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March 2006                                                                            Volume 10 - Number 2

    

 

Perspectives...

     

 


Overview of FEMA Proposed FY 07 Budget
By Brent Hyland


In order to accomplish its overall mission FEMA’s direct budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 07 is $5,326,882,000 close to 300K more then FY05 enacted budget.  In FY07, a significant portion of FEMA’s proposed budget will fund operational and pre-disaster grant programs, which will provide protection to over 600 additional properties from flood damage, 250 critical facilities from flood damage, 240 additional properties from hurricane wind damage, 92 additional storm shelters to protect against tornados, and 154 additional critical public facilities against seismic damage.

A synopsis of FY 2007 Initiatives:
- Strengthen Operational Capability $29.000M
Funding for this request will be devoted to strengthening essential support functions upon which FEMA’s five programs (Readiness, Mitigation, Response, Recovery, and National
Security) rely to carry out critical mission activities. The program increase will be used to fill vacant positions and to provide funding in support of operational capability, including upgrading capital infrastructure and information technology support services.

- Procurement Staff Increases $5.000M
This funding is requested to acquire additional staff to address procurement requirements. Additional staffing will enhance FEMA's ability to effectively deliver disaster response and recovery services by efficiently and properly processing procurement requests during both routine and extraordinary operating periods.

- National Response Plan (NRP) Support  $5.300M
The funding requested will allow FEMA to support shortened response times and provide more effective assistance during incidents of national significance. This funding will provide additional personnel, operating costs, and program support necessary to implement, maintain and update the NRP in cooperation and coordination with other Federal agencies to ensure the successful implementation of the plan.

- Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program $100.000M
The pre-disaster mitigation grant program provides funding for hazard mitigation programs that are designed to reduce the risk to populations, structures, and critical infrastructure from natural disasters.

- Emergency Alert System (EAS) Upgrade  $5.000M
The EAS, which uses commercial radio and television, broadcast services to send
Presidential messages, provides a readily available and reliable means of emergency communications with the American people when catastrophic events occur and other national communications resources have been damaged or compromised. this funding will be used to improve system coverage, reliability, survivability, and security by providing a two-way, national-level EAS satellite backbone/path that will effectively link all Federal, State, and U. S. Territory Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs).

- FTE for Financial and Acquisition Management  $10.700M
The FY 2006 Supplemental Appropriation provided funding to FEMA for 80 new positions, 40 FTE. Of the positions provided, 60 will be used to establish and operate the Gulf Region Acquisition Center to support the billions of dollars in contracts necessary to meet the unprecedented recovery needs of Hurricane Katrina. The remaining 20 positions will be located at FEMA Headquarters and the Disaster Finance Center to bolster the agency’s financial management capabilities to meet the demands of current and future catastrophic disasters.