Senate Bill sb1544
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Florida Senate - 2005 (NP) SM 1544
By Senator Rich
34-1558-05 See HM 191
1 Senate Memorial No. ____
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United
3 States, urging the review and reorganization of
4 Federal Emergency Management Agency policies
5 and administrative procedures for the purpose
6 of avoiding delays in cleanup and reimbursement
7 in the aftermath of declared disasters.
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9 WHEREAS, in the summer of 2004, the State of Florida
10 endured an unprecedented incidence of four consecutive
11 hurricanes striking the state in a period of two months,
12 causing enormous destruction to property and infrastructure
13 and leaving 70 people dead throughout the state, and
14 WHEREAS, though much reconstruction and rebuilding has
15 been accomplished in the aftermath of Hurricanes Frances,
16 Charley, Jeanne, and Ivan, many Florida communities are
17 continuing to struggle with rebuilding efforts, and
18 WHEREAS, during the recovery process, the Governor's
19 Office has worked diligently in securing funds for our state
20 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and
21 WHEREAS, though the Federal Emergency Management Agency
22 has provided much-needed assistance, many South Florida
23 communities are currently being required to submit to new,
24 needlessly restrictive bureaucratic policies in order to
25 obtain relief from the agency, and
26 WHEREAS, as a result of these new bureaucratic
27 policies, South Florida communities are now confronted with
28 unnecessary regulatory hurdles in obtaining FEMA funds that
29 have delayed cleanup efforts and badly needed federal
30 reimbursements and that continue to negatively impact the
31 lives of Florida citizens, and
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Florida Senate - 2005 (NP) SM 1544
34-1558-05 See HM 191
1 WHEREAS, under the new FEMA policies and administrative
2 processes, instead of appropriate local governments acting as
3 a conduit for management and disbursement of FEMA moneys and
4 debris removal, each private community or homeowners'
5 association is required to apply for such assistance on its
6 own, in effect making it impossible for a city to obtain a
7 blanket reimbursement to cover its cleanup costs for the
8 city's entire jurisdiction, and
9 WHEREAS, under these new policies, municipalities such
10 as the City of Coconut Creek have been advised that they will
11 not be reimbursed by FEMA for cleanup services provided to
12 private communities within the municipality, whether gated or
13 otherwise, and have been instructed to advise such private
14 communities to manage their debris removal and apply on an
15 individual basis to FEMA for reimbursement, a process that is
16 both administratively and operationally unsound, and
17 WHEREAS, certain legislative districts in the state
18 encompass nearly 100 condominium and homeowners' associations,
19 and many South Florida communities, such as Weston, are
20 composed almost entirely of private communities, and
21 WHEREAS, these private communities are not equipped or
22 prepared to undertake the FEMA application process and manage
23 the level of administrative detail required under the new FEMA
24 policies and processes, and
25 WHEREAS, faced with the task of applying for, securing,
26 and managing FEMA funds on their own, many private communities
27 will experience significant delays in receiving funding or in
28 some cases may not obtain FEMA reimbursement under these
29 policies at all, and
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Florida Senate - 2005 (NP) SM 1544
34-1558-05 See HM 191
1 WHEREAS, besides creating a bureaucratic nightmare, the
2 new FEMA guidelines pose an enormous problem for local
3 government solid waste management systems, and
4 WHEREAS, South Florida municipalities have the proven
5 ability to provide citywide coordination of such large-scale
6 cleanup efforts and can best provide an economy of scale as
7 well as the most reasonable cost for these services, and
8 WHEREAS, the need for solid waste removal does not
9 respect private community boundaries, and citizens expect
10 their local governments to provide these services regardless
11 of where they are located, and
12 WHEREAS, in a city such as Orlando, which operates its
13 own solid waste system, the new FEMA policy means that the
14 city would have to obtain reimbursement for cleanup through
15 each homeowners' association or condominium association for
16 areas that the city is already obligated to serve, and
17 WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of the citizens of
18 this state for local municipalities to be granted jurisdiction
19 for the application and management of FEMA funds in the
20 aftermath of a declared disaster, as has been the case in the
21 past following other devastating hurricanes, and
22 WHEREAS, it is imperative that the Federal Emergency
23 Management Agency reorganize its current policies and
24 administrative processes in order to avoid further delays in
25 ongoing cleanup and reimbursement efforts resulting from
26 Hurricanes Frances, Charley, Jeanne, and Ivan, and to avoid
27 such delays in the future, NOW, THEREFORE,
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29 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Florida Senate - 2005 (NP) SM 1544
34-1558-05 See HM 191
1 That the Congress of the United States is urged to
2 initiate the review and reorganization of Federal Emergency
3 Management Agency policies and administrative processes for
4 the purpose of avoiding delays in cleanup and reimbursement in
5 the aftermath of declared disasters.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
7 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
8 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
9 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
10 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
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