashboard depicting allocation projections
with a three-week forecast. As of early April, this weekly allocation
stood at approximately 26.8 million doses, and over the last three
weeks, close to 90 million total doses have been sent to states,
tribes, and territories through Federal channels.
For today's hearing, I would like to discuss what we are doing to
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, what we plan to do in the coming
months, and what challenges lie ahead. Our current work can be grouped
into three broad categories.
First, at the President's direction, FEMA is reimbursing 100
percent of the cost for Title 32 National Guard activations, as well as
100 percent of eligible emergency protective measure expenses incurred
by states, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners, and certain
private non- profits, through September 30, 2021. This includes
reimbursement for vaccination efforts, screening and testing, personal
protective equipment, and emergency medical care. The President also
directed FEMA to expand emergency protective measure eligibility from
January 21, 2021 through September 30, 2021, to include the safe
opening and operation of public facilities, including schools, child-
care facilities, healthcare facilities, non-congregate shelters,
domestic violence shelters, and transit systems impacted by COVID-19.
FEMA is coordinating with Federal partners to finalize the specific
eligibility criteria for this expanded assistance.
Second, FEMA is working to support SLTT-led Community Vaccination
Centers (CVCs) through the deployment of Federal clinical and non-
clinical personnel; the provision of equipment, supplies, and technical
assistance; and the awarding of expedited financial assistanceto
states, tribes, and territories. We are also providing Mobile
Vaccination Units (MVUs), which, when paired with staff and supplies,
can each support administration of 250 or more vaccines per day. For
example, our team worked closely with Connecticut to utilize an MVU to
support jurisdictions in providing COVID-19 vaccinations to all those
who want one. As a testament to the importance of public-private
partnerships in delivering vaccinations, staffing for the MVU will be
provided by UConn Health, Griffin Health, Hartford Healthcare, and
Trinity Health of New England. The sites will also be supported by the
Connecticut National Guard and municipal partners for non-clinical
staffing. federally supported MVUs are currently operating in 17
states. FEMA MVU's are currently operating in Connecticut, Maryland,
Oregon, and Nevada to bring vaccinations to hard-to-reach and high-risk
populations.
Third, FEMA teamed up with the Department of Defense and other
agencies to establish CVC sites. These sites are stood up in
partnership with state and local authorities who are working side by
side with faith-based and community organizations to better reach
underserved and historically marginalized communities, which have a
high risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection. The sites are selected
based on analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
(CDC) Social Vulnerability Index and other Census data as well as input
from our partners. These CVC sites come with an additional temporary,
eight-week vaccine allocation that is above and beyond the normal state
allocation and the largest of these sites can administer up to 6,000
vaccines a day. CVC Pilot sites are operating in California, New York,
Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio,
Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri,
Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington with several more expected to be
operational in the near future.
As of April 12, FEMA has obligated more than $4.53 billion for
COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Since January 20, 2021, FEMA has
supported 1,567 federally supported vaccination sites, including 357
mobile units. FEMA currently has 2,602 staff deployed across the nation
to support vaccination missions. To further support this whole-of-
government effort, Secretary Mayorkas activated the Department of
Homeland Security's (DHS) Surge Capacity Force for vaccination support
operations, drawing on Federal employees from DHS Components and other
Federal agencies to augment FEMA's workforce.
President Biden has made equity a cornerstone of his
Administration's COVID-19 efforts, and at FEMA we established a Civil
Rights Advisory Group (CRAG) within the National Response Coordination
Center to ensure that equity is incorporated into all activities. The
CRAG is led by FEMA's Office of Equal Rights and includes personnel
from the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, the
Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, and the Department of
Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, among
others.
Since January 29, 2021, FEMA's Office of Equal Rights and its
Federal partners have supported the development of the methodology used
to determine federally-led CVC pilot site selections, and has worked on
the ground in all ten FEMA regions to collect and analyze demographic
data, identify underserved communities, and collaborate with community-
based organizations. We have also incorporated Regional Disability
Integration Specialists into the CRAG to ensure that the needs of
people with disabilities are integrated in all facets of vaccine center
operations. As of early April, approximately 58 percent of all vaccine
doses administered at the Federal pilot CVCs went to communities of
color.
While FEMA remains focused on supporting vaccination distribution
efforts and the COVID-19 response, the agency also maintains its
mission readiness and ongoing support for multiple emergency and
disaster declarations. Recent examples include the severe winter storms
that caused widespread damage in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and particularly
Texas. FEMA actively coordinated with impacted state, local, and tribal
governments to address unmet needs and support the distribution of
critical resources such as generators, fuel, blankets, water, and
meals. Following Texas's major disaster declaration and approval for
Individual Assistance, FEMA continues to assist eligible individuals
and households in Texas who have uninsured or underinsured expenses for
serious disaster-related damages.
As we look ahead to the late spring and early summer, FEMA has a
particular interest in ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines reach as many
people as possible before we enter hurricane and wildfire seasons.
Climate change is making natural disasters more frequent, more intense,
and more destructive, and we must be prepared for another challenging
series of disaster events this summer and fall. Last year, FEMA faced a
record-setting number of hurricanes and major wildfires. While the
agency responded successfully to each of these natural disasters,
COVID-19 makes any response and recovery effort more difficult.
Widespread vaccination is essential to improving our posture to respond
to natural disasters.
We have reason to be hopeful in the months ahead. As vaccine
supplies continue to increase substantially in the months to come, FEMA
will continue to work with our Federal and SLTT partners to ensure that
vaccinations can proceed as quickly as those increased supplies allow,
so that every member of the public who wants a vaccine will have access
to one. We are also working to amplify messaging from the Ad Council,
which is coordinating with Federal partners to encourage vaccination
for individuals who may be hesitant to get vaccinated.
We greatly appreciate this Subcommittee's steadfast support for
FEMA's efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and for providing the
resources our agency has needed to meet these historic mission
requirements. I would like to thank Congress for recently appropriating
$50 billion to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund within the American Rescue
Plan Act of 2021 to cover
the costs associated with major disaster declarations, including
the ongoing battle against COVID-19.
Thank you again for this opportunity to testify. I look forward to
answering your questions.
Senator Murphy. Thank you again. Thank you very much for
your service and your willingness to talk to us today. You
obviously have had a unique seat managing a regional response
to the pandemic. And as I mentioned at the outset, I do want to
focus on present efforts, in particular the vaccination
campaign. But I do think it makes sense to do some
retrospective here to make sure that we are learning lessons in
real time.
So, I wanted to turn to this question about overlapping
responsibilities. FEMA was given this lead role in the whole of
government Federal response back in March of last year. But as
you know, there was wide-spread confusion amongst policy makers
and state-level implementers about who was in charge; whether
FEMA was in charge, HHS was in charge, or the White House was
in charge. We can't wait to do a year-long retrospective and
inquiry before trying to make a mends for that confusion.
So, I'd love your perspective, having sat in Region 9, to
tell us what you think FEMA's role should be, let's say visa
vie HHS during a nation-wide public health incident like a
pandemic.
How can we learn from our mistakes over the last year to
make sure there are clear lines of authority for state and
local public health officials, governors, members of Congress?
Mr. Fenton. Thank you, Senator, for the question.
Apologies. Let me start off by saying that the last year was
the most complex event that I've ever had the opportunity of
responding to in my 25 years of being in this field in
Emergency Management. And it was really a maximum maxima event.
Never did we anticipate that we would have such a large event
not only impact the nation's capability but let alone the
world's capability.
And so, when you look at events like this, I think
emergency management at all levels of government has a
responsibility to be a coordinating function. Something that
FEMA does really well is coordinate and communicate in all
levels of government, both vertically and horizontally. And
connect with not only government, but private-sector or private
non-profits, and others to ensure that everyone is working
toward a common set of goals and a unity of effort.
It was difficult to do last year at the beginning of the
event because of different authorities. The uniqueness of the
medical event and starting off with the event being managed by
HHS, and then eventually transitioning in March, to FEMA taking
the lead of it. It took us a little bit of time to get the
coordination mechanisms that traditionally haven't been
involved in a medical-only event to come together and unify
those efforts at all levels of government across private
sector, private non-profit. And it's something that we continue
to work on and improve throughout the summer in response to
COVID.
Senator Murphy. So, I spent about a month last summer
trying to understand the emergency medical supply chain in
trying to understand who from the Federal Government was doing
what. I spent about a month talking to anybody that I could,
and I think I left that month more confused at the end than I
was going in.
In fact, in the report that FEMA released in January, FEMA
noted neither HHS nor FEMA understood the domestic supply chain
at the beginning of this response.
So, to what extent were agencies aware of this knowledge
gap, and what's being done right now to identify and manage
those gaps in advance of future incidents? And then, who really
should be the lead with respect to this question of supply
chain management? Should this be FEMA? Should this be HHS? And
how do we make sure that we're not sort of caught unaware in
the way that we were last spring and summer?
Mr. Fenton. From an organizational standpoint, the National
Response Coordination Center, when stood up nationally, is the
overall coordinating mechanism. What they did was establish a
supply chain task force to focus in on the medical supplies of
this event and it took them some time to get a hold of and an
understanding of that supply chain. It's very complex as far
as, asking ``Who are the big manufacturers? Where is the
manufacturing happening at? Where are the resources needed to
do the manufacturing? What is the capacity of that within the
United States, with outside the United States?'' And so, those
were all things that took them time to wrap their hands around.
At the same time, funding is going out to state and local
Governments, so they're taking the necessary action to go
procure the needed resources to be able to combat COVID. There
is a little bit of complexity at the beginning to get unity of
effort going and it's something that we continue to work
through during the summer months.
Going forward, there are a number of things that are
happening right now. Not only does FEMA have a role to provide
coordination and through Executive Order last year, had some
responsibility to look specifically at some of the medical
supplies. But, more importantly, we have now a much better
understanding of our supply chains, and an understanding that a
just in time supply chain isn't sufficient to meet the
challenges of a worldwide pandemic. And so, what we've done
over the last year is be able to understand that supply chain,
understand where those manufacturers are, what their capability
is within the US, outside the US, and where the resource
dependencies are. What we're now doing is working to build
capability and relationships to better be able to share
information to include stockpiling resources, both within the
Federal level, and at the state level; but more importantly,
ensuring that private sector is part of that, and they are also
building capability, and that medical institutions are doing
the same thing.
So, it's really a whole of community effort. Recognizing
that everyone has parts and responsibility of that. Working
through each organization's authorities with FEMA assisting and
coordinating many parts of this.
Senator Murphy. I'm going to turn this over to Senator
Capito, but I do maybe on a second round, want to follow up
with you with this question of how we learned from our
experience in overlapping distribution systems and procurement
systems, whether it's appropriate to have state systems
overlayed with Federal systems, overlayed with private sector
systems and how we can sort of learn from that duplication of
effort. But at this point, I'll turn it over to Senator Capito
to be followed by Senator Shaheen.
Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And again, thank
you for coming out. The first think I wanted to ask about is
the Disaster Relief Fund, recognizing that you're acting, but
we're getting ready to go into an appropriation season here.
The Administration is going to be asking $18 billion to address
major disasters through the Disaster Relief Fund. As you've
probably done, as all of I have done, we've watched the Fund go
down and go down, and back up, and then down.
And I don't know--do you have any level--or what is your
level of confidence that this balance that we have in the DRF
is going to be sufficient to address these needs? I know it's
hard to speculate, but I didn't know if you had an impression.
Mr. Fenton. Well, I think that's what it is. It's
speculation based on experience and history. We have a good
team at FEMA that has gone back and looked at history. We've
looked what the risks are and the current requirements that we
still have left outstanding from either the COVID event or past
disaster event where we have to provide funding for those?
Right now, we project that we would be on a trajectory to have
sufficient funding in the DRF by the end of the fiscal year.
Senator Capito. All right. Another question, and I don't
know if we can answer this shortly, but it's certainly a
question that's going to come to all of us from our
constituents on the COVID relief, which is the funeral
assistance that was just rolled out. And I heard on the radio,
actually, that you were inundated--FEMA was inundated with
phone calls on the helpline or whatever line you set up for
this.
It's probably causing some confusion. I don't know if--they
said that you'd gotten a million calls, and I don't know how
that's rolling out. Just shortly, briefly, what your hope is,
what the confusion might be. What can we tell our constituents
here?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. What I would say is to get all of the
necessary documents together before phoning that line. The
first day we opened up there was definitely congestion on the
line, and we had a couple of technical issues with the service.
We cleaned that up by the second day. 60,000 calls, 58,000
registrations, 1,700 have already come back with documentation.
Hopefully, we'll start funding that next week. That represents
about 10 percent of the deaths so far.
The second day was much better than the first day and I'm
sure today will be much better than yesterday. And we want to
make sure that we empathically and compassionately help
everyone that had a loss. And so, we look forward to working
with you to phone that 1-800 number and take time to pull
together the necessary information before starting your
application.
Senator Capito. Well, I know this is the first time you've
administered something of this nature and so, I know--I wish
you well on that. I do think it is good to reinforce that this
is reimbursements for expenses that have already been incurred
by families and others toward the burial assistance of a COVID
patient. So, getting all of that documentation is really
important.
I would like to ask you about the southwest border crisis
where FEMA is now in helping to identify and assist in
sheltering and processing centers.
You know, are you concerned about this? Do you think FEMA's
role is going to get larger? What impact is this going to have
on your FEMA resources? And, you know, talking about who's in
charge here. I mean, that's a little bit of this kind of
situation as well with so many hands on deck at the border.
Do you have any impressions on that? What are you hearing
from the field?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. So far, the impact on our staffing has not
been significant. In all events, we help out other Federal
agencies as they help us out through the Economy Act. I have
now been in FEMA, as you said earlier, 25 years and through
three Administrations. I've been involved in unaccompanied
children in the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration,
and now this Administration.
One of our core values is compassion. We want to be able to
help out HHS with setting up shelter capacity for the children
and we're going ahead and doing that, which is something that
we do very well.
Senator Capito. Is that in any specific place, or is that
all along the borders of Texas mainly?
Mr. Fenton. Texas, California. We're looking at some other
sites throughout the United States. But HHS is doing the
contracting. It's their funding. What we're providing is
technical assistance and personnel support to help them.
Senator Capito. All right. Thank you. You mentioned the 100
percent cost share for COVID for our National Guard and I'm
sure all of us have been contacted as that 100 percent cost
share looks like it's getting ready to be timed out. We're all
getting calls from our National Guards to ask that--or from our
Governors, really, to have that extended.
I do think that, you know, there is a risk of this becoming
the norm and I think that there has to be state, local, and,
you know, disaster relief assistance at the same time,
certainly through these Guard assistance and they've been
fantastic with us.
So, do you have an impression on that? On the 100 percent
cost share? It goes to what, September 30th?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. It goes to September 30th. There should be
sufficient vaccination to vaccinate anyone that needs
vaccination, as the President laid out, by May. But through
July, hopefully, we have everyone vaccinated. So as long as we
stay, on that trajectory, that should lessen hopefully the need
for additional support past September 30th. I think September
30th is a good estimate right now and we can see what happens
as COVID continues to progress and we continue to vaccinate
America.
Senator Capito. Well, thank you. And I'll turn it back
over. I might want to have a question after we go through.
The other thing I would say, as a grateful person as well,
FEMA has probably the best network of volunteers that I've ever
seen. Just really selfless people that have that compassionate
and caring attitude and having interacted with them one-on-one
during very difficult times, I just want to express my
appreciation to them as well.
Mr. Fenton. Thank you, ma'am.
Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Fenton,
thank you for once again stepping up and taking over the duties
as Acting Administrator and please share our appreciation to
everyone at FEMA for the work they're doing in these very
challenging times.
I want to follow up on Senator Capito's question about the
Funeral Assistance Program, which I know is new to FEMA. But we
are hearing from people who are concerned not just about how
it's working, and it just rolled out, so that's understandable,
but also constituents who have found out that they're
ineligible to receive assistance because they prepaid for
funeral expenses prior to the eligible date. And even though
they didn't lose loved ones until after January 20th, 2020,
they had prepaid those expenses.
So, can you explain why the Policy would exclude those who
may have prepaid funeral expenses before the date even though
those in question who lost their lives, that didn't happen
until after the 2020 deadline?
Mr. Fenton. I'm not sure I completely understand your
question. As I understand it right now, if someone already paid
funeral expenses we will reimburse them for that cost if they
submit the receipts for them.
Senator Shaheen. What we are hearing from some constituents
is that they had paid the funeral expenses. So, I could to
today to my funeral home.
Mr. Fenton. Right.
Senator Shaheen. I can pay for my funeral, which may not
happen hopefully for a very long time in the future.
Mr. Fenton. I understand what you're saying now.
Senator Shaheen. But if I lost somebody after that January
20th deadline I'm not able to get reimbursed under FEMA's
current rulings.
Mr. Fenton. Yes. Right.
Senator Shaheen. So, can you explain why, and is FEMA open
to changing that? Is that a legislative change that would be
required?
Mr. Fenton. Yes.
Senator Shaheen. It seems to me that is not the intent of
what we meant when we passed the Cares Act.
Mr. Fenton. I'd be glad to look into that specific question
and get back to you. Our intent is not to duplicate other forms
of assistance, like insurance and other avenues of funding.
Senator Shaheen. Sure.
Mr. Fenton. But let me look into that specific issue, and
I'd be glad to work with your office, and get back to you.
[The information follows:]
Any source of payment designated specifically to pay for a funeral
in anticipation of a future death cannot be reimbursed under this
assistance as FEMA cannot duplicate benefits provided by another
source, per Section 312 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5155. This includes burial or
funeral insurance, a pre-paid funeral, a pre-paid trust for funeral
expenses, or an irrevocable trust for Medicare. However, when funeral
expenses exceed the funds intended to pay these costs, FEMA may
evaluate the receipts and other documentation to provide the funeral
expenses not covered up to the maximum amount per funeral.
Senator Shaheen. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Mr. Fenton. Now that I understand exactly what you're
saying now.
Senator Shaheen. I also want to follow up a little bit on
Senator Murphy's questions about the supply chain. Because one
of the things that we've heard from companies in New Hampshire
is that they--many of them have altered their manufacturing
capabilities to try and respond to the pandemic. And what they
are concerned about is that the Federal Government gets these
materials from foreign sources, and even though they've been
asked to step up, they will then be in the position of having
to shut down those manufacturing lines or do something
different.
So, can you talk about how FEMA is coordinating with HHS
and other Federal Agencies so that you utilize the Defense
Production Act to ensure that we have an adequate supply, but
that we don't put companies in the position of changing their
manufacturing facilities and then deciding to procure supplies
from other places?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. There are many parts of the Defense
Production Act. And FEMA shares Title I, which is setting
priority orders. But there's other parts with regard to Title
VII that looks at setting voluntary agreements, and Title III
that looks at expansions of stimulating the economy and
stimulus.
I think to your point, what needs to happen is we need to--
and have been doing this for the last about 6 months--is work
with different sectors, especially related to the pandemic to
start understanding of what the capability is within the US
manufacturing, where do the resources coming from, and start to
have those discussions now and be able to share information
from the private sector to the government sector, working with
DOJ and Federal Trade Communication--Commission to share that
information to make better-informed decisions in the future.
I think that's where we're headed right now. That's what
we've learned from this event. You know, I think if you go back
to last summer, it was everyone trying to get whatever they
could from wherever they could.
Senator Shaheen. Right.
Mr. Fenton. And it wasn't a coordinated, collective effort
and continued to work on it through the end of the summer, and
probably not until the end of summer did it really come
together in some way.
Going forward, I think we need to continue to do that, not
only for a pandemic, but for other high-risk events that may
impact the nation's supply chain in any one field. It could be
an earthquake and that damages multiple homes. How do we bring
back on 10,000 homes in a quick period of time?
And so, we need to start having these discussions with
private sector, and there is a way to do that through the
Defense Production Act underneath Title VII and start to share
information so that we're able to leverage everything the
United States has.
Senator Shaheen. And would you expect that FEMA would
continue to be the lead agency on this? Or do you see that
shifting?
Mr. Fenton. Well, I think--Yes. I think we're one of them.
You know, we're one of the key entities to this. We do
deliberate planning for high-risk, high-threat events across
the country. But there's other Federal Agencies that have key
responsibilities within the Defense Production Act: Department
of Commerce, Department of Transportation, Energy, HHS, USDA.
They all need to have responsibility for their specific
functional area, their portfolio.
Senator Shaheen. Right.
Mr. Fenton. But we definitely have a responsibility when
doing the planning for whole of government to make sure there
is a coordinated effort.
Senator Shaheen. Yeah. And that was sort of the concern
that I think Senator Murphy was getting to, is that if we've
got a bunch of agencies who are working on this, who is
actually in charge of prioritizing what needs to be done?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. So, we have responsibility to share the
Title I side of things and the prioritization. We don't have
authority to share Title III and specific expansion of economy
or stimulus to each one of those department agencies. So, the
Department of Energy does it within their organization, HHS
within theirs. Now, we've gained a little bit through an
executive order last year with HHS, but for the rest of them,
we traditionally don't.
And so, one of the things we do is catastrophic planning so
we can identify those gaps so then those agencies can be
responsible for building that capacity. So, I think through the
planning efforts we do with state and local governments, we
should work on identifying where those big gaps are, and those
significant events that we face based on risks in our country
to allow those Federal agencies, then, to take their authority
and build capacity--or at least start the discussion with the
private sector to make sure that we have a well-thought-out
plan, and we're not doing it just in time when the event
happens.
Senator Shaheen. So, I'm out of time, but do you think the
Defense Production Act needs to be changed in any way to
address that concern?
Mr. Fenton. I think it's a good question and it's one tool
of many tools to get it to solution. Other tools are, let's
deal with the risk in front and mitigate the risk. We talked a
little bit earlier about BRIC and negation, and other things.
Senator Shaheen. Right.
Mr. Fenton. And there's many other things we could do, but
I think it is one tool.
You know, I think we can continue to look at it, but I
don't see FEMA having oversight over, like, Department of
Energy on energy. It's not our expertise.
Senator Shaheen. Yeah.
Mr. Fenton. So, I think Energy needs to do that and then be
responsible for it. Or HHS and be responsible for it.
As far as us coordinating the Committee for prioritization,
I think that's something we could do and relates to disasters
in doing that and being able to respond to events and do
priority ratings.
Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Murphy. Thank you, Senator Shaheen. We should have
Senator Hoeven virtually.
Senator Hoeven. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Fenton, I
guess my first question relates to the City of Washburn, North
Dakota. On February 2nd, our Congressional Delegation sent a
letter in support of the city's request for an extension on
their Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant. Can you give me an update
on that request?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. The applications for PDM are in the system
and being evaluated. And I will go ahead and get back to you,
specifically on that request. But I'm not aware of any
decisions being made on the Brick program yet.
Senator Hoeven. Yeah. If you could get me a timeline.
Mr. Fenton. Yes.
Senator Hoeven. I mean, if you could give me an answer that
would be great. But if not, if you could give me kind of an
estimated timeline for a response that would be okay. Thank
you.
Mr. Fenton. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Can you further describe FEMA's role as it
relates to migrants coming across the border illegally?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. FEMA's role is in support of HHS, and
their authorities and role in CBP. We don't have any specific
authority with regard to the border. We are supporting them
underneath the Economy Act in providing them technical
assistance right now.
Senator Hoeven. Are you assisting with testing and making
sure that illegal migrants that are coming across are being
tested for COVID?
Mr. Fenton. Anyone that is in the United States that is at
risk for COVID would fall underneath our authorities right now
as it relates to the pandemic and being able to reimburse state
and local governments for testing and for anyone who tests
positive to quarantine up to 10 days. Anyone within the United
States that is symptomatic that local government or state
government feels that they need to test, have that ability to
test them and for us to reimburse them.
Senator Hoeven. Is that being done at the border?
Mr. Fenton. That's being done throughout the whole United
States, including the border. And it's not specific to the
border. It's specific to the communities in proximity. And they
have the authority and the ability to do that if they elect to
do that.
Senator Hoeven. If they elect to do it.
Mr. Fenton. Yes. Right.
Senator Hoeven. So, it may or may not be being done?
Mr. Fenton. Yes it depends on each specific state health
and local health laws, or any authority of the county or state,
and it's up to each state or county. For example, I know,
because I'm in Region 9, that California has a very robust
testing program and testing. I do know that there are a number
of non-government organizations down there that are doing
testing of individuals at the border.
But it's specifically up to a state. It's something that's
100 reimbursable if a state or local government decides to do
it. In addition to that, we've sent tens of thousands of test
kits to Texas and other states that they can use, you know,
within their state, whether it be in the southern part of the
state or other areas.
Senator Hoeven. So, your role is assisting if they elect to
do it?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. Our role is to reimburse the costs of
testing for the whole United States. Mandating someone to test
within the United States is a decision up to the local health
official or state health official. We can't mandate testing.
That's their decision.
Senator Hoeven. And in terms of manpower, do you have
adequate manpower? Are you being strained because of the
border?
Mr. Fenton. No. The border is probably less than 200 staff
deployed to the border, or to our headquarters into the
shelters in the southern United States. And it's not impacting
our deployments. We have about 10,000 people out of less than
maybe 13,000 are available for deployment that are deployed
right now. The majority of those are to COVID--to the
vaccination effort or to other disaster activity.
Senator Hoeven. My last question relates to how much COVID
funding that FEMA has received, and then how is that going in
terms of, you know, how much have you dispersed, and are you
sure you are able to get them out expeditiously as needed?
Mr. Fenton. We just received the additional $50 billion of
funding. We are starting to implement the Funeral Assistance
Program that we project $2 billion from last year, I think $2
to $3 billion from this year.
The part of the reopening of schools, public facilities,
transportation, will be a significant additional portion of
funding. Going back and changing the cost share to 100 percent
will be additional funding. As I said earlier $4.5 billion
already in the vaccination effort for the first 90 days.
So, we have sufficient funding right now. I project, based
on the new authorities we received and the appropriation, and
the President's Executive Order that we should have sufficient
funding to get us through to the end of the fiscal year, to
include what would be normally projected disaster activity in
that time of year, which includes hurricanes and fires.
Senator Hoeven. Okay. Thank you very much.
Mr. Fenton. Yes.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Fenton. Thank you, sir.
Senator Murphy. Thank you, Senator Hoeven. We'll go to a
second round of questions. We appreciate you sticking with us.
I've just got two.
The first, I wanted to return to this question of
responsibility for supply chain management. As you know,
virtually every state in the nation scrambled to set up their
own supply chain for PPE in particular in the early stages of
the pandemic.
And, I think a simple question that states are asking right
now, is should they be preparing to have to stand up their own
supply chain for the next pandemic? Because if that is the
case, there are decisions, some of them very expensive, that
states will make, for instance, to, you know, keep a
manufacturer in state with the capability to be able to make
certain types of masks or face shields. Or, do we expect that
we are going to sort of solve for this problem, and when and if
the next pandemic hits, states will not have to build their own
supply chain, and there will be an adequate, complete Federal
response, either through stockpiles or through the management
of Federal and international supply chains to meet the need?
What's sort of your advice right now for states as they're
starting to decide how they want to spend money in advance of
the next potential outbreak?
Mr. Fenton. So, I think it's a collective effort. What
we've asked and provided funding to state and local governments
and you is to go ahead and build the capacity. Most states have
built a 60 to some, up to 120-day capacity of personal
protective equipment and other medical supplies that would be
needed for a pandemic.
In addition to that, the Strategic National Stockpile has
built capacity within that. The medical providers--private
sector providers are building additional capacity, and I've
seen hospitals now start to increase their capacity.
I think the reliance on a just-in-time logistics system,
which we've gotten used to, in the United States because it's
been so efficient on being able to deliver resources, works
except when you have a catastrophic event that impacts that
supply chain.
So, you need to build capacity at all levels of government
to withstand when there is a run on a specific resource. And go
ahead and not only build the capacity to allow manufacturing to
catch up, but also to ensure there's sufficient supply to do
that. That's just part of the issue, is building that capacity.
The second part is we need to be able to increase
manufacturing, and how long does that take to do that? Where is
the capacity to do that? Private sectors maybe can retool and
do that quickly. And then, where do the supplies and material
come from to do that?
So, it's a complex decision. I think we all have a part in
that. Private sector has responsibilities to that and we have
to understand maybe where the gaps are within that system to
make sure that we have contingency plans to respond adequately
to that. So, it's a collective effort.
Senator Murphy. So, I mean, I certainly understand that
it's state's responsibility to build up reserves. I do think
it's an important question for us to answer as to whether it is
state's responsibility to build up that, sort of, slack
manufacturing capacity. Essentially pay money to hold it in
reserve.
That is a very specific set of expertise that states prior
to the pandemic did not have and would require every state to
have a level of visibility into their own sort of state-based
supply chain that we normally don't ask--you know, we don't ask
states to get involved in that question in large part because
it's kind of arbitrary what amount of manufacturing you have in
your state when it comes to masks or face shields.
It strikes me that that question should really be one dealt
with at the Federal level. But are you saying--maybe you don't
have an answer now? It's okay. But are you suggesting that the
states are going to sort of--we're going to have 50 different
strategies to create slack capacity for the manufacturing of
medical supplies? Or will that question be more a function of
Federal oversight and policy?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. I think to that specific piece, and in
fact appropriation to HHS to provide that underneath Title III
of DPA, that's where they should then work with private sector
to be able to build that capacity.
And I know that right now, we're working in a number of
efforts, along with HHS, to work with private sector to how to
build a capacity. So, DOD received a billion dollars in the
last appropriation and HHS received, I think, it was $10
billion underneath the Defense Production Act, Title III, to
work with the private sector to build that additional capacity.
And that's, I think, the best place for that to be done at
unless there's something unique, maybe, to a local government
or a role of government with regard to relationships to some
private sector within that area.
Senator Murphy. I just think we have to be as clear as
possible with states as to what their obligations are and what
their obligations aren't. Because they obviously got into the
business of doing all sorts of things over the last year that
they weren't expecting to do, and I think they want to know now
whether those are, sort of, permanent new functions that are
outsourced to them, or whether this was a one-time only
request. So, I look forward to working with you, and HHS, and
the Administration on delivering that clarity.
With Senator Capito's--if she'll allow me, I have one
additional question, which is on outreach with respect to
vaccination efforts. So, we're getting to the point where we
hope there will be an adequate supply of vaccination, and we
will be in the position of a deficit of demand, and that we
will have to be going out and doing outreach to harder to reach
communities, or individuals who are skeptical about vaccines to
convince them of the merits of that vaccination. That, of
course, requires not just having the vaccination site set up,
but having education and outreach efforts funded.
And I want to just sort of ask about the ways in which
states can apply to get that reimbursed. There's 100 percent
reimbursement, but there may be circumstances in which you have
an outreach worker who, for instance, is going out and trying
to contact chronically truant students at school, but who will
also do education on vaccination during that outreach visit.
Do you foresee any difficulty in making sure that states
get adequate reimbursement when some of the outreach efforts
that are going to be necessary throughout the end of the year
may be intermingled with other functions that public health
workers are doing, for instance, that might not be eligible for
reimbursement?
Mr. Fenton. There's a number of efforts going on right now
to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get vaccinated. And
you bring up a number of issues, whether is vaccine hesitancy,
whether it's availability to get individuals vaccinated. I do
think there's specific resources available both in HHS'
appropriation and our own appropriation. And I think those
activities are covered between those appropriations.
Specifically, depending on what the individual is doing, it may
be our appropriation, or it may be HHS'.
Based on your description, most of what we're providing
reimbursement for is the protective measures; the N95 masks,
any protective barriers, you know, testing, anything that is an
immediate protective measure to reopen. And then the other
Federal agencies are funding efforts to maybe do outreach and
investigation. Plus, we are also assisting with a community
outreach campaign right now with HHS, CDC, and state and local
agencies. And we're bringing the vaccine through many different
efforts, to include mobile units, which are anything to do with
actually vaccinating would be eligible. So, all of the mobile
units that we're providing support for, the National Guard, the
vaccinators, all of those kind of things would be eligible.
But I'd be glad to work with your community and
specifically understand the specific issues to make sure we
provide them guidance on the most appropriate funding
mechanism.
[The information follows:]
The Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide (PAPPG) lists
``dissemination of information to the public to provide warnings and
guidance about health and safety hazards using various strategies, such
as flyers, public service announcements, or newspaper campaigns'' as
eligible as an emergency protective measure (see Chapter 2:VI.B,
Emergency Protective Measures (Category B), of the PAPPG Version 3.1,
the version applicable to COVID-19 declarations). Truancy visits fall
outside the scope of this authority, and as such the cost of conducting
a truancy visit would not be eligible for reimbursement. The cost of
producing communication materials for vaccination administration (e.g.
flyers, pamphlets) that may be provided in conjunction with such a
visit may be eligible for reimbursement. The U.S. Department of
Education is administering additional funding appropriated in recent
legislation for other costs incurred by schools associated with COVID-
19 and may have assistance available for such costs.
Senator Murphy. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Senator Capito.
Senator Capito. Thank you. I just have two quick questions.
Looking to the future, obviously, hurricane and wildfire
seasons are sort of around the corner. You and I talked, I
actually asked you, being a native Californian if anything was
on fire, and unfortunately--fortunately, no. And that's good.
But I know that you--can you continue--are you concerned
with the way you're spread out through COVID and everything
else, anticipating fire and hurricane seasons? Or you've
mentioned that you have adequate staffing availabilities for
any disasters, but I was just curious and wondering to know if
you're concerned about what could happen during these two
seasons?
Mr. Fenton. Yeah. Well, I'm in the business of risk
management and prioritization. And so, if there's events that
happen that require a life-saving response, I feel comfortable
that we will always be able to respond to that event with the
Federal Government's capability.
In addition to what FEMA has right now, and still about
2,500 personnel left that are responders that can go out to
events, I'm leveraging right now 500 people from the whole
Federal government to help me with the vaccination effort. So,
I would leverage more on the rest of the Federal Government.
Right now, we have about 9,000 people deployed to do
vaccination and that includes about 4,500 or 5,000 DOD
personnel.
