Introduction Chairman Barletta, Ranking Member Carson and Members of the Subcommittee: Good morning. I am Joseph Nimmich, the Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

I am here today to discuss how FEMA is continuing to assist communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, the tornadoes in Oklahoma and the numerous floods in the Midwest and Alaska, as well as how we are using the new authorities provided by the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA). At FEMA, we are committed to helping survivors and that guides our approach to everything we do – whether that be stabilizing an area in support of first responders, providing public or individual assistance or supporting long term infrastructure rebuilding in an area that has been damaged. Wherever disaster may strike, FEMA is committed to help our fellow citizens heal their communities and move forward on the road to recovery.

Response and Recovery for Hurricane Sandy On the evening of October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in southern New Jersey, with impacts felt across 24 states. The storm battered the East Coast – particularly the densely-populated New York and New Jersey coasts – with heavy rain, strong winds and record storm surges.

In Sandy’s immediate aftermath, more than 23,000 people sought refuge in temporary shelters, and more than 8.5 million customers lost power. The storm flooded numerous roads and tunnels, blocked transportation corridors and deposited extensive debris along the coastline.

At the direction of President Obama, FEMA coordinated the federal government’s response and support for the critical emergency needs of affected states.

Hurricane Sandy led to 13 major presidential disaster declarations, and was the catalyst for one of the largest personnel deployments in FEMA’s history. These declarations provided direct federal assistance to many communities through FEMA’s Individual Assistance (IA), Public Assistance (PA) and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

FEMA coordinated with its interagency partners to provide federal resources to the response effort and to develop innovative programs to address power restoration, transportation, fuel distribution, and housing needs.

In the immediate aftermath, FEMA established the Energy Restoration Task Force at the President’s direction to better coordinate federal, state, tribal, local and private sector efforts to restore power to the impacted areas as quickly as possible. The Task Force assisted in supplementing a massive private power restoration effort. Electric utilities from across the nation executed mutual aid agreements to deploy more than 70,000 workers to the impacted areas – the largest ever dispatch of utility workers.

Today, FEMA works hand in hand with the Department of Energy, institutionalizing these lessons learned in emergency management from Hurricane Sandy and ensuring key energy issues are addressed quickly.

Additionally, the President authorized a temporary 100 percent federal cost share for emergency power restoration and emergency public transportation assistance, including emergency protective measures to secure public transportation infrastructure. FEMA also issued an interim final rule authorizing, for a limited time, the reimbursement of straight or regular time salaries and benefits of employees of Public Assistance applicants who performed disaster-related debris removal work.

To address the high cost of living in the region, FEMA increased the amount of rental assistance available to survivors in New York and New Jersey to 125 percent of the published Fair Market Rent rate. The necessary increase made an additional 3,000 rental resources available to survivors across New York and New Jersey.

On November 6, FEMA convened a Hurricane Sandy Catastrophic Disaster Housing Task Force to support the state-led task forces’ efforts to plan for survivors’ temporary and long-term housing needs.

FEMA also tapped into its Innovation Team to discover ways to deliver the services more efficiently – and thoseeas were put to use. Following the storm, FEMA analyzed satellite and aerial imagery to determine what areas were inaccessible and expedited short-term rental assistance to residents that needed it most. In addition, FEMA employees – supplemented by DHS surge capacity force volunteers and FEMA Corps members, went door-to-door in some areas using tablet computers to help residents sign up for disaster relief without leaving their homes, even if they had lost power and internet access.

In the aftermath of the storm, FEMA provided 20 million liters of water, 16 million meals, nearly two million blankets and roughly 80,000 cots for survivors.

To meet survivor needs, FEMA deployed more than 1,700 Community Relations personnel to explain available programs and assist survivors registering for federal aid. FEMA personnel established a large presence of Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs), including 37 centers in New York and 35 in New Jersey. FEMA call centers supported these field elements and survivors, while registering more than half a million survivors for federal assistance. All told, more than 17,000 federal personnel, including 7,500 FEMA staff were deployed to support response and recovery efforts.

