FEMA. December 17,2012

Transcription

1 Mark S. Riley Deputy Director - Disaster Recovery Division GOHSEP, State of Louisiana 1500 Main Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana U,S, Department of Homeland Security Louisiana Recovery Office One Seine Court, Suite 3062 New Orleans, LA (504) office (504) fax FEMA Re: State Communications on Time Extensions FEMA DR-LA FEMA Correspondence Log # Dear Mr. Riley: This is in reply to your letter dated October 15,2012 communicating GOHSEP's concern over the current process for requesting and receiving time extensions under FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) program for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This letter addresses your concerns about the current process and identifies additional measures to expedite FEMA determinations on future requests. Your letter references two recent FEMA letters in which time extensions were denied for Society of the Holy Family for Project Worksheet (PW) 6122 and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad for PW s 17792, 17793, 17794, 17796, 17797, and In both instances the Applicant's time extensions were denied because the request did not contain extenuating circumstances or a timeline for the completion of the project. Both applicants were encouraged to resubmit their request for extensions with the required justifications as outlined in 44 CFR (d) so that FEMA may evaluate the appropriateness of an extension. Additionally, after further discussions with the Society of the Holy Family and GOHSEP, FEMA has obtained a copy of a letter from the Applicant, dated November 7, 2012 which included a sufficient justification of extenuating circumstances and a timeline ofproject milestones up through the estimated construction completion date. With this justification and a revised timeline of construction completion, the Applicant's request for a time extension for PW 6122 was approved through February 28, 2014 in a letter to GOHSEP dated November 20,2012. In the interest of Louisiana's recovery, FEMA is committed to ensuring that the time extension process meets the end goals of recovery and PW closeout. The regulatory time extensions allowed for in 44 CFR ( c )(2)(ii) are six additional months for categories A and Band 30 additional months for categories C-G. After these regulatory deadlines for the grantee expired, FEMA authorized blanket time extensions for permanent and temporary work in response to the extent and severity of damages, the large number of projects, and the time required for design and construction of buildings.

2 Page 2 of 4 Subsequently, upon request from the Applicants and GOHSEP, FEMA granted time extensions on a case-by-case basis for projects needing additional time for completion. In general, for projects not in construction, FEMA granted time extensions for 90 days from the date of the signed FEMA response letter. For projects that were in construction and the Applicant has demonstrated the issuance of a notice to proceed to the contractor, FEMA typically granted a time extension through the end of construction with an additional 30 days for variables and delays in the construction cycle. This approach enabled Applicants that were moving forward with their projects to execute their scopes of work through the end of the construction term without the need for additional time extensions. By granting 90-day time extensions to Applicants that showed slow or little to no movement on their projects, FEMA allowed the Applicants to draw down on their funds while monitoring their progress toward construction. However, several years after the disasters, some Applicants are still showing little movement on their projects and continue to accrue temporary facility costs with no definitive schedules for construction. Your letter suggests that FEMA is slow to process time extensions and that the length of the extension is inadequate, identifying that it takes 90 days to grant a 90-day time extension, upon which time the Applicant must submit for another extension. Turnaround times for time extensions vary based on the number ofpws in a request and the amount of information provided by GOHSEP and the Applicant. Also, as you've noted in your letter, FEMA worked directly with GOHSEP to identify ways to minimize the Applicant's and GOHSEP's burden by allowing a single letter and a spreadsheet to serve as the official request for a time extension. In many instances, the information provided on the spreadsheet is inaccurate or lacks sufficient detail to substantiate the projected completion date. It should also be noted that FEMA has received individual time extension requests with as few as one PW to as many as 1,190 PWs. Thus, the more PWs listed in a request, the longer the processing time. Similarly, the less complete the information provided in the request, the more research is required offema to obtain the information from the Applicant or GOHSEP, creating an undue additional burden on all parties. As outlined in 44 CFR , in order for FEMA to grant time extensions beyond the regulatory time frames, the Grantee must submit documentation to FEMA that includes, but is not limited to the following: (d) Requests for time extensions. Requests for time extensions beyond the Grantee's authority shall be submitted by the Grantee to the Regional Administrator and shall include the following: (1) The dates and provisions of all previous time extensions on the project; and (2) A detailed justification for the delay and a projected completion date. The Regional Administrator shall review the request and make a determination. The Grantee shall be notified of the Regional Administrator's determination in writing. If the Regional Administrator approves the request, the letter shall reflect the approved completion date and any other requirements the Regional Administrator may determine necessary to ensure that the new completion date is met. If the Regional Administrator denies the time extension request, the grantee may, upon completion ofthe project, be reimbursed for eligible project costs incurred only up to the latest approved completion date. Ifthe project is not completed, no Federal funding will be provided for that project.

3 December 21, 2012 Page 3 of 4 Although FEMA has previously responded to time extension requests from the ApplicantiGOHSEP without this documentation on the request, FEMA has sought this information after receiving the request. Because project information is many times not included on the request, FEMA reaches out to the Applicant and/or GOHSEP to obtain the required information. The process of obtaining information in order to complete a determination can take weeks and sometimes months, depending on the information needed and the timeliness of the response from GOHSEP or the Applicant. This can cause an undue delay in processing the request and result in frustration for all parties. On average, FEMA issues a determination within 30 days of receipt of a time extension request (see table below). As discussed earlier, for projects not in construction, the 90-day time extension clock begins from the date of the signed FEMA approval letter. Average # of Days to Complete # of PWs in Request Request* *N ote: This data gathered from 454 requests ranging from 1 to 1,190 PWs from October 1,2010 to October 1,2012. Days are calculated from the date the request letter is received by FEMA Correspondence to the date in which the response letter is signed. Timeframes provided above include research time between FEMA, GOHSEP and the applicant. FEMA agrees that expediting determinations on time extensions is essential to ensuring continued reimbursements to Applicants for their recovery projects. FEMA cannot accept GOHSEP's recommendation of establishing universal extenuating circumstances at this stage of the recovery process. Recognizing that time extension requests submitted with insufficient information require additional time to process, it is essential for GOHSEP and the Applicant to provide specific project information on the initial request to FEMA. FEMA has created a checklist to help expedite processing of time extension requests (see attached). In this form, the Applicant will provide information specific to the PW(s) in the request, including the construction status and schedule, notice to proceed documentation, associated Alternate or Improved Project PWs, associated temporary facilities, and demolition status. The checklist must be fully complete and the supporting documentation provided in order for FEMA to review and process the time extension. If the Applicant's project is still in the planning or design phase of construction, FEMA will consider a time extension through the Applicant's projected timeline for soliciting bids. Once the Applicant has formally provided the notice to proceed indicating that the project is in or is scheduled to begin construction, FEMA will grant a time extension through the date of construction completion with an additional 30 days added for variables and delays in the construction schedule. This will require at a minimum two requests for a time extension instead of

4 Page 4 of 4 multiple requests while the project is going through design and bid solicitation. Ifthe Applicant fails to issue a notice to proceed by their estimated date, they must provide FEMA with a revised construction schedule and detailed extenuating circumstances explaining why the project has been delayed. FEMA will review this information to determine if further time extensions are warranted. If the Applicant does not provide the information outlined in 44 CFR and , FEMA will deny future time extensions. It should also be noted that FEMA recognizes that there are instances where FEMA may be part of the reason for the extenuating circumstances. FEMA will continue to take into consideration any efforts that we are a party to, when establishing the appropriateness of a time extension. Those. instances may be associated with environmental and historic preservation requirements, review of alternate or improved project requests, and/or formulation or obligation of a version. For all other extenuating circumstances, ifthe Applicant has not provided supporting documentation as outlined in 44 CFR or an estimated completion date to support further time extensions, the time extension will be denied. If the Applicant chooses, they may appeal the decision as outlined in 44 CFR Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information. Sincere ' _~ Andre Cadogan Deputy Director, Programs Louisiana Recovery Office ~ Enclosure: FEMA Project Worksheet Time Extension Request cc: Mark DeBosier, State Coordinating Officer, GOHSEP

5 -- Applicant Name: FIPS#: FEMA PROJECT WORKSHEET TIME EXTENSION REQUEST TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT PWII Appllcanrs Requested Ext_Ion Date Previous nme Calegory of Elltension Work FlICillty NaJIlII Description ofwork (repair, replace, etc.. ) WMt Is StaIUS of the Permanent Work PW? (Click on be»< & select from dropdowrt) What Is the bid opening date? (skip if under ccnstruction) Is there a NotIce to Proceed? (Click on be»< for Yes or No) Hyes, please atiech. What la the anticipated start date of construction? Whatlathe completion date of construction? If a Permanent wortc PW, list all TempPWh...clated wfth Permanent work PW and vice versa Ale the Permanent work PWs pint of an Alternate or Improved (AI) Project? If yes, what I.. the AI PWII? la demolltlon part ofllle permanent workpw? demolition complete? WMt Is the date of demolition? Detailed Justification for requested time extension