Senator Capito. Wow.
Mr. Fenton. So, it's always a concern. It's something I
watch, and I look at future threat, and I manage that risk to
make sure that we have enough resources. But the response is
bigger than FEMA. It's state and local government, and all of
the capability they bring in. It's all the non-disaster grants.
It's the $2 billion we put out a year to build that capacity.
We continue to do that, to build that capability, so that
collectively we can respond to those events.
Senator Capito. Over the last several years, with your 25
years of experience, I'm interested to know what situation has
been your biggest challenge.
Has it been the COVID response? Or were you--was it a
particular other disaster event that you would say was probably
the most difficult one that you've had--difficult challenge I
would say?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. Well, obviously, the biggest impact I've
ever seen is COVID. It just what it's done to our country, shut
down our economy, the impact it's had, far beyond physical
damage that we traditionally see in other disasters. It's just
been far greater than any other disaster I've been to. So, in
having the whole government, the whole country, and the whole
world affected at once, it's just been significant.
I would put that up there with, you know, 9/11 and Katrina,
on my list of the biggest events that I've been involved with
all for different reasons. And some, geographically unique, but
all emotionally impacted. Or at least the whole country felt
the impacts of those three events. And as far as challenge, I
think we all collectively have the same goal, save people, help
people. It's how we get there, and how we do that underneath
unity of effort. And when we're not unified, it makes it that
much more challenging.
So, it's important that we use the systems, the National
Response Framework, and all of the systems that exist, and the
training that we provide to the whole government--to state and
local government to private sector. How do we involve
individuals, private citizens, involved in that? And how do we
collectively get a unified effort is what needs to happen in
those big events.
Senator Capito. That's interesting. I wanted to ask a quick
question on the Supplemental Firefighter Grants. We put a lot
of money into, let's see--a total of 400 million was provided
for assistance to Firefighter and Safer Grant Programs. Of this
amount, 76 has been obligated in the AFG, the Assistance to
Firefighter Grants.
And I'm concerned about the volunteer firefighters.
Apparently--well, I've gotten numerous anecdotal evidence that
because of the lockdown and with COVID that our volunteer
firefighters have not been able to raise the money that they
would normally--like a boot drive, or a bake sale, or something
else that they really rely on every year to raise a lot of
their discretionary dollars. And apparently, it seems that the
volunteer firefighters--we kept trying to direct them to this
program that sometimes their applications are not either
sufficient, or in a timely fashion, or something like that.
Is there any way that FEMA could be more helpful, or we
could be more helpful to FEMA to get information to our
volunteer firefighters to know how, and when, the best way to
fill out these applications? Because I believe some of the
money has left, that was set aside for our volunteer
firefighters was not actually able to be used in that manner.
Mr. Fenton. Yes. I'm not aware of funding that has not been
used. I know that there is a focused effort of helping the
volunteer firefighting organizations apply for assistance.
We've just implemented our new FEMA Grants system that makes it
a little bit easier to apply and track some of the funding
requests. But I'd be glad to come back and brief you on some of
the efforts that we're doing across the country to help, and
reach out to those organizations to see what the issue is and
if there's any gaps in assistance based on what we've seen in
the last year.
Senator Capito. Thank you. Yeah. We'll follow up on that.
Mr. Fenton. Yes.
Senator Capito. One last question is the Chairman mentioned
in his comments that there is 900 ongoing disasters. And maybe
four or 5 years ago, with the previous FEMA Director, one of
the ideas that was put forward to me was some way to unwind
these disasters to maybe state responsibilities or local
responsibilities to get them off of the--I mean, that's an
awful lot on a plate for FEMA.
Do you have any ideas on that? Or what do you see that's
worked to be able to close the book on some of these disasters
that I know some of them have been on for probably decades?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. I think that sometimes when you take into
account, all of the requirements that are needed to close out
these disasters whether it be requirements for documentation,
building and permits, environmental, and then all the auditing
that sometimes it takes a while to close these disasters out. I
think that looking at some opportunities, whether it be state
management, which we've done in the past, or look at things
that allow for greater estimates across and simplify the
process. So, for example, our simplified procedures that look
at large and small projects. Right now, that bar is a very low
bar. And so, what happens is for large or small projects,
underneath 100, and I think, $50,000. When there's a net small
project underrun, they don't need to request that unless
there's an overrun, right? Which makes the closeout much
easier.
So simply raising that bar would be less complexity in the
closeout part of that, and give a little bit more flexibility
to local governments on how they use any underruns, as long as
it's used toward disaster. They would be able to use that.
Senator Capito. So, an underrun would be like unspent money
towards a specific purpose.
Mr. Fenton. Yes. Let's say you had 10 projects, and you
estimated $100,000 per project, and at the end of the day, you
did it for $870,000 because of efficiencies. So, there would be
some incentive there to local government to, you know, as long
as they reuse that for maybe mitigation or something like that
they'd be able to just end it.
Senator Capito. Yeah. Right. And then close it out.
Mr. Fenton. Right. And they close out much quicker--And
that's the problem now, is that every project is to the exact
penny.
Senator Capito. Yeah. Okay.
Mr. Fenton. And any time you have a program like that,
we're incrementally adding dimes or dollars to close things
out.
Senator Capito. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Senator Murphy. Thank you, Senator Capito. Let me finish up
with one last question and that's on the Brick Program.
Obviously, this has been a very popular account. In 2020, FEMA
was only able to fund about 14 percent of requested demand for
pre-disaster mitigation projects.
I had an interesting meeting with some of my emergency
management personnel in Stratford, Connecticut, during the
break. And one of the concerns they raised was concerns
regarding the competitiveness of smaller jurisdictions'
applications for funds when you have this much interest and
particularly a lot of interest from larger jurisdictions. In
Connecticut, we don't have counties, so it's either the State
of Connecticut applying or a municipality that may only have,
you know, 10 or 20,000 individuals. And in fact, on the
shoreline, where you've got some really important national
assets like the Northeast Corridor Rail Line, the Interstate
95. Some of those communities, again, only may have 15,000
people in them and they worry about their ability to compete
for Brick allocations, especially with these bigger
jurisdictions putting together much larger applications.
You shared, coming from Region 9, you've got big
jurisdictions, small jurisdictions. Do you share that concern?
Is there a way to make sure that small municipalities get to
compete fairly alongside big counties for Brick dollars?
Mr. Fenton. Yes. So, within the BRIC Program, there are
some set-asides within there to ensure there's opportunity. A
couple of them are they put aside $20 million just for tribes
so that they're able to compete. As I understand, a little bit
over 60 tribes have already submitted applications for this
Brick Program. Also, for small communities underneath 3,000,
there's an incentive for a modification of the cost share to 90
percent to help them, especially small, impoverished
jurisdictions in that. We are also providing direct assistance
to subgrantees to help them with their application process and
provide technical assistance in doing that.
And so, there's a number of things we're doing right now to
ensure there's equitable opportunity, knowing that if you get
those small communities, they may not be aware of the program.
They may not be knowledgeable on how to apply to it, so we're
helping with the project scoping and setting aside funding to
make sure there's some type of equitable opportunity for them
to participate.
Senator Murphy. Yeah. And you know the problem here when
you're only funding 14 percent, that's a disincentive to apply
in particular for jurisdictions that don't have an established
grant-writing operation. Maybe not as big as disincentive for a
city or a county that's pumping out grant applications on a
regular basis. They just sort of build in a risk tolerance for
grant applications in a way that small communities cannot.
So that's not necessarily your problem. That's a problem
that will fall to the subcommittee when it comes to looking at
allocations for these accounts, but we frankly have exacerbated
this difficulty by not allocating a share of COVID dollars into
the Brick account, and it probably should be funded at a level
closer to $4 billion than $500 billion, but a subject for our
work.
Mr. Fenton. One of the things I did in my region is I for
fire, for example, which was very significant in my region, and
I developed one-sheeters on different types of projects that we
see done repetitively. So maybe special paint that helps with
fire protection, and maybe clearing of brush, and maybe
changing of roof material. And what we've done is created these
to help them understand what these projects are and then
provide the complexity with regard to environmental program
legal issues that they would experience in California
submitting those applications.
So, we've helped them kind of scope these projects out, so
they are repeatable. And then the State of California, through
phased projects, can actually start building these projects.
And my hope is over time that we have them on a shelf, and
build a conveyer of projects and then we just keep on repeating
those types of projects to build resiliency and a harder to
infrastructure or make it more resilient to those threats that
we face.
Senator Murphy. Great. All right. All set. Great. Well,
thank you, Acting Administrator Fenton, for your testimony
today. Thank you for your service to the country.
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
The hearing record is going to remain open for one week.
Questions for the record should be submitted to the
subcommittee staff by the close of business on Wednesday, April
21st.
Questions Submitted by Senator Christopher Murphy
vaccination support
Question. COVID-19 vaccination programs are primarily managed by
state, local, tribal, and territorial governments (SLTTs) and supported
by the Federal government. HHS purchases vaccines and makes them
available to states and jurisdictions. FEMA supplements vaccination
programs by reimbursing eligible costs and providing additional direct
assistance such as supplies, personnel, and technical assistance at
vaccination sites. President Biden expanded support for vaccination-
related costs by increasing the Federal cost share to 100 percent,
initiated the opening of several federally run vaccination sites, and
other sites operated at the state and local level. As of April 1, FEMA
has obligated $4.5 billion for vaccination-related costs. Further, FEMA
formed a Civil Rights Advisory Group to bolster equity considerations
in SLTT vaccination programs, and FEMA reports that it uses the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index to inform
site-selection of federally run mass vaccination sites.
Please share metrics that show the benefit of these equity
considerations? What adjustments have been made along the way to ensure
vaccines are getting to all communities, including vulnerable and
underserved communities?
To what extent have FEMA programs been suitable to support a
nationwide vaccination campaign? What obstacles has FEMA run into?
Answer. FEMA remains committed to ensuring the impartial and
equitable delivery of programs and services across state, local,
tribal, and territorial (SLTT) vaccination efforts, as required by the
Stafford Act and outlined in recent Executive Orders for Advancing
Racial Equity (EO 13985), Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and
Recovery (EO 13995), and Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (EO 13994). FEMA uses the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's social vulnerability index and
population data reported in the 2019 American Community Survey to
identify communities with greatest need to ensure everyone in America
who wants a vaccine can receive one. FEMA supports outreach to
underserved communities by disseminating the DHS statement on equal
access to vaccine regardless of an individual's immigration status,
which commits not to conduct enforcement efforts at operations at or
near vaccine distribution sites or clinics. FEMA also offers language
assistance services to individuals with limited English proficiency.
FEMA continuously analyzes data to make incremental adjustments for
successful and equitable vaccine deliveries. FEMA also measured
progress to achieve various performance metrics across the Community
Vaccination Center (CVC) pilot sites, ensuring the sites are
successfully delivering vaccines to local communities. Each CVC pilot
site is closely monitored for the following information:
--Daily and cumulative vaccine throughput (targets range from 250 to
6,000 people per day based on the size/type of the site).
--Vaccine dose wastage to maximize deliveries.
--Equitable distribution of vaccines across race/ethnicity.
--Ratio of appointments completed compared to appointments booked.
During implementation of the CVC Pilot Program, FEMA increased
race/ethnicity data reporting from 41.79 percent to 81.11 percent,
which is higher than the national average of 56.00 percent. Further,
57.45 percent of the vaccine doses are being administered to
underserved communities.
