Indiana Homeland Security Department Issues Public Comment on FEMA Proposed Rule

WASHINGTON, March 13 -- The Indiana Homeland Security Department, Indianapolis, 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 posted on March 12, 2021:

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In response to the proposed changes made to 44 CFR Part 206 to revise the estimated cost of the assistance disaster declaration factor that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses to review a Governor's request for a major disaster under the Public Assistance Program, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) provides the following written comment to this revision which would raise the per capita indicator and minimum threshold.

Indiana's History Under Program:

- Since January 1, 2008, Indiana has requested and received nine presidential disaster declarations/1 for Public Assistance (PA) totaling more than $184,000,000 in approved assistance for local communities.

- During that same 12-year period, Indiana was denied one request.

Impact of Proposed Rule on Indiana:

- The current statewide threshold for a PA disaster declaration in Indiana is approximately $10,049,893.10.

- Under proposed changes to the declaration factor, the statewide threshold for Indiana would likely increase to approximately $15,056,340.60.

- The number of PA disaster declarations Indiana receives could decrease by approximately 78% based on the prior 12 years of data./2

- State and local government entities could be expected to cover an additional $58,189,032.27 over the next 12 years if the new declaration formula takes effect./3

- The amount of money flowing from Indiana to the federal government will not change; rather, the amount of money flowing from the federal government (FEMA) to Indiana is likely to decrease.

- Under the proposed modification to the disaster declaration factor, Indiana would be ineligible for a significant number of PA declarations for future disasters.

Comment:

- For the above reasons, the IDHS has significant concerns with adoption of this proposed rule. However, if FEMA intends on modifying formulas to focus efforts and "disaster" funding on more catastrophic events, the IDHS recommends a larger portion of mitigation or BRIC funding be setaside for states to guarantee a larger investment in mitigation projects.

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Footnotes:

1/ The nine (9) PA events referenced do not include the disaster declaration currently in effect in Indiana for the COVID-19 pandemic.

2/ Calculated by assuming only two (2) of the nine (9) PA disasters over the prior 12 years would be eligible for a PA declaration in the future.

3/ This is the total of the seven (7) Indiana disasters that would be ineligible for PA assistance under the new formula.

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

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