FEMA Releases Second Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has released its second Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on establishing a deductible for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, for the “repair and replacement of public infrastructure damaged by a disaster event.”  This supplemental ANPR describes a conceptual deductible program, including a methodology for calculating deductible amounts based upon a State’s fiscal capacity and disaster risk, and a credit structure to reward States for investing in emergency management activities, such as readiness, preparedness, mitigation, and resilience.  This proposal would not impact other FEMA disaster assistance such as debris removal, emergency protective measures, or their Individual Assistance or Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.  

The first ANPR did not provide any details of what the program might look like, but outlined a deductible concept with States receiving credit toward their deductible requirement through proactive pre-event actions.  RCRC joined the California State Association of Counties and the Urban County Caucus in submitting comments on the first ANPR for this proposal.  The supplemental ANPR provides estimates of each State’s deductible, based upon their fiscal capacity and disaster risk calculated by FEMA, and estimates potential credits based upon seven credit categories.    

FEMA recognizes it may not have all the information necessary to calculate each State’s deductible and credits, and is seeking comments on the proposal’s framework and input from each State on the estimates in the proposal.  Comments on the supplemental ANPR are due by April 12, 2017.  If this concept proceeds forward, FEMA would publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking before issuing a final rule.  FEMA anticipates not applying any deductible for at least one year following publication of the final rule and then phasing in the deductible.

RCRC staff is seeking input from our counties on this proposal.  Please submit any comments to mpitto@rcrcnet.org.  The supplemental ANPR can be accessed here.