The Individuals and Households Program (IHP) provides financial assistance and direct services to survivors to address their critical needs. As of September 5, 2013, FEMA has approved more than $1.4 billion in IHP assistance for Hurricane Sandy survivors.

The PA program awards grants to assist state, local, and tribal governments, as well as certain private nonprofits, with response and recovery efforts. As of September 5, 2013, FEMA has obligated nearly $2.8 billion in Hurricane Sandy PA grants.

FEMA is working closely with its partners to formulate project worksheet (PW) and process subgrants to address damage caused by Sandy. One of the ways in which FEMA is able to provide financial reimbursement to local governments is through Expedited Payments, which help local communities recover more quickly. These are commonly referred to as Expedited PWs. FEMA obligates a portion of the federal share of the estimated cost of work under Category A (Debris Removal) and Category B (Emergency Protective Measures), as estimated during the preliminary damage assessment. FEMA is also aggressively applying the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act programs, which I will discuss shortly.

Additionally, FEMA is supporting local governments whose budgets became strained as a result of the storm, offering Community Disaster Loan Program (CDL) funding for affected communities. The CDL program provides federal loans to local governments that are having difficulty providing government services because of a loss in tax or other revenue following a disaster. Thus far FEMA has provided 60 loans totaling $174 million to communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

The HMGP assists state, local, and tribal governments with implementing long-term hazard mitigation measures. In New York and New Jersey, FEMA mitigation staff continues to work closely with State Hazard Mitigation Officers to discuss the states’ Hazard Mitigation Plans, types of projects available and how best to proceed with long-term hazard mitigation.

The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (SRIA) In January 2013, President Obama signed SRIA into law, authorizing several significant changes to the way FEMA delivers disaster assistance. SRIA is one of the most significant pieces of legislation impacting disaster response and recovery since the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 and builds upon the Robert T. Stafford Emergency Relief and Disaster Assistance Act.

SRIA’s various provisions are all intended to improve the efficacy and availability of FEMA disaster assistance and make the most cost-effective use of taxpayer dollars. FEMA is currently implementing the provisions of SRIA and the accompanying Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.

The agency has begun this work in earnest and has implemented or is nearing implementation for the following provisions from SRIA:

• Public Assistance Alternative Procedures for Permanent Work is a statutorily-authorized pilot program that provides substantially greater flexibility in project formulation and execution for applicants. Applicants accept grants based on fixed, capped estimates. Through this pilot, FEMA may accept project cost estimates that have been verified by licensed engineers, and the agency can fund an entire project based on the estimate rather than actual costs. Applicants may combine projects or pursue alternate projects without penalty. The alternative procedures are designed to expedite assistance, increase flexibility, lower administrative costs and speed recovery.
• Public Assistance Alternative Procedures for Debris Removal is a package of incentives to speed debris removal and encourage pre-disaster debris planning, including sliding scale cost share adjustments for rapid debris removal; a one-time, two percent additional cost share adjustment if an acceptable debris management plan is in place before the disaster; reimbursement for force account labor used in conducting debris removal; and provides for the applicant to retain proceeds from recycling debris. FEMA first implemented these procedures following the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma in May 2013, and the statutorily-authorized pilot was implemented nationwide on June 28, 2013. The debris pilot will last for one year, with the option to extend the pilot if operations warrant. The pilot program will serve as a bridging strategy and data collection effort to inform the development of federal regulations promulgated pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, which affords interested members of the public an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking and submit comments. In determining whether to extend the pilot each year, FEMA will consult with DHS, the National Security Staff (NSS), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) not less than 90 days before the end of the one year pilot period.
• SRIA amended the statutory provision for HMGP to enable FEMA to: 1) set up a pilot program to enable states to administer certain aspects of the program if specific conditions are met; (2) provide not more than 25 percent of the amount of the estimated cost of hazard mitigation measures before eligible costs are incurred; and (3) streamline environmental and historic preservation review processes. FEMA issued guidance for all of these procedures in the spring of 2013.
• SRIA has given federally-recognized tribal governments the option of requesting an emergency or major disaster declaration to the President, through the FEMA Regional Administrator, instead of through a state. Thus far, FEMA has processed and the President has approved “major” disaster declaration requests from four tribes: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Navajo Nation, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, and the Karuk Tribe. With these declarations, Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding is being provided to the tribes.
• Dispute Resolution/Arbitration is a statutorily-mandated pilot program for Public Assistance disputes. A final rule implementing the program was published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2013. This program will be available for disputes of at least $1,000,000, where the applicant bears a non-federal cost share, arising from disasters declared after October 3030, 2012, and the applicant has completed a first appeal with FEMA. Requests for arbitration may be made until December 31, 2015.

