NEW ORLEANS – The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) public assistance program plays an integral role in a community’s disaster recovery process. In Louisiana, the program is one of many key forces behind the recovery of state and local governments and certain private nonprofits.

The public assistance program awards grants to remove debris, demolish structures, carry out emergency protective measures, and repair and replace damaged, eligible infrastructure. The most important step in the program is project formulation, which includes preparing project worksheets (PW). The PW describes the eligible work and scope of work and estimates the costs to repair the damage. In Louisiana, 35,941 PWs have been written for both hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The PW undergoes a thorough review process before being approved and obligated. Once obligated, the grant money is transferred to the state to administer and distribute after an applicant requests funding. Although the public assistance program is a reimbursement program, the state may advance a portion of the funding to help applicants move projects forward.

FEMA has obligated 34,660 PWs to the state of Louisiana, amounting to more than $4.8 billion of the $8 billion gulf wide recently announced by FEMA's Gulf Coast Recovery Office. Louisiana has disbursed $2.5 billion of these funds to applicants. The remaining monies are immediately available to the parishes as soon as they request the funding and satisfy state requirements.  

An obligated PW does not firmly establish the final amount an applicant will receive, but rather provides an early estimate of costs. Throughout the rebuilding process, additional costs may be added to an infrastructure project as the architecture and engineering plans take form or hidden damages are identified during routine reassessments. Thus, the PW is an evolving document that acts as a historical record detailing the life of the grant.

“Recovery after any disaster is difficult, particularly after one of this magnitude,” said Jim Stark, FEMA director of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office. “FEMA’s public assistance program provides supplemental funding to restore and rebuild communities to their pre-disaster function and capacity. We will continue to work closely with the state and applicants to move the recovery process forward, and we will not stop until all eligible damage is identified and the last dollar is obligated to rebuild Louisiana.”

FEMA is doing everything possible to ensure that each applicant receives the maximum amount of assistance they are entitled to under the law. In addition to retraining staff and establishing mentor programs for newer public assistance staff, FEMA has also retained experts in various fields to refine the needs and cost estimates of projects requested by the state and applicants. To combat applicant staffing shortages, FEMA has co-located its staff with state and local counterparts whenever possible. In addition, FEMA has a number of liaisons and experts working throughout the impacted areas to assist applicants in developing their PW packages.

After working with the parishes to identify high priority projects that are crucial to recovery, FEMA has given those projects precedence for review and approval. These initiatives, along with Congress’ recent waiver of the 10 percent match, have been successful as evidenced by the high percentage of PWs completed to date. For the PWs that have not yet been written, FEMA is ready to engage as soon as the applicants are ready and eligible damage is identified.

While difficulties have arisen, the success of the public assistance program should not be judged by the number of problems encountered, but by the number of problems solved. FEMA remains committed to Louisiana until all PWs are written and the last penny is obligated to rebuild the state.  

FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.