Download Report

Add to Folder

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (The Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288) contains discretion for the President to adjust cost-shares for the Public Assistance (PA) program, Sections 406 and 407 of the act, that provides assistance to states, local governments and non-profit organizations for debris removal and rebuilding of the public and non-profit infrastructure. The language of the Stafford Act defining cost-shares for the repair, restoration, and replacement of damaged facilities provides that the federal share "shall be not less than 75 percent." These provisions have been in effect for over 20 years. While the authority to adjust the cost-share is long standing, the history of FEMA's administrative adjustments and Congress' legislative actions in this area, are of a more recent vintage. In all, there have been 222 cost-share adjustments of varying sizes and lengths of time. In 1998 FEMA promulgated, in regulation, a more consistent and open approach to cost-share adjustments. The overwhelming majority of these actions have been based on that regulatory authority and carried out by the executive branch through administrative actions. However, since 1997, and particularly in the wake of the difficult issues caused by the Gulf Coast storms of 2005, Congress has ...