FEMA's programs are suitable to support a nationwide vaccination
campaign. FEMA Public Assistance has worked with all of our state
partners to ensure that expedited assistance is available specifically
for vaccinations. FEMA has ensured that funding is not a barrier to
vaccine administration by obligating nearly $4.9 billion in vaccine-
related funding to our state and local partners.
FEMA has coordinated with Federal partners since the start of the
public health emergency to identify overlapping authorities and
potential sources of funding in order to avoid a duplication of
benefits to the greatest extent possible and develop a guide to the
sequence of delivery for state, local, tribal, and territorial
governments.
To address gaps in the original eligibility guidance for COVID-19,
FEMA released updated policy documents which further outlined specific
eligibility requirements that were to be met by the applicant. FEMA's
Public Assistance Division has posted these guidance documents on
fema.gov at https://www.fema.gov/media-collection/public-assistance-
disaster-specific-guidance-covid-19-declarations.
fema financial assistance for pandemic relief
Question. Background: FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund is the primary
instrument to provide assistance to communities for pandemic relief in
the form of emergency protective measures. FEMA's funding assistance
programs generally operate following disasters like floods, hurricanes
or tornadoes. These events typically take place over a certain period
of time and in a specific area. However, for COVID-19, the assistance
programs are being used nationwide for ongoing, long-term pandemic
response and recovery activities. Under the Trump Administration, FEMA
issued nearly a dozen policies, fact sheets, and guidance documents
describing and modifying eligibility for assistance.
This this is an unprecedented event and some evolution in program
administration is necessary. The National Governor's Association, GAO,
and FEMA itself noted persistent confusion regarding policies states
had to navigate for assistance. How can FEMA reduce the complexity of
program administration?
President Biden issued an Executive Order the day after he was
sworn in directing FEMA to reimburse eligible applicants for the costs
of ``safe opening and operation of eligible public and nonprofit
facilities'', such as schools, healthcare facilities, and transit
organizations. On April 5th, an advisory was issued updating the
implementation policy of the Executive Order clarifying courthouse and
city halls and other entities that provide a public service are also
eligible. Is FEMA comfortable with the current Disaster Relief Fund
balance to accommodate these additional costs? If not, will the fiscal
year 2022 Budget Request address any deficiencies?
Answer. In response to the nation-wide emergency declaration for
the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FEMA has worked to streamline and
simplify the Public Assistance Program for COVID-19 reimbursements.
Actions taken to date include making direct applications available
through the Public Assistance Grants Portal (grantee.fema.gov),
simplifying minimum documentation requirements and eliminating most
site inspections, expediting funding, and developing ``how to'' videos
and quick guides to provide direct technical assistance to applicants.
FEMA has also worked to develop streamlined trainings and guidance
documents to help applicants navigate the process. All of FEMA's
policies, Standard Operating Procedures, and Fact Sheets are available
to the general public on FEMA.gov. In addition, guidance, job aids, and
tools are available to all Public Assistance applicants via the Grants
Portal at grantee.fema.gov.
FEMA has also created several Resource Roadmaps to assist state,
tribal, territorial, and local government in navigating some of the
challenges and resources available to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
These roadmaps are based on anticipated COVID-19 recovery challenges in
key topic areas. The roadmaps:
--Outline potential solutions and applicable resources, including
Federal funding support and technical assistance.
--Describe how to use CARES Act and other Federal programs to help
solve recovery challenges, avoid potential duplication of
benefits, and reimburse associated costs.
--Inform decisions on how to apply funding to maximize local recovery
outcomes.
The roadmaps are for informational purposes only and are compiled
with publicly available information or with information provided by
sources that are publicly obtained. The roadmaps are available on
FEMA's website at https://www.fema.gov/media-collection/resource-
roadmaps.
The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) has sufficient funding to support
response and recovery needs for COVID-19 as well as other disasters
through September 30, 2021. As of April 14, the DRF has a balance of
approximately $60 billion. Absent any significant unexpected COVID
requirements or multiple new catastrophic disasters, FEMA believes the
current funding available in the DRF will be sufficient to meet fiscal
year (FY) 2021 requirements. As always, FEMA will continue to monitor
DRF resource needs and will update the Congress as needed/requested on
the status of both DRF resources and potential funding needs for new
disasters, as well as the continued recovery from previously declared
disasters.
fema and covid funding oversight challenges identified by the pandemic
response accountability committee (prac)
Question. Background: The CARES Act established the Pandemic
Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) within the Council of the
Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. The PRAC, comprised of
21 Office of Inspector Generals (OIG), was established to conduct
oversight of pandemic funding. In a June 2020 report, the PRAC
identified key challenges facing Federal agencies. These challenges
include a need for FEMA to improve grant management, disaster
assistance processes, and fraud prevention measures following findings
of inadequate grant oversight for incidents that preceded the COVID-19
pandemic:
[T]he OIG identified a pattern of FEMA management failures in
overseeing procurements and reimbursing procurement costs [prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic], and continues to observe systemic problems and
operational difficulties that contribute to FEMA not managing disaster
relief grants and funds adequately. The OIG also found FEMA's disaster
assistance programs are highly susceptible to fraud, waste, and abuse,
which poses significant risk to taxpayer investment. In a climate where
FEMA is already hard-pressed to take additional, proactive steps to
create and sustain a culture of fraud prevention and awareness, the
infusion of CARES Act funding will likely exacerbate these
difficulties. Additionally, in the past 12 years, the OIG issued eight
reports on FEMA's information technology systems capabilities for
processing payments, coordinating with state and local governments,
data reliability, and vast information sharing and reporting
limitations.
How will FEMA change or expand fraud risk management activities
that were underway prior to the pandemic to account for pandemic-
related waste, fraud, and abuse?
The DHS Office of Inspector General found that FEMA's longstanding
information technology deficiencies have hindered response and recovery
operations. Is this getting the right attention at the Department
because FEMA's budget requests have failed to make the necessary
investments in this area?
Answer. FEMA's Public Assistance Division has begun to assess and
improve the procurement review processes at their Consolidated Resource
Centers by defining roles and responsibilities, as well as identifying
criteria for procurement review escalation based on contract risk for
current projects. While preliminary tools have been developed to
facilitate, track, and document training for procurement reviewers,
FEMA continues to adjust and strengthen processes for procurement
reviews.
For FEMA's Individual Assistance Division, minimizing fraud is also
a critical element of FEMA's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Funeral Assistance
Program. FEMA has adjusted processes to include additional controls to
mitigate the potential of fraud and identity theft for COVID-19 Funeral
Assistance applications. To date, FEMA has seen a decrease in the
typical fraud and identity theft that we have seen in previous
disasters. FEMA will continue to monitor and adjust processes, when
needed, to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of fraud controls while
providing financial assistance to those who need it and being good
stewards of taxpayer money.
The Department has continued support for FEMA in addressing its
long-standing information technology (IT) deficiencies and has
supported FEMA's prioritized investments in these areas. Through this
support FEMA has been able to officially close out all findings of the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Audit 16-10 ``FEMA Faces Challenges in Managing Information
Technology''.
Since fiscal year (FY) 2020, FEMA has developed its fiscal year
2020-2024 IT Strategic Plan, as well as an associated implementation
plan and an IT roadmap for modernizing FEMA IT. Additionally, the
COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to have operable IT to
support response and recovery operations. Using funding provided from
the 2020 CARES Act, FEMA was able to quickly transition to a mostly
remote workforce and has relied heavily and successfully on a suite of
collaboration tools that were quickly implemented to support internal
and external communication.
As a part of FEMA's ongoing efforts to address these issues, the
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) recently stood up the
FEMA Enterprise Cloud environment in January 2021 and continues to
migrate enterprise services to the cloud ahead of plans to move other
legacy and emergency management service programs in fiscal year 2021
and fiscal year 2022. FEMA will use a cloud computing business model to
deliver IT services (software, platform, and infrastructure). The cloud
business model presents a compelling opportunity for FEMA to address
critical IT issues, including increased cost efficiency, provisioning
speed, flexibility, and scalability. Additional potential benefits from
cloud computing, which support and accelerate existing DHS and FEMA IT
initiatives, include increased data center consolidation, information
sharing, shared services, innovation, and sustainability.
FEMA's 2020 Capability Analysis Report (CAR) on IT Infrastructure,
now validated by the DHS Joint Requirements Council (JRC), identified
necessary capability categories such as optimizing IT service delivery,
cybersecurity capabilities, rapid scalability, and continuity of
operations that represent gaps, threats, and hazards impacting
essential mission operations. The OCIO has identified and is
implementing material and non-material solutions to address these
shortfalls.
FEMA has also been in the process of addressing legacy network
infrastructure, as noted in the fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020
budget requests. The efforts started in fiscal year 2019 with replacing
legacy network switching, continued into fiscal year 2020 by replacing
voice and video infrastructure, and will continue in fiscal year 2021
and potentially in the outyears as FEMA looks to replace legacy
hardware by moving to the cloud. Finally, as the fiscal year 2022
budget is released, OCIO believes you will continue to see the
Department's priorities for addressing technology deficiencies,
including FEMA's ongoing prioritization of addressing cybersecurity
risk to protect national security information as well as survivor data.
Both new and existing technological issues are taken very seriously
by both the Agency and the Department, and we will continue to
prioritize investments in areas that enable response and recovery
operations.
building resilient infrastructure and communities (bric)
Question. Background: The BRIC program was authorized by the
Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) of 2018. It supports states, local
communities, tribes, and territories as they undertake hazard
mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and
natural hazards.
Under BRIC, the President is authorized to set aside from the
Disaster Relief Fund up to 6 percent of the estimated aggregate amount
of funding awarded following a major disaster declaration. For fiscal
year (FY) 2021, FEMA projects using $500 million for BRIC, the same
amount as fiscal year 2020. However, if FEMA calculated the 6 percent
from COVID obligations, a total of $3.7 billion would be available for
BRIC projects.
Is there anything FEMA can share with us about the Administration's
plan to use the $3.7 billion it has the legal authority to set aside
for mitigation projects?
In fiscal year 2020, FEMA was only able to fund about 14 percent of
the requested demand for pre-disaster mitigation projects. What is
FEMA's long-term strategy to address this demand for mitigation
funding?
President Biden highlighted the BRIC program in the Infrastructure
Plan announced last week and emphasized it as a program to ``invest in
vulnerable communities.'' In addition, the President's fiscal year 2022
Budget Blueprint includes an additional $540 million to incorporate
climate impacts into pre-disaster planning and resilience efforts and
will prioritize projects for vulnerable and historically underserved
communities. No other details have been provided at this time. Please
elaborate on the Administration's plans. What is FEMA doing to ensure
mitigation investments are being made in vulnerable communities?
Are state, local, tribal, and territorial governments ready to
invest large sums in shovel- ready projects? What can be done to
increase their capacity ensuring the most effective projects possible?
Answer. Disaster activity and funding levels vary significantly
every year. FEMA aims to avoid extreme funding variation in the
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program by
capturing estimates from large disasters and subsequently allocating
those funds over multiple years. FEMA's methodology to develop the
program's annual funding amounts is based on an analysis of the last 10
years of Disaster Relief Funds (DRF) to approximate a program baseline.
Based on this analysis, FEMA plans to offer BRIC grants with the
funding floor of $500 million per year. This approach is being referred
to as stabilization; the intent of stabilization is to establish a
stable and consistent level of base funding each year to provide
consistency and surety of funding amounts for our stakeholders, making
the program more predictable, and providing them a baseline of funding
to plan against. Even if the National Competition amounts vary,
consistent allocations will help applicants build capability and
capacity--a critical program goal.
