Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Issues Public Comment on FEMA Proposed Rule

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Charles Baker, executive director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, Winooski, Vermont, has issued a public comment on the Federal Emergency Management Agency proposed rule entitled "Cost of Assistance Estimates in the Disaster Declaration Process for the Public Assistance Program". The comment was written on Feb. 11, 2021, and posted on Feb. 12, 2021:

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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on proposed revisions to the Disaster Declaration Factor regarding the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) program. The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) would like to express our concerns regarding the proposed change to the Disaster Declaration threshold.

Raising the Disaster Declaration statewide threshold from $1 million to $1.535 million will place significant financial pressure on many Vermont communities especially our rural towns. Often, the financial burden placed on Vermont municipalities to respond to frequent natural disasters goes beyond the capabilities of these small towns and the state. For example,

* The population and property tax base in these towns are so low that the costs of repairs to public infrastructure such as fixing washed-out bridges, culverts and roadbeds has a major impact on municipal budgets.

* Similarly, ice storms or tropical storms can also level hundreds of mature trees along public roads. Most small towns have a public works crew of less than ten persons so the town must hire contractors on short notice to help clear roads to assure emergency access.

It is important to understand the statewide per capita metric used to establish this higher threshold is not reflective of towns in rural Vermont where a significant percentage of the housing stock consists of vacation homes owned by out-of-state residents. Utilizing this metric is not reflective of the financial situation of rural Vermonters and rural municipal governments.

Therefore, we encourage FEMA to reconsider raising the disaster threshold so that our rural communities are able to receive needed PA funds so they can quickly repair public infrastructure affected by disasters.

Sincerely,

Charles Baker

Executive Director

802-735-3500

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The proposed rule can be viewed at: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FEMA-2020-0038-0001

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