Overview
- NOTUS reported that roughly $1.3 billion in FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program requests approved at regional offices remain held for Secretary-level approval, leaving hundreds of projects stalled across most states, four territories, and two tribal nations.
- Since July, grants over $100,000 have been finalized only in Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, with recent approvals totaling about $1.5 million, $29 million, and $12 million respectively.
- The New York Times reported that about $17 billion in broader FEMA disaster funds now face extra review, extending final processing from weeks to months and creating unusual delays in payments.
- Local budgets are straining under the holdup, including Rock Valley, Iowa, which borrowed $19 million while awaiting FEMA reimbursement and is incurring about $1,800 per day in interest that is not reimbursable.
- Criticism has intensified as a former FEMA chief of staff called the hold on mitigation funding reckless, a House Democrat said the program is virtually frozen, and specific projects such as utility line burial near Los Alamos remain in limbo.