FEMA intends to use the Coronavirus (COVID-19) funds as an early
stabilization resource and not jeopardize future funding levels by
expending it all immediately. $1 billion will be made available in
fiscal year 2021 for BRIC. FEMA is now working to finalize the fiscal
year 2021 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Going forward, FEMA
will continue to review future estimates to ensure that the annual NOFO
amount is appropriate, and make adjustments to future year funding
amounts to ensure that large unobligated balances do not accrue.
Regarding the demand for mitigation funding, recent studies (within
the last 10 years) have shown that there is a significant unfunded
mitigation need across the nation. Many of FEMA's partner organizations
and stakeholders, including the National Emergency Management
Association (NEMA), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and
National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), have conducted research
into specific areas of need for mitigation investments, whether it be
single hazard based or across multiple hazard spectrums. Stakeholders
have frequently indicated that there is also a need to understand what
the real capacity/capability of states, tribes, and territories are in
order to manage the billions of dollars in funding necessary to address
the gap.
The Mitigation Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG) was established
to organize mitigation efforts across the Federal government as a
result of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. The
MitFLG developed the National Mitigation Investment Strategy as a
single national strategy for advancing mitigation investment to reduce
risks posed by natural hazards and increasing the nation's resilience
to natural hazards. The Investment Strategy's objective is to identify
and measure the effectiveness of mitigation investments and inform
decisions on when and where to make investments. The Federal Insurance
and Mitigation Administration's (FIMA's) own strategic plan also sets
the stage for FEMA to determine how best to align with state, local,
tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners on how best to meet their
mitigation needs. Strategic Outcome A (Catalyze community partnerships
to promote sustained and equitable investments in risk reduction),
combined with FIMA's Strategic Objectives A.4 (Align with states on
priority investment for focused risk reduction outcomes) and A.5 (Build
capacity to deliver mitigation grant programs) directly support FEMA's
efforts to both leverage investments in mitigation and improve
stakeholder capacity.
To help build capacity at the community level, our stakeholders
have routinely expressed the need for consistency in FEMA programs.
They want consistency of funding, timeframes, application processes,
and program requirements to the largest extent possible. FEMA
understands that there is significant need for mitigation as
demonstrated by numerous studies as well as the overwhelming number of
applications submitted for the first year. This is not a new
phenomenon: the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster
Mitigation (PDM) programs have traditionally been over-subscribed.
To aggressively attempt to get additional funds into communities to
meet their resiliency needs, FEMA is finalizing the fiscal year 2021
NOFO in order to better get additional funds into communities that need
the support.
Additionally, there are more mitigation funds available across the
Federal spectrum than those offered by FEMA. The most prominent source
of funding might be from the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), which has both the Community Development Block
Grant--Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program as well as the pilot CDBG-
Mitigation program. Our Agencies continue to work together to ensure
that our program goals, and our funding priorities, support each other
and provide a cohesive set of mitigation funding for our stakeholders.
Within FEMA, the Agency is making it a priority to ensure that
stakeholders are informed of how the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
(HMGP), the FMA program, and the Public Assistance (PA) program can be
utilized in concert with (or even in place of) the BRIC program. In
fact, FEMA reports on the Agency's Federal mitigation spending under
the Government Performance and Results Act and reported the largest
Agency investment in 2019 at $2,045,325,231. These long-standing
programs can do much of what BRIC can, and the stakeholders need to be
informed as to the appropriate ways to utilize these funds. For
example, hazard mitigation planning can be accomplished under the HMGP,
freeing up BRIC allocation funding for smaller-scale projects or
project scoping activities. Also, many small and larger-scale,
lifeline-focused mitigation projects, while sought after by the BRIC
program, may be funded after disasters through the PA program's
mitigation funding. FEMA is dedicated to improving the training and
education of our stakeholders to support them as they develop
mitigation projects and navigate the various mitigation funding streams
that exist. FEMA is currently developing an on-demand 30-minute
recording about PA mitigation for our SLTT stakeholders. This includes
offering technical assistance (either through Direct Technical
Assistance under BRIC or in project scoping activities) to validate
that applicants and subapplicants are maximizing the portfolio of
funding available to them.
Our Regions and our state applicants are critical to the success of
this educational effort, and FEMA will rely on their participation to
make this successful. A final piece of this puzzle is to develop a firm
assessment of mitigation needs across the country, not just for
funding, but also for investment in education and training. FEMA will
be conducting a comprehensive study of mitigation needs to identify the
needs across the nation. This study is anticipated to be completed by
fiscal year 2023.
Natural hazard disasters disproportionately impact vulnerable
communities, exacerbating existing inequities. Consistent with the
overarching principles of the National Mitigation Investment Strategy,
FEMA and our Federal partners will prioritize the needs of vulnerable
communities and align our efforts to reduce their future risk. This
principle is captured in FIMA's Strategic Plan through the intent to
``deliver our programs with equity'' and ``incorporate future
conditions.'' In fiscal year 2022, FEMA will explore opportunities to
invest in actionable climate change research that can be used by
communities and states to design and build innovative mitigation
projects that address the impacts of climate change. FEMA will also
support and implement Federal flood resilience measures through
Executive Order 11988, and any amendments to this order. These measures
reduce flood risk for Federal investments, including infrastructure,
structures, and facilities; help improve the nation's resilience to
flooding; and better prepare the nation for the impacts of climate
change.
Furthermore, through implementation of Executive Order 13985, FEMA
is undertaking equity assessments for a number of its programs,
including Hazard Mitigation Assistance, and has established an
Executive Steering Group on equity to coordinate efforts across the
Agency. Meanwhile, we are actively addressing equity in our programs.
For example, through our program principles and priorities (in concert
with FIMA's Strategic Plan), the BRIC program encourages a culture of
resilience, aims to increase state, local, tribal, and territorial
governments' capacity, and promotes partnerships for funding larger
infrastructure projects. BRIC provides a critical opportunity to invest
in a more resilient nation, reduce disaster suffering, and avoid future
costs to the DRF. Within the evaluation of subapplications, FEMA
already provides support to vulnerable communities:
--FEMA allows for reduced non-Federal share requirements, from 25
percent to 10 percent, for small impoverished communities
applying as subapplicants to the BRIC program;
--In the BRIC subapplication scoring criteria, extra points are
provided to subapplicants that are small impoverished
communities, as well as points for populations impacted,
outreach and partnerships that all have equity components;
--Within the BRIC program-eligible activities, the Project Scoping
activity exists to assist in project development for small
underserved communities; and
--Direct Technical Assistance provides vulnerable communities with
support for understanding their mitigation needs and developing
strategies to address these needs. FEMA is supporting up to 10
communities in year one and intends to offer assistance to up
to 20 more in year two.
FEMA is also developing a peer mentoring network to provide peer
mentors to vulnerable communities. This network will be an opportunity
for users of our programs to support each other, and participants will
include previous recipients of Direct Technical Assistance.
In order to be ready to invest large sums in shovel-ready projects,
stakeholders have expressed need for increased funding for technical
assistance and capability and capacity building activities as well as
funding for the evaluation and performance monitoring of existing
projects. They have also asked for the expansion of pre-calculated
benefits to make the benefit-cost analysis easier and more predictable,
consistency of programmatic requirements across mitigation programs,
and support for the sharing of lessons learned/best practices from
projects at all scales.
Perhaps the most direct avenue that FEMA can utilize to support the
needs of stakeholders is in the areas of hazard mitigation planning and
project development, recognized by FEMA in the Strategic Plan,
Objective A.1: ``Integrate disaster risk and mitigation into community
planning processes''. Having a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan is
a fundamental requirement for our mitigation programs, and our
applicants and subapplicants understand this. Over 24,100 local
governments have FEMA-approved or approvable-pending-adoption local
hazard mitigation plans. An additional 228 tribal governments have
current tribal mitigation plans. Together, these hazard mitigation
plans cover over 83 percent of the population and represent a good
start to understanding local conditions and mitigation needs. These
plans have identified mitigation/resilience goals, objectives, and
strategies. The next step is to provide lower-capacity communities with
support in the development of action plans that connect their
mitigation plan to the funding sources that exist.
Specifically, through the BRIC program, FEMA currently funds
activities that are designed to improve a subapplicant's capability and
capacity. These capacity and capability-building (C&CB) activities are
enhancing the knowledge, skills, expertise, etc., of the subapplicant's
current workforce to expand or improve the administration of mitigation
assistance. This includes activities in the following sub-categories:
building codes activities, partnerships, project scoping, mitigation
planning, and planning-related activities. FEMA intends to increase the
funds available for these types of activities in the fiscal year 2021
NOFO. FEMA intends to increase the state/territory allocation from
$600,000 to $1 million (a 40 percent increase in funding) and the
tribal set-aside to $25 million (20 percent more funding). This will
provide applicants with significant sources of C&CB funding for their
communities.
One of the most useful activities that a community can undertake
are project scoping activities. Formerly referred to as Advance
Assistance, project scoping has been available under all of the Hazard
Mitigation Assistance (HMA) programs for the past several funding
cycles. Within BRIC, activities that communities can undertake with
project scoping funds include scoping and developing hazard mitigation
projects, including engineering design and feasibility studies;
conducting meetings, outreach, and coordination with potential
subapplicants and community residents to identify potential future
mitigation projects; evaluating facilities or areas to determine
appropriate mitigation actions; incorporating environmental planning
and historic preservation considerations into project planning
activities; collecting data for benefit-cost analyses, environmental
compliance and other program requirements; and conducting hydrologic
and hydraulic studies for unmapped flood zones or other areas where
communities propose to submit hazard mitigation projects. Many more
activities are eligible as well that run the range of contracting with
external third-party services for data collection and validation, the
development of multi-community hazard mitigation projects, and the use
of third-party cost-estimation services to appropriately develop
project budgets.
Finally, through Direct Technical Assistance, FEMA provides
additional project planning and development support to communities most
in need of this assistance. The provision of this technical assistance
is done with a focus on developing and expanding our stakeholders'
capability and capacity. Recipients of Direct Technical Assistance are
expected to serve as mentors for future Direct Technical Assistance
communities in an effort to expand and share their experience and
lessons learned, greatly broadening FEMA's training and Direct
Technical Assistance reach.
FEMA is committed to increasing the knowledge and training of our
communities and intends to offer coordination of programs trainings at
future training opportunities.
preparedness grants and potential reforms
Question. Background: After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, state,
local, tribal and territorial governments were encouraged to ensure
their communities have capabilities to respond to high probability or
high consequence terrorist threats. To support these activities, FEMA
administers a suite of preparedness grants which are awarded to states,
urban areas, non-profit organizations, transit systems, and ports. FEMA
also administers some grants that are not specifically focused on
terrorism. These preparedness grants focus on specific hazards--such as
floods--or first responders--such as firefighters.
Administrations of both parties have proposed to consolidate,
change the distribution formula, and/or reduce funding for these
programs. Congress has not enacted these proposals in part because
stakeholders have resisted change without a clear understanding of how
their needs will be addressed.
In lieu of larger grant reform, the Trump Administration required
grantees to commit at least 5 percent of their terrorism grant funding
to each of four specific priorities: cybersecurity, soft targets and
crowded places, intelligence and information sharing, and emerging
threats. The Biden Administration added domestic terrorism as a
priority and increased the amount that must be committed to domestic
terrorism and cybersecurity to 7.5 percent each.
The FEMA grant programs have not changed much since they were
created in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th.
