Backgrounder Date: August 6, 2007 Contact: FEMA Public Affairs 202-646-4600 FOIA COURT ORDER DIRECTS FEMA TO RELEASE APPLICANT INFORMATION: FEMA LAUNCHING OUTREACH EFFORT TO APPLICANTS AFFECTED As a result of the recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) court case News-Press v. DHS/FEMA, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered FEMA to release information normally protected under the Privacy Act and the FOIA exemption for personal privacy, including the following: The addresses of those individuals who applied for disaster assistance from FEMA following the 2004 Florida hurricanes and those who filed flood insurance claims under the National Flood Insurance Program for the 2004 hurricanes in Florida to The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla. and the Pensacola News Journal; and, The addresses of those individuals who applied for disaster assistance from FEMA in connection with 31 specific disasters between 1998 and 2004, including the 2004 hurricanes to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The order affects up to 2.2 million persons in eight states who applied for federal assistance in connection with disasters that include hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in Florida in 2004 and 27 additional Presidentially declared disasters. Questions & Answers How many applicants does this court decision affect? This court decision affects hundreds of thousands of households. It includes the release of information from more than two million FEMA applications. What disasters are covered by this court decision? This court decision covers 31 disasters in eight states between 1998 and 2004. Specific disaster events include hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in Florida in 2004; Hurricane Isabel in 2003; Hurricane Floyd in 1999; Hurricane George in 1998; and 24 other major disasters. The states involved are Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. What types of applicant information must FEMA release if there is a FOIA request? If FEMA receives a FOIA request for information about an applicant, the agency is required to make available the following: FEMA registration number County and zip code Type and category of assistance Eligible or ineligible for assistance Dollar amount provided Renter or homeowner Cause of damage Insurance status on items claimed Line item description of lost/damaged personal property Item-by-item description of damage to real property When and how is FEMA notifying applicants that their information is being released? Beginning the first week of August, FEMA is launching an effort to contact affected applicants. FEMA will send a letter to the last known address and call the last known phone number in an applicant’s file. Will people who applied for federal assistance after more than one disaster be contacted multiple times? Yes, FEMA will notify each applicant for each disaster. If you applied for assistance in more than one of the designated disasters covered under this court ruling, you will be contacted more than once. Will this type of applicant information be released for other disasters, including future disasters? The court based its decision on the special circumstances surrounding the 2004 Florida hurricanes. It determined that the public interest in FEMA’s disbursement of disaster aid in those conditions outweighed the privacy interest of the people involved. FEMA will continue to protect the addresses of disaster victims in the future both under FOIA and the Privacy Act. Will the news organizations be able to contact applicants directly as a result of this release of information? FEMA is being required to release the addresses of the applicants’ disaster-damaged homes. However, if the news organizations match the addresses with the detailed information previously released under the FOIA, they will have considerable information about the individual applicant, such as the amount of assistance provided and the status of their insurance claims. Is there anything an applicant can do to prevent the release of this information? If they wish, applicants can contact the newspapers to let them know they do not want any personal information about them to be published. Why did the media organizations file the FOIAs and appeal the withholding of people’s names and addresses? That is a question better addressed to the newspapers themselves. You can reach the South Florida Sun-Sentinel at 954-356-4615 or by e-mail at gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com. The Pensacola New Journal’s telephone number is 850-435-8681 and its email address is news@pensacolanewsjournal.com. The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla., may be reached at 239-335-0560 or response@news-press.com. States and Disaster Events Included in the Ruling State Disaster Number Date Title Alabama 1250 09/30/1998 Hurricane Georges 1438* 10/09/2002 Tropical Storm Isidore 1466 05/12/2003 Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding 1549 09/15/2004 Hurricane Ivan California 1203 02/09/1998 Severe Winter Storms and Flooding 1498 10/27/2003 Wildfires Florida 1204 02/12/1998 Severe Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Flooding 1306 10/20/1999 Hurricane Irene 1345 10/04/2000 Heavy Rains And Flooding 1460 04/25/2003 Tornado 1539 08/13/2004 Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie 1545 09/04/2004 Hurricane Frances 1551 09/16/2004 Hurricane Ivan 1561 09/26/2004 Hurricane Jeanne Louisiana 1246 09/23/1998 Tropical Storm Frances and Hurricane Georges 1435 09/27/2002 Tropical Storm Isidore 1437 10/03/2002 Hurricane Lili 1548 09/15/2004 Hurricane Ivan Michigan 1346 10/17/2000 Severe Storms And Flooding 1527 06/30/2004 Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding North Carolina 1240 08/27/1998 Hurricane Bonnie 1292 09/16/1999 Hurricane Floyd & Irene 1490 09/18/2003 Hurricane Isabel 1546 09/10/2004 Tropical Storm Frances 1553 09/18/2004 Hurricane Ivan Ohio 1444 11/18/2002 Severe Storms and Tornadoes 1484 08/01/2003 Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, and High Winds 1519 06/03/2004 Severe Storms and Flooding Wisconsin 1238 08/12/1998 Wisconsin Severe Storms and Flooding 1332 06/23/2000 Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding 1526 06/18/2004 Severe Storms and Flooding