United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-08-29 monographic deposited born digital 29 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-182 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182 P0b002ee180382e9e f:rc00182 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182 RCED-00-182 Disaster relief aid Emergency preparedness Data integrity Reporting requirements Future budget projections Funds management FEMA Public Assistance Program FEMA Disaster Relief Fund FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program FEMA Individual and Family Grant FEMA Integrated Financial Management Information System Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) determines current and future funding requirements for the Disaster Relief fund, focusing on the: (1) accuracy and timeliness of FEMA estimates of costs for past disasters; (2) reasonableness of FEMA's approach to estimating the timing and cost of future disasters; and (3) impact of FEMA's initiatives on the rate of obligating disaster relief funds.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) problems with both the accuracy and timeliness of the information FEMA provides monthly to Congress on estimated remaining costs for past disasters; (2) FEMA's headquarters staff relies on data provided by its regional offices to produce a monthly report to Congress on funding requirements for past disasters; (3) however, as of the end of August 1999, for a third of all past disasters, GAO found that staff from headquarters and regional offices disagreed on the amount of funds obligated to date; (4) collectively, differences, in reported obligations between headquarters and regional staff totaled nearly $250 million--with headquarters reporting obligation amounts that were $18 million higher than regions reported obligations; (5) obligation amounts reported by regional staff were both higher and lower than amounts reported by headquarters staff, and FEMA officials could not tell GAO which amounts were correct; (6) when regional offices questioned the accuracy of the data, FEMA headquarters staff responsible for reconciling discrepancies initially failed to determine the cause and make the needed corrections; (7) instead, FEMA used the inaccurate data to report on remaining costs for past disasters; (8) in addition, because of the time needed to assemble and analyze the data, the information on remaining costs in the monthly report is based on obligation data that are 4 to 6 weeks old; (9) FEMA officials acknowledge that data problems exist and have taken steps to correct them; (10) FEMA can improve its approach for estimating the timing and cost of disasters anticipated to occur during the remainder of the current fiscal year and in the forthcoming fiscal year; (11) FEMA's recent initiatives designed to expedite the closeout of its funding activities for past disasters has had a significant impact on FEMA's rate of obligating disaster relief funds; (12) in particular, the formation of three teams of staff from FEMA's Office of Financial Management, referred to as "closeout teams," to facilitate the closure of funding activity for disasters occurring from fiscal years 1989 through 1997 increased FEMA's obligations and recoveries for past disasters considerably; (13) at the end of September 1997, 419 old disasters, with a projected remaining cost to FEMA of over $3 billion, remained open; and (14) it is less clear what impact other FEMA initiatives, such as setting goals to provide disaster funding more quickly, are having on the Fund's requirements because sufficient time has not elapsed to measure their effectiveness. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182.pdf GAO/RCED-00-182 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-182 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-182; Disaster Relief Fund: FEMA's Estimates of Funding; Disaster relief aid Emergency preparedness Data integrity Reporting requirements Future budget projections Funds management FEMA Public Assistance Program FEMA Disaster Relief Fund FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program FEMA Individual and Family Grant FEMA Integrated Financial Management Information System Public Law 102-229