However, the threat environment has changed significantly during that
time. Is there room for reform to better align grant programs to
current threats?
Although many preparedness grants focus of counter-terrorism
capabilities, FEMA's message in recent years has emphasized `all-
hazards' preparedness. Should DHS and FEMA reevaluate the purpose of
these grants?
Answer. At the direction of Department of Homeland Security's
(DHS's) Secretary Mayorkas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) is undertaking a comprehensive review of grant program policies,
processes, framework, and risk methodology, focusing on the State
Homeland Security Program (SHSP) and Urban Area Security Initiative
(UASI). The Department and FEMA are committed to engaging in a
meaningful dialogue with SHSP and UASI stakeholders to ensure these
programs remain relevant and effective in addressing the current threat
environment, which has evolved greatly since the wake of September 11
when the programs were first created. For example, DHS recognizes that
domestic violent extremism, or DVE, poses the most lethal and
persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today, particularly
by white-supremacist, anti-government, and anti-authority extremists.
We must combat domestic violent extremism in all forms. FEMA held a
series of listening sessions with SHSP and UASI stakeholders in April
2021 to solicit feedback on an individual basis specifically on the
policies, priorities, and risk methodology to inform potential future
changes to these grant programs. FEMA is compiling and analyzing all
the individual feedback and might consider this feedback in preparing
recommendations for Secretary Mayorkas. We will work to implement any
recommendations and any potential incremental updates to the risk
methodology in the future as needed. FEMA is also undertaking a
separate, more comprehensive longer-term review of the risk methodology
to ensure it continues to reflect the changing threat environment
facing the Nation in future years.
southwest border surge response and readiness
Question. Background: FEMA is assisting with the latest increase in
asylum seekers and migrants on the Southwest Border in two ways, mostly
by assisting with unaccompanied children. First, FEMA has been asked to
assist HHS in identifying and acquiring more space in order to move the
children out of Border Patrol's custody into more appropriate
facilities which are more suited to house children. Second, Congress
has provided $110 million in the America Rescue Plan Act through the
FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) to ensure asylum seekers
and migrants released from Customs and Border Protection custody have
food, water, shelter and transportation to their ultimate destination.
EFSP is awarded to local non-profit boards to determine and serve the
needs of asylum seekers and migrants.
Increases in unaccompanied children have occurred before--most
recently in fiscal year 2019 during the Trump Administration--when the
capacity for HHS to take unaccompanied children was also overwhelmed
because the Trump Administration's policies created more unaccompanied
children by separating them from their parents and families. But this
time the increase is happening in the midst of a global pandemic, when
space at HHS facilities is nearly 40 percent less in order to follow
CDC's COVID guidance. Recognizing the root causes of migration are
complex and are partly motivated by the conditions in the Northern
Triangle, it is likely that this will not be the last time we see
increases on our southern border. While the Administration continues to
move out on their plan to address root causes, which will take some
time, improvements are needed in the Federal government's ability to
respond to future challenges at the border.
FEMA has been asked to assist the Department of Health and Human
Services with identification and establishment of child appropriate
facilities for unaccompanied children arriving on the South West
Border. What is working in FEMA's partnership with HHS? What challenges
remain?
What steps can be taken to improve readiness and response for
increasing numbers of unaccompanied children arriving at the border?
Answer. FEMA was directed to support a government-wide effort,
focused on safely receiving, sheltering, and transferring unaccompanied
children who make the dangerous journey to the southwest border. FEMA
has the experience and capability to bring together key resources and
agencies.
FEMA integrated and co-located with the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and with funding provided by HHS examined every
available option to quickly expand physical capacity for appropriate
lodging for unaccompanied children. The Department's workforce,
including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal
Protective Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and
members of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Volunteer Force,
are helping provide shelter capacity, security, and other support as
needed.
FEMA will continue to focus on its integration and partnership with
HHS and DHS in order to support their mission of providing safe and
timely reunification of unaccompanied children.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Tester
disaster relief fund
Question. Background: The Disaster Relief Fund has received over
$100 billion in supplemental COVID-19 relief funding, including $45
billion from the CARES Act, $17 billion in the fiscal year 2021 Omnibus
funding bill, and $50 billion in the American Rescue Plan. FEMA is
responsible for allocating this funding and reimbursing states,
localities, and tribes for costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
What additional oversight policies has FEMA put into place to
ensure that all COVID-19 relief funding, including Disaster Relief
Funds reimbursements, are allocated for appropriate purposes and in
accordance with the law?
Answer. FEMA manages and executes Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) funds
received for Coronavirus (COVID-19) requirements in accordance with
statutory, regulatory, and programmatic requirements. FEMA has
established policies, procedures and eligibility requirements for the
reimbursement to states, localities, and tribes to ensure funding
provided complies with those requirements.
inspector general
Question. Background: In March, the FEMA Office of Inspector
General released a report entitled ``FEMA Needs Revised Policies and
Procedures to Better Manage Recovery of Disallowed Grant Funds''.
Specifically, it found that FEMA justified not recovering funds solely
based on the cost, that FEMA regional offices did not track the
collection debts, and that FEMA's internal guidance on the time limits
for collecting debts does not comply with the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief Emergency Assistance Act. The Stafford Act created the
Disaster Relief Fund and outlines the requirements for the allocation
and reimbursement of funds, including those provide in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The report made five recommendations, including
requiring FEMA to update its policy for collecting disallowed grant
funds, requiring regional office to track and maintain records relating
to debt collection, requiring the Office of the Chief Financial Officer
to provide updates on debt collection efforts, requiring FEMA to update
its policies relating to the time limits on the collection of
disallowed funds under the Stafford Act, and requiring FEMA to
regularly update its internal policies.
According to the report, FEMA has concurred with all five
recommendations. What specific steps have you taken to implement these
corrective actions?
Is FEMA planning to take any additional actions to increase
oversight of grant allocation processes, prevent the allocation of
disallowed grant fund, or to improve the collection of disallowed grant
funds?
Answer. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is using an
integrated approach involving our Office of Chief Counsel, Office of
Chief Financial Officer, Office of Policy and Program Analysis,
Regional and Program Offices, and Grant Programs Directorate to develop
and implement sustainable improvements in our recovery of disallowed
grant funds. Most importantly, we are revising FEMA Instruction 116-1-
1, ``Identification and Collection of Monies Owed from Non-Federal
Entities'' to require program offices to maintain records and track the
status of referred debt. As part of this guidance revision, corrective
action plans for procurement related deficiencies will address--to the
extent possible--the systemic underlying root causes of the
deficiencies. In addition, the FEMA Finance Center has been tasked to
provide regular updates to Regional and Program Offices regarding debt
recoveries.
To ensure policy uniformity, FEMA's Recovery Directorate and the
Office of Policy and Program Analysis reviewed and updated the
applicable policy to clarify FEMA's interpretation of the statute of
limitations for debt recovery in order to conform with the Disaster
Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA) (Public Law 115-254, Div. D).
FEMA has taken several steps to improve grant management oversight
over the past few years. Specifically, in May 2019, then FEMA
Administrator Pete Gaynor directed non-disaster and disaster grants
policy and procedures, as well as the Grants Management Modernization
(GMM) program, be aligned under the Grant Programs Directorate (GPD).
The realignment of these functions under one program office reduces
complexity by simplifying and making more transparent both the non-
disaster and disaster grants management processes. By creating easier
ways to coordinate all grants functions within FEMA, we are
streamlining our grant processes, which will ultimately improve the
grants experience for our disaster survivors, grant recipients, and the
internal partners GPD serves. This new structure enables FEMA to
operate efficiently and to effectively adapt to changing policies,
business practices, and the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape in
a cost-effective way.
To implement this reorganization of grant management functions, GPD
has developed a comprehensive set of policies and guidance for managing
grants and assumed responsibility over FEMA's Grants Management Manual,
which was originally created in 2018. Currently, FEMA is also
implementing a systematic tracking system for questionable and
disallowed costs to provide ``cradle to grave'' awareness and action on
all debts owed to FEMA.
With improved internal controls and management processes on the
front-end of the grant lifecycle, streamlined processes during the
grant lifecycle, and systematic method of tracking costs at the back
end of the grant lifecycle, we are confident that the issues identified
by the Office of the Inspector General will be resolved going forward.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Lisa Murkowski
resources available to fema
Question. Background: FEMA is a unique agency that is tasked with
responding to complex, often overlapping missions during times of
crisis. This past year was certainly no different. As a part of a
whole-of-government approach to combatting COVID-19, FEMA has helped
communities across the nation to address the pandemic, and has done so
while continuing to respond to major weather events. That includes my
home state of Alaska, where the community of Haines experienced
devastating mudslides, which displaced several families, and where some
areas are still rebuilding after the Anchorage earthquake a few years
ago.
As we move into the summer months, we know that concerning weather
events such as wildfires will become more prevalent.
Are you all planning for a big wildfire season this summer? How are
you preparing to assist people who may be displaced as a result of
fire, hurricanes, or more?
Are there any additional resources that you may need?
What did you learn last summer while balancing social distancing
and providing housing that you will do differently moving forward?
Answer. Regarding the wildfire season, FEMA is following the
extreme and extensive drought conditions in some of our Western and
Southwestern states and the abnormally dry conditions in Northern
Alaska. FEMA is aware of the risk of serious wildland fires in these
areas and is committed to providing funding in support of evacuations
and sheltering for displaced persons within impacted state, local, and
tribal jurisdictions. Additionally, the FEMA Regions are prepared to
process any Fire Management Assistance Grant requests to ensure states
have access to Federal funding for fire suppression services for any
eligible fires.
FEMA continues to review policy, doctrine, and staff readiness to
ensure readiness to deliver mass care and emergency assistance services
this disaster season in a COVID-19 environment. This includes
additional offerings of the L0411 Mass Care/Emergency Assistance
Support for Field Operations Course and the added capacity to offer the
417 Shelter Field Guide Course virtually to community partners that
include, but are not limited to, Civil Air Patrol and Community
Emergency Response Teams.
Lastly, for this disaster season, FEMA will continue to utilize
existing doctrine developed in 2020, including the Mass Care/Emergency
Assistance Pandemic Planning Considerations, along with supporting
documents such as the Delivering Personal Assistance Services in
Congregate and Non-Congregate Sheltering, which remain applicable to
operations even with progress in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination
effort.
The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) has sufficient funding to support
response and recovery needs for COVID-19 as well as other disasters
through September 30, 2021. As of April 14, the DRF has a balance of
approximately $60 billion. Absent any significant unexpected COVID-19
requirements or multiple new catastrophic disasters, FEMA believes the
current funding available in the DRF will be sufficient to meet fiscal
year 2021 requirements. As always, FEMA will continue to monitor DRF
resource needs and will update the Congress as needed/requested on the
status of both DRF resources and potential funding needs for new
disasters, as well as the continued recovery from previously declared
disaster.
Regarding lessons learned from last summer, FEMA Public Assistance
provided policy flexibilities related to non-COVID-19 incidents that
were affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 still poses
a public health threat, FEMA is in the process of extending the
flexibilities related to non-congregate sheltering through at least the
end of the 2021 hurricane season. Pending the continuation of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services national Public Health
Emergency declaration and other factors, an extension beyond the above
date may be considered.
One major planning initiative FEMA took during the pandemic is to
acquire a number of ``pandemic shelter kits'' to provide enhanced
personal protective equipment and other safety measures in congregate
shelters, as needed.
fema assistance for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness
Question. Background: I recently had the opportunity to visit the
Sullivan Arena and the Ben Boeke Ice Arena, two facilities converted
into congregate homeless shelters at the beginning of the pandemic.
