Maui, Honolulu Counties Ok'd For Additional Public Assistance 

Release Date: November 8, 2006
Release Number: 1664-007

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HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Maui County and the City and County of Honolulu are now eligible for additional public infrastructure assistance associated with the October 15 Kiholo Earthquake, officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Hawaii State Civil Defense (SCD) announced today.

Additional categories of Public Assistance for these two counties have been authorized by an amendment to President Bush's disaster declaration of October 17.

The categories were authorized as a result of damage assessments conducted since the original disaster declaration.  "The damage assessments determined that the damage on Oahu, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai warrants federal assistance for infrastructure repair," said Mike Karl, FEMA's federal coordinating officer for recovery operations. "We are pleased to make the added Public Assistance available.

The original declaration authorized Public Assistance funding to cover reimbursement costs for emergency debris removal and emergency protective measures in the two counties.  The recent amendment extends the authorization to include funds for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of public infrastructure such as roads and bridges, water control facilities, public buildings and contents, public utilities and parks, and other recreational facilities.

The federal government pays 75 percent of the eligible costs, with the state and localities picking up the remaining 25 percent.

Another amendment to the original declaration adds the words "and continuing" to the previous definition of the earthquake disaster's "incident period."  The original declaration stated the incident period simply as "October 15."  The amended language means that repair of damage caused by aftershocks also can be considered for federal disaster-recovery assistance.

Both recent amendments took effect Tuesday, November 7.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, initiates mitigation activities and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA works closely with state and local emergency managers, law enforcement personnel, firefighters and other first responders. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Thursday, 09-Nov-2006 09:07:13