FEMA is currently developing specific implementation procedures for each new authority and will continue implementation through a combination of a grantee engagement potential rulemaking and/or the development of policy or other guidance documents.

Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy and FEMA’s After Action Report FEMA is also taking steps outside of the legislative process to improve its response to disasters, recently developing a Hurricane Sandy After-Action Report that reviewed all aspects of the Agency’s preparations for, immediate response to and initial recovery from the October 2012 storm.

Administrator Fugate established the Sandy Analysis Team to develop the Agency’s after-action report. The team compiled an event chronology, analyzed more than 40 FEMA component submissions on lessons learned from the storm, and interviewed more than 200 personnel from FEMA and other federal departments, as well as state and local governments.

The Hurricane Sandy After-Action Reportentifies the Agency’s strengths and more importantly provides recommendations to improve FEMA’s response and recovery efforts. The reportentifies four central themes for improvement:

• Ensuring unity of effort across the federal response: The severity of the storm underscored several areas for improvement related to FEMA’s ability to coordinate federal operations, including integrating senior leader communications into response and recovery operations; coordinating resources through the Emergency and Recovery Support Functions (ESF and RSF respectively); refining the mission assignment process; and using analysis to drive operational decision-making.
• Next steps include developing appropriate training, exercises, and outreach programs to foster greater coordination and communication among ESFs and RSFs, making the mission assignment process as efficient and transparent as possible, and improving efficiencies in the way FEMA provides support to large-scale events. Additional recommendations address implementation of the Agency’s Lessons Learned/Continuous Improvement Program (LL/CIP).
• In support of this effort, FEMA/National Exercise Division recently supported the National Security Staff in their conduct of a Principals’ Level Exercise (PLE) for Cabinet members to review their roles, responsibilities, and authorities within the National Response Framework (NRF), the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), and the National Continuity Policy (NCP). Conducted prior to the start of the 2013 hurricane season, the exercise examined issuesentified during previous incidents including interagency coordination during the 2012 hurricane season and, in particular, Hurricane Sandy. The discussion-based exercise focused on two central issues: the actions and mechanisms required to ensure a coordinated and rapid delivery of Federal support prior to and following a major storm threatening the U.S. mainland and the actions and requirements necessary to ensure continuation of the National Essential Functions (NEFs) and Primary Mission Essential Functions (PMEFs) in each department and agency.
• Being survivor-centric: Leadership at FEMA adopted a “cut the red tape” posture to better serve survivors and communities, but opportunities remain, including meeting survivors’ needs during initial interactions with FEMA; ensuring all survivors have equal access to services; and reducing the complexity of the public assistance program.
• Fostering unity of effort across the whole community: Sandy highlighted the need for FEMA to improve coordination with tribal governments and clarify how the agency interacts with local governments in disasters affecting large urban areas.

• Recommendations include anticipating cities’ resource requirements and understanding their capabilities, coordinating directly with local jurisdictions when it supports a forward-leaning response, promoting better integration between states and large urban governments, including encouraging local and tribal participation in the Unified Coordination Group whe
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