Francis X. McCarthy
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 24
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Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), as federal law and a program activity, began in 1997. Congress established a pilot program, which FEMA named "Project Impact," to test the concept of investing prior to disasters to reduce the vulnerability of communities to future disasters. P.L. 106-390, the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, authorized the PDM program in law as Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. From its beginnings as "Project Impact" to its current state, the PDM program has grown in its level of appropriated resources and the scope of participation nationwide. Along with that growth have come issues for Congressional consideration, including the approach for awarding grant funds, the eligibility of certain applicants, the eligibility of certain projects, the degree of commitment by state and local governments, and related questions. Authorization for the PDM program expires on September 30, 2009. In the 111th Congress, Representative Oberstar and other sponsors introduced H.R. 1746 to re-authorize the program for an additional three years at $250 million per year and to remove the sunset provision. The bill would also increase the minimum amount each state can receive from $500,000 to $575,000. H.R. 1746 includes provisions that have been part of appropriations statutes that award funds both through a formula (with, as noted, a minimum amount available per state) as well as a competitive process for the majority of the funds. H.R. 1746 was approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 2 and was approved by the House under suspension of the rules on April 27, 2009. It is notable that the Administration's budget for FY2010 requests that the competitive process be dropped in favor of a risk-based assessment by FEMA. Congress may wish to hear more regarding the risk-based allocation formula before enacting the authorizing legislation for the coming years. In another major development in FY2008, Congress directed 95 grants to 28 states, which totaled close to 44% of all PDM funds (P.L. 110-161, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008). These were the first such earmarks for the PDM program. While some of the projects meet PDM eligibility standards, others may be considered emergency preparedness projects which are not eligible for grants, as defined by the Stafford Act and the PDM guidance. For FY2009, the Congress directed 51 grants to 27 states at a program cost of just under $25 million. The FY2010 DHS Appropriations measure currently has a funding level of $100 million proposed with just less than $25 million for Congressionally directed projects. The listing of directed grants for the last two fiscal years provides information on jurisdictions but does not have details on the types of projects involved. In consideration of the FY2010 appropriations, amendments were offered in the House and Senate to curtail the earmarking of PDM funds. This report will be updated as warranted by events.