This is one of the largest homeless shelters in America, providing beds
to more than 400 people every day. There are a variety of services that
are located inside, including food services and an on-site medical
clinic operated by key Alaskan organizations. These services go beyond
ensuring that these individuals have a safe place to sleep in light of
the pandemic, they assist individuals in creating a plan to transition
from homelessness to being housed.
Service providers agree that the old, pre-pandemic paradigm--a few
packed day and night shelters concentrated along a single block of
Third Avenue in Anchorage-- is not the path forward. My understanding
is that FEMA is committed to working with the state of Alaska on
providing continued assistance past September 1 to fund this facility.
While I appreciate FEMA's continued resources in this effort, I am
concerned with some administrative barriers in accessing these
emergency funds, which are causing additional challenges for providers
of these essential services. I have concerns that FEMA policy places
unnecessary legal and reporting burdens for non-congregate sheltering
(NCS) for the COVID-19 reimbursement process. NCS is typically not
reimbursed by FEMA, but instead is offered and executed by FEMA when
required as a result of a disaster. FEMA will provide reimbursement
only if NCS is conducted ``at the direction of and documented through
an official order signed by a state, local, tribal, or territorial
public health official. A health order requiring residents to shelter
or isolate is not the appropriate or necessary legal mechanism by which
a state or local government may conduct NCS. The effect of the FEMA-
required order may be achieved through existing local or state
mechanisms already in place under law or ordinance.
Additionally, FEMA requires reporting of shelters by age group,
disability status, meals provided, number of pets, and other
information in order to be eligible for reimbursement. This requirement
does not lend itself to FEMA's reimbursement eligibility standards with
outline ``work and services to save lives and protect property''
(Stafford Act, Section 403) that are ``necessary to eliminate or lessen
an immediate threat'' (44 CFR Sec. 206.225). Aid is needed in the
immediate aftermath of an emergency.
What can FEMA do to streamline its approval process for
reimbursement?
Answer. In response to the nation-wide emergency declaration under
the Stafford Act for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and in an
effort to streamline the approval process, FEMA, in March 2020,
delegated authority to approve requests for non-congregate sheltering
to the Regional Administrators for the duration of the public health
emergency (see Fact Sheet: Public Assistance: Non-Congregate Sheltering
Delegation of Authority). Further, in December 2020, FEMA waived the
Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide's requirement that states,
tribes, and territories seek time extensions for non-congregate
sheltering operations every 30 days. Traditionally, FEMA requires
states, tribes, and territories to request time extensions every 30
days to ensure non-congregate sheltering operations are still necessary
as an emergency protective measure and to assist applicants in managing
their non-congregate sheltering populations. However, due to the
ongoing nature of the public health emergency, FEMA eliminated the
requirement to alleviate this administrative burden (see Non-Congregate
Sheltering Delegation of Authority Public Assistance Program and Policy
Guide Waiver (fema.gov)).
Generally, FEMA continues to work to simplify the Public Assistance
application process and documentation requirements for applicants. This
includes making communications materials easier to understand so that
programs are more accessible to the public, updating forms used to
collect information from Public Assistance Recipients and Subrecipients
as well as the processes the Agency uses to support these Applicants to
include considerations for traditionally underserved or historically
marginalized communities. Actions taken to date include making direct
applications available through the Public Assistance Grants Portal
(grantee.fema.gov), simplifying minimum documentation requirements and
eliminating most site inspections, expediting funding, and developing
``how to'' videos and quick guides to provide direct technical
assistance to applicants. Additionally, when FEMA recently noticed an
increase in Requests for Information (RFIs), FEMA established an RFI
Task Force to solve why this issue was occurring. The Task Force
successfully consolidated the review of RFIs, and over time, has been
building stronger, independent capabilities at each Consolidated
Resource Center to review applications.
disaster case management program
Question. Background: Although limited ``Individual Assistance''
programs have been made available in Alaska, FEMA has made the Disaster
Case Management program available. This program is authorized under
Section 426 of the Stafford Act. We believe that making this program
more widely available will provide localities with additional resources
to wide varieties of our population, including low income, homeless,
and other individuals and segments of our community disproportionately
affected by the COVID pandemic.
What can FEMA do to increase access to the Disaster Case Management
program?
Answer. The FEMA Disaster Case Management (DCM) program is designed
to augment existing capabilities to support states, tribes, and
territories in assisting survivors of a Presidentially declared
disaster. Each disaster response requires a unique combination of
assistance, and as part of disaster responses where DCM is authorized,
FEMA staff works with state, tribal, and territorial partners to
develop and formulate an approach to case management that addresses the
unique challenges of the communities impacted.
Available DCM-related resources for emergency managers and planners
include the Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide, which
details application requirements, and the DCM Toolbox. This includes a
model request for proposal template and guidance on conducting a needs
assessment for case management services. FEMA's Regional Offices can
also offer technical assistance and planning advice for developing an
approach to DCM.
vaccinations and resources for addressing covid-19
Question. Background: The President has made it a priority to
expedite vaccinations in the United States. In Alaska, despite facing
unique geographic and logistical challenges, I am proud to say that we
have been doing very well on the vaccination front. This is due in
large part to the great leadership that we have at state, local, and
tribal levels, and due to collaboration with FEMA and DoD, and the
experience of the Alaska tribal health system. In Alaska, we are very
familiar with the risks that a COVID-19 outbreak poses to small, remote
communities who have limited healthcare capacity. We know that there
are other states who also have rural communities, who face similar
risks.
I want to ensure we are making emergency aid available, with the
least amount of burdensome administrative requirements possible. FEMA
Policy #104-21-0004, published on March 15, 2021, places
administratively burdensome reporting upon recipients and sub
recipients as a condition of grant assistance, for vaccine
administration. This policy contradicts the memorandum requiring FEMA
to make ``advanced reimbursement . . . more quickly''. This policy
places assistance ``focusing'' (rather than equity) requirements that
may not be supported by FEMA's authorities in the Stafford Act, Code of
Federal Regulations, or Executive Order. What can FEMA do to relieve
the administrative burdens on recipients of FEMA funds for COVID-19
vaccine administration?
Answer. FEMA Public Assistance (PA) has provided $4.7 billion in
Federal funds to applicants for Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination
support. FEMA remains committed to providing aid to meet emergency
needs and ensuring equitable provision of assistance during the COVID-
19 pandemic, specifically those critical actions that are necessary to
save lives and protect public health and safety. In April of 2020, FEMA
redesigned the PA application process for all COVID-19 events by
developing a streamlined project application and direct application
process, which consolidates and simplifies information and
documentation requirements for applicants. This process is still in
place to help relieve the administrative burden on Applicants.
In accordance with the President's Executive Order 13985, Advancing
Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the
Federal Government, FEMA issued FEMA Policy 104-21-0004, Coronavirus
(COVID-19) Pandemic: Medical Care Eligible for Public Assistance
(Interim) (Version 2), requiring Recipients and Subrecipients of FEMA
Public Assistance for COVID-19 vaccination efforts and associated
activities to submit social vulnerability scores and summary
information to substantiate an equitable vaccine administration
strategy to FEMA. This policy emphasizes the need for Recipients and
Subrecipients to confirm compliance with existing civil rights laws.
Recipients and Subrecipients are asked to collect data and use it to
identify target populations and determine whether they are being
reached. FEMA is not receiving this data, and Recipients and
Subrecipients should not submit to FEMA, personally identifiable
information (PII) to demonstrate compliance with equitable pandemic
response requirements. FEMA will consider the totality of the
circumstances around equity prior to making any determinations and work
with Recipients and Subrecipients as needed to ensure compliance and
provide support.
fema assistance to tribes during covid-19
Question. Background: Tribes are disproportionately affected by
COVID-19. FEMA has acknowledged this in their Initial Assessment Report
regarding response to COVID-19, which was released in January of 2021.
FEMA has reported that since the pandemic started only 15 percent of
all tribes (91 tribes out of the 574 tribes) have been able access the
billions in COVID-19 disaster funds through FEMA under the 2020
nationwide Emergency Declaration or a Major Disaster Declarations under
the Stafford Act. My understanding is that there are some tribes who
had experience engaging with FEMA prior to COVID, who had experience
with the processes of FEMA, while others had never made a disaster
declaration prior to the pandemic and as a result has limited
familiarity with what resources were available and how to receive them.
Native communities have been devastated in the recent past due to
preventable illnesses, such as the flu. Native communities are again
experiencing hardship with COVID-19 and they should have the resources
that they need to make it through.
In FEMA's Initial Assessment Report, FEMA issued a recommendation
(Recommendation 3.3.A), which states that FEMA should ``develop a
tribal nation engagement strategy, supported by consistent staffing and
training, that includes the desired outcomes and resources required to
appropriately support the tribal nations, with flexibility for regional
application. The strategy should identify an approach for the equitable
distribution of personnel throughout each region dedicated to program
delivery for all 574 tribal nations.''
Mr. Fenton, could you please share where FEMA is at in developing
this strategy and when does it plan to implement the strategy?
Has FEMA entered into consultation with tribes on the development
the strategy? If not, when does FEMA intend to consult with tribes to
assure that the strategy can effectively serve all 574 tribes and
address their on the ground needs?
How is FEMA ensuring that all 574 tribal nations have equitable
support and guidance to access the billions of dollars of COVID-19
disaster funds through FEMA?
Answer. FEMA has engaged with all 574 tribal nations to ensure that
they have access to resources, including Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act funds and American Rescue Plan Act funds to
assist with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts.
FEMA is working on a national tribal strategy and expects a draft
to be completed no later than the end of August 2021.
FEMA will engage in tribal consultation and use the draft National
Tribal Strategy as a discussion point with tribal nations. FEMA will
conduct this tribal outreach and consultation using both virtual
engagements and in-person opportunities, when possible. FEMA has
reviewed, updated, and implemented our Tribal Consultation Policy and
Instructions. Over the past several months, we have engaged tribal
nations in several tribal consultation sessions on a variety of FEMA
policy updates. Most recently, FEMA participated in the Department of
Homeland Security tribal consultation sessions pursuant to the
Presidential Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening
Nation-to-Nation Relationships of January 26, 2021.
FEMA Headquarters and FEMA Regional Offices have provided expanded
services in support of tribal governments across the country in
response to the pandemic since the national emergency declaration on
March 13, 2020. Each of the ten FEMA Regional Offices have dedicated
tribal liaisons within their workforces to coordinate with tribes
located in that respective region. Regional tribal liaisons and
regional administrators serve as the primary point of contact regarding
FEMA assistance, and they serve as the conduit to connect tribes with
FEMA leadership and program subject matter experts, as needed, for
information sharing, technical assistance and resource coordination.
FEMA's Regions have hosted and participated in weekly meetings and
conference calls with tribal leaders and tribal emergency managers to
answer any of their questions throughout this pandemic response.
FEMA is currently working with more than 200 tribal nations using a
variety of funding mechanisms. Under the March 2020 nationwide
emergency declaration, a tribal nation may choose to be a direct
recipient or a subrecipient under a state. Alternatively, under a state
major disaster declaration, a tribal nation may request assistance as a
subrecipient or as a recipient. A tribal nation may also choose to
request their own major disaster declaration. To date, three tribes--
the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Navajo Nation, and the Poarch Band
of Creek Indians--have received their own major disaster declaration.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Murphy. And so, this subcommittee is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:18 p.m., Wednesday, April 14, the
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at a time subject to
call of the Chair.]
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