Streamlining emergency management

Craig Fugate

By Craig Fugate

[Editor’s note: Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, delivered the following testimony on Oct. 13, 2011 before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, entitled "Streamlining Emergency Management: Improving Preparedness, Response, and Cutting Costs."]

Introduction

Good morning Chairman Denham, Ranking Member Norton, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Craig Fugate, and I am the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of FEMA to discuss our efforts to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of FEMA's recovery activities.

FEMA is committed to helping communities recover from disaster as quickly as possible. Recovery is at the heart of disaster response and it is vital that we as an agency continue to support tribal, state and local governments to improve the recovery process. Successful recovery depends on collaboration with our many partners to ensure that they have a clear understanding of pre- and post-disaster roles and responsibilities. FEMA is just one part of the team, and the success and speed of recovery depends heavily on the Whole Community's involvement.

Today, I will describe how FEMA is cutting-costs and increasing efficiency across the agency, including our disaster assistance programs. These efforts are improving the speed and effectiveness of the delivery of our recovery programs. We are also working to improve collaboration with our federal, tribal, state, local, and nongovernmental partners to better coordinate delivery of needed services in the aftermath of a disaster. FEMA will continue to do its part to help individuals and communities rebuild and recover following a disaster.

Efforts to Cut Costs and Increase Efficiency

FEMA understands that the more efficient our operations are, the more people we can support. That is why we are constantly looking for ways to cut costs and streamline our processes. Through careful management of our Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) funds; implementation of FEMAStat, a management tool used to identify potential process improvements; and increased oversight of contract administration, we have identified and capitalized upon numerous opportunities to use our resources more efficiently.

Although we cannot predict the size, scope, or cost of future disasters, we have improved management of the DRF to maximize available resources. Over the past two years, FEMA has put additional mechanisms in place to reduce costs and identify funds that could be de-obligated and returned to the DRF. By increasing the level of oversight of the status of mission assignments, contracts, and grants we have been able to return over $4.7 billion (as of September 27, 2011) in excess funds to the DRF since the beginning of FY 2010. We continue to work to improve the accuracy of our estimates of resource needs for catastrophic disasters by regularly reviewing spending reports. Each catastrophic disaster team is required to prepare monthly spend plans that project resource needs for the current and succeeding year. These teams also work with state partners to identify priorities and plan for resource needs. Actual expenses are then compared to projections to identify variances and the reasons for those variances. In addition, we have been able to reduce the administrative costs associated with disaster response and recovery activities by establishing right-sizing plans for field offices and looking for situations where field offices can be co-located or run virtually from our regional offices. We will continue to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money by maximizing the effectiveness of DRF funds.

FEMA's aggressive and smart management prevented a lapse in the DRF in September. As we approached the end of the fiscal year, FEMA implemented Immediate Needs Funding (INF) and the Administration requested supplemental appropriations as we transitioned from immediate response to recovery following Hurricane Irene. In the meantime, as we awaited Congressional action, FEMA undertook an aggressive strategy to recover any funding possible to preserve Individual Assistance (IA), working with states on recoveries. Through these efforts, FEMA managed to preserve the DRF for another five days at the end of the Fiscal Year. At the same, projects and disaster recovery activities were put on hold during Sept to prioritize IA and recoveries. All of these activities will require attention and resources in FY12.

We have also successfully streamlined and reduced errors in disaster contracting through improved oversight and administration. At the beginning of FY 2010, FEMA's Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) created a new branch to provide administrative supervision and operational support for all Contracting Officers with regional duty stations. This new branch has helped increase awareness and use of local sources for disaster contract support.

Another significant improvement in acquisition management has been the use of Disaster Acquisition Response Teams (DARTs). The DART's primary focus is to respond to disasters and provide contract administration and oversight of large disaster contracts in the field. The use of DARTs has resulted in increased efficiency in disaster response and recovery acquisition activities: