Washington, DC – Two government reports released today confirm the massive waste of taxpayers’ money in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) emergency housing program.
FEMA paid out nearly a third of a billion dollars over three years for temporary housing for displaced disaster victims of the 2005 hurricane season. These housing units were also declared by FEMA to be unsuitable for housing because of formaldehyde contamination and are awaiting disposal.
The reports were released by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) and the minority staff of the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. (links to OIG report; Subcommittee staff report)
“The amount of money being wasted to store trailers that can’t be used is appalling,” said U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican Leader. “I’ve called on Congress for three years to address issues of disposal and flexibility in FEMA’s disaster housing program. If FEMA is not going to use these trailers, they need to get rid of them and stop wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”
“It is unacceptable for FEMA to be wasting millions in taxpayer dollars to store and maintain unused housing units, many of which are contaminated,” said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member. “I trust that FEMA’s leadership will address this issue immediately by expediting the disposal of all units and ensuring this situation does not occur in the future.”
According to the Committee staff report, four years after Katrina, the nation is still footing the bill to store unused temporary housing units (THUs). The report states, “While FEMA is preparing to purchase up to 135,000 new THUs for future catastrophic disasters, over 121,000 unused THUs sit in leased storage facilities awaiting disposal, costing taxpayers $100 million to $120 million annually.”
Based on a small sample of trailers tested for levels of formaldehyde, FEMA determined that over 100,000 of its trailers are unsuitable for housing and plans to dispose of them. Although a court hearing a case involving FEMA trailer formaldehyde levels has been willing to consider allowing for their disposal, the agency continues to store the trailers at a staggering expense to taxpayers.
The OIG report points out FEMA’s failure to use cost-effective housing solutions in the case of disasters. According to the report, “following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA built expensive community sites and placed disaster survivors in travel trailers, sometimes spending more than $100,000 to house a family for 18 months.”
FEMA’s estimates for the lifespan costs of housing units the agency employs are $26,379 for a travel trailer, $37,379 for a park model, and $52,634 for a mobile home. The report continues, “These cost estimates are consistent with those determined by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)… which indicated that FEMA would spend an average of $30,000 for each 280 square foot trailer at a private site.”
“It is important to note, however, that at some sites the average costs were significantly higher, estimated to be as high as $229,000, which is approximately the equivalent cost of a five-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot home in Jackson, Mississippi.”
In addition, the OIG reports that housing unit costs will increase significantly in order to meet FEMA’s new requirements for formaldehyde levels. “FEMA, through its Joint Housing Solutions Group, has recently developed temporary disaster housing alternatives that meet these stringent emission standards. However, these alternatives are expensive, ranging from $45,000 to $75,000 before installation, monthly maintenance, and deactivation costs and, when required, the cost of developing community sites,” says the OIG report.
Mica and Diaz-Balart will urge FEMA to dispose of the trailers it does not plan to use to cut costs and eliminate waste, seek the agency’s input on any legislative solutions it needs to better manage its disaster housing program, and ask for a review of the new housing standards to make sure there are no more cost-effective solutions. (link to letter to FEMA)
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