Ana Morales
Region II, Recovery Division Deputy Director for FEMA
This conversation is compiled from both email and telephone correspondence.
Source: FEMA
Upon reaching out to Ana Morales, I had researched the Public Assistance Program offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While finding the information was not easy, I was able to find the process all applicants must go through to receive Public Assistance funding. The Public Assistance Program is specifically focused on helping communities with the recovery process after a major disaster.
FEMA lays out the primary roles and responsibilities of the Public Assistance Program as the following:
"The Public Assistance program is administered through a coordinated effort between the FEMA, the State or Tribe (grantee), and the applicants (subgrantees). While all three entities must work together to meet the overall objective of quick, efficient, effective program delivery, each has a different role. FEMA's primary responsibilities are to determine the amount of funding, participate in educating the applicant on specific program issues and procedures, assist the applicant with the development of projects, and review the projects for compliance." Source: FEMA
Could you shed some light on the final step of the application process?
The Period of performance of the PA Program is aligned with the individual project that has the latest Period of performance. Depending on the magnitude of the damages and capabilities of the subrecipients (applicants), a typical PA disaster is open for 6 to 8 years. PA staff will continue working with Recipient and subrecipients during the life of the projects or until closeout.
Are the governments not receiving any funds for this up to 3-month process of applying for public assistance?
No, the PA program processes projects as soon as the applicants provide an eligible project to the FEMA team. FEMA provides the Federal funds to a Recipient, which is the state – and the Recipient disburses the funds to the subrecipients (applicants).
Do applications get denied? If so, what are some possible reasons an application would get denied in an emergency situation?
The PA Program provides funding to governmental departments, local governments, and certain Private non-Profit organizations. If the PA program receives a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) from a non-eligible entity, that application will be denied; the denial is submitted in writing in a letter to the Recipient.
There is an 18 month time frame to complete the recovery process, however we understand that emergencies can produce serious damage and may take longer. What does FEMA do to ensure that the work is continuing even after that time frame?
44 CFR 206.204 sets the time for the subrecipients/applicants to complete the work. Time set is: 6 months for debris removal, 6 months for emergency protective measures and 18 months for permanent work. If subrecipients have not completed the work within regulatory time, they can request a time extension of the project completion deadline. There is not a regulatory limit to approve a time extension, there are some requirements to submit a request to extend it. PA staff does not disengage after the 18 months.
Additionally, while FEMA's job is not to modernize a city, state, or in this case an island, would it have been more beneficial to invest in renewable energy sources? As this would be of a cheaper cost to the Federal Government, and provide an extra level of security in the preparedness of Puerto Rico in future disasters.
Through the PA Program, FEMA provides funding to subrecipients to restore or replace disaster-damaged infrastructure. While we guard that the Federal funding is extended meeting parameters set in laws, regulations, and policy, it is the responsibility of the subrecipients to define how to best restore the eligible damaged infrastructure. Additionally, the PA Program can provide funding for mitigation measures that will reduce or prevent the same damage in the next event.
Email Correspondence
I emailed Ana Morales to ask for clarification on the Public Assistance application (attached on this page). She graciously answered my questions but was quick to mention that this new Public Assistance (PA) model was not used in Puerto Rico for the Hurricane Maria recovery process.
Here is our correspondence:
Email Correspondence
After Ms. Morales clarified how the new Public Assistance Program works and explained that this program was not used in Puerto Rico. Our conversation continued, when Ms. Morales felt our conversation would have been clearer over the phone.
Here is our correspondence:
Hi Ana,
Thank you for your response. I was unaware that the Maria response was not under the model I attached. Could you provide me with information on the model that was used during the Maria response? Additionally, could you show me how to find that on the website?
Thank you so much,
Jenna Ortiz
Jenna
I don’t have the information you ask. I can only assume that FEMA retired the old processes.
Ana
Hi Ana,
I just want to clarify quickly. Are you saying that there's no information online about the process that was used for Public Assistance in Puerto Rico for Maria, as well as you personally don't have any information about it?
If it's not available online, I would still love if you could provide some insight on the process that was used from your personal perspective and understanding.
Thank you,
Jenna Ortiz
At this point, we moved to correspondence over the phone.
Hi Ana,
Thank you for your response. I was unaware that the Maria response was not under the model I attached. Could you provide me with information on the model that was used during the Maria response? Additionally, could you show me how to find that on the website?
Thank you so much,
Jenna Ortiz
Jenna
I don’t have the information you ask. I can only assume that FEMA retired the old processes.
Ana
Hi Ana,
I just want to clarify quickly. Are you saying that there's no information online about the process that was used for Public Assistance in Puerto Rico for Maria, as well as you personally don't have any information about it?
If it's not available online, I would still love if you could provide some insight on the process that was used from your personal perspective and understanding.
Thank you,
Jenna Ortiz
At this point, we moved to correspondence over the phone.
Recovery Basics
The magnitude of the damage in Puerto Rico caused a decision to be made to continue using the old Public Assistance Program to avoid confusion among applicants. This is the exact same program used in any other part of the continental U.S.
Issues with the former Public Assistance Program:
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The former process only tracks grants/funding from FEMA once they have been approved.
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There was no formal method to track all of the paperwork completed before a grant is approved by FEMA.
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Offered the ability for things to slip through the cracks and create an opportunity for applications to get lost.
A new Public Assistance Program was released in Summer of 2017
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Included new components like program delivery managers, site inspectors, and disaster scoping meetings
Basic Understandings of Recovery Process
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Applicants are responsible for starting the work and then essentially get reimbursed by FEMA once they can show that work has been started
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If an applicant does not have the funds to start a project, they can request an advance on their grant funds
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Applicants are responsible for picking the contractors. FEMA does not select the contractors for recovery work, it is up to the State.
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Recovery in Puerto Rico
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The Puerto Rican government was required by the United States federal government to create a new office to process all of the grant funding from FEMA.
This office is called the Central Office of Recovery and Reconstruction of Puerto Rico (COR3).
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COR3 will be the grantee for all funds, and will distribute all grants to the subgrantees / applicants
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COR3 can advance funds to towns that do not have funds to begin projects
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COR3 does not have any say in adding or subtracting funds from a subgrantee, whatever they were approved for they will receive
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Phone Correspondence
The conversation over the phone proved to be fruitful. Ms. Morales was very forthcoming in explaining how the Public Assistance Program worked in Puerto Rico, including explaining why the new program that was adopted in the Summer of 2017 was not used.
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Here are the main points from our correspondence: