Disaster Specific Guidance (DSG) #1A
Appeal Brief
| Disaster | FEMA-1624-DR |
| Applicant | Guadalupe County - TX |
| Appeal Type | Second |
| PA ID# | 187-99187-00 |
| PW ID# | xxx-xxxxx |
| Date Signed | 2006-09-01T04:00:00 |
Citation:
FEMA-1624-DR-TX, Guadalupe County, Texas, DSG #1A
Cross-reference:
Threat of Wildfire Major Disaster Declaration
Summary:
FEMA-1623-DR-TX was declared for the severe weather and fire threat conditions throughout the State of Texas, from December 27, 2005, through
May 14, 2006. In a letter dated April 24, 2006, Guadalupe County waived its right to a first appeal and submitted a second appeal for the criteria under #1A for the weeks of February 13, 2006, through April 17, 2006. The County argues that “DSG #1A does not provide the flexibility needed to recognize the specific persistent and adverse weather condition and resulting wildfire danger that exist…”
Issues:
1. Can Guadalupe County be exempted from the weekly eligibility criteria under DSG #1A?
Findings:
1. No.
Rationale:
President’s disaster declaration letter dated January 11, 2006,
FEMA-1624-DR-TX DSG #1A
Appeal Letter
September 1, 2006
Mr. Frank Cantu
State Coordinating Officer Division of Emergency Management
P.O. Box 4087
Austin, Texas 78773-0220
Re: Second Appeal, PA ID: 187-99187-00, Guadalupe County,
Disaster Specific Guidance (DSG) #1A, FEMA-1624-DR-TX
Dear Mr. Cantu:
This letter is in response to your letter dated August 15, 2006, forwarding the above referenced second appeal on behalf of Guadalupe County (County) dated July 12, 2006. The County is appealing its denial of reimbursement eligibility for Category B emergency work under DSG #1A, which set forth weekly criteria for reimbursement eligibility under the Public Assistance Program.
FEMA-1623-DR-TX was declared for the severe weather and fire conditions that overwhelmed the State of Texas from December 27, 2005 through May 14, 2006. In its second appeal letter, the County waived its right to a first appeal and appealed the criteria under DSG #1A for the weeks of February 6, 2006 through March 19, 2006, during which it incurred $14,205 in costs.
The County asserts that the process used to determine eligibility was flawed and that during the period in which was County was ineligible, “the drought index, a direct indicator of potential adverse fire behavior, was higher than at anytime during which the County was eligible.” In addition, the County suggests that the DSG #1A criteria is “easily manipulated and will lead to poor fire management practices in the years to come.”
Development of the DSGs stemmed from the disaster declaration letter dated January 11, 2006, from the President of the United States to Texas Governor Rick Perry. The letter included the following statement, “Designation of specific counties will be made on a weekly basis for the duration of the incident, and those designated for approved reimbursements will be made based on measurable weather and fire conditions that identify areas threatened by an urgent danger from wildfires.” DSG #1 and #1A were developed to establish the policy by which affected counties would demonstrate that they qualify for assistance under this provision of the President’s major disaster declaration.
FEMA’s use of weather and fire threat data at the Predictive Service Area (PSA) level instead of the county level to determine weekly reimbursement eligibility was made after coordinating with the State and the US Forest Service (USFS). Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) which gather much of the data do not exist in every county. To accommodate this limitation, the State and USFS use the PSA as the lowest level of geography, over which RAWS data is interpolated and interpreted to assess fire threat. The area within a PSA shares similar geography and climatology, and reacts similarly to changes in weather. Because Guadalupe County does not have its own RAWS, weather and fire threat information is interpolated from RAWS in nearby counties.
FEMA developed DSG #1A after we determined that DSG #1 provided very broad and somewhat redundant criteria which did not accurately identify areas where weather and fire threat conditions could potentially generate fires that would constitute a major disaster. DSG #1A recognized severe fire threat through the Energy Release Component (ERC), actual fire occurrences, as well as incident commanders’ decisions for strategically pre-positioning and deploying fire suppression resources.
The USFS provided technical assistance to FEMA to identify the NFDRS indicator that was the most predictive of weather and fire threat conditions in Texas. Using over 20 years of historical data, the ERC was shown to be the best indicator of fire that may threaten to become a major disaster in Texas.
In addition to a having an ERC in the 90th percentile or higher, the weekly eligibility determination was also based on identifying where the ability to respond to wildfires was beyond local government capabilities, as indicated by where the Incident Commander determined State, out-of-State or Federal fire suppression resources were to be pre-positioned or actually directed to respond to fires. Under both DSGs, the State retained the option to request a Fire Management Assistance declaration for fires that threatened to become a major disaster and did make such requests.
We have reviewed the appeal and determined that there are no compelling reasons to revise the evaluation criteria used in DSG #1A. Please inform the County of my decision. My determination constitutes the final decision on this matter pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.206.
Sincerely,
/ s /
John R. D’Araujo, Jr.
Director of Recovery
Federal Emergency Management Agency
cc: William Peterson
Regional Director
FEMA Region VI