FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
Temporary Housing for Disaster Victims of Hurricane Katrina
Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the Individual Assistance Program to 
provide disaster housing assistance for persons displaced from their primary residences until alternative 
housing is available. Housing assistance may be administered in several forms including temporary housing 
and rental assistance.  Hurricane Katrina devastated the State of Mississippi, leaving many residents without 
homes. Due to the degree of devastation throughout the state and the scarcity of unoccupied, habitable 
housing units, immediate action is needed to provide temporary housing for Hurricane Katrina disaster 
victims whose homes are uninhabitable.

FEMA proposes four alternative actions to meet the need for temporary housing in Mississippi: (1) 
procurement or lease of unoccupied habitable dwellings for displaced residents or the provision of financial 
support to displaced residents for rental housing; (2) procurement of structurally sound buildings and 
retrofitting these buildings for residential use by displaced residents; (3) establishing mobile homes, travel 
trailers, or other pre-fabricated dwellings on property that has been previously developed; and (4) 
establishing mobile homes, travel trailers, or other pre-fabricated dwellings on undeveloped property and 
installing necessary infrastructure.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), FEMA has prepared a Programmatic 
Environmental Assessment (PEA) for Temporary Housing in the State of Mississippi for FEMA-DR-1604-
MS (September 2005) to evaluate the impacts of the four alternative actions on the human environment. The 
PEA also analyzes the impacts of taking no action, in compliance with NEPA. The PEA is available online at 
http://www.fema.gov/ehp/docs or by contacting the undersigned at (601) 965-2483. FEMA has prepared this 
PEA to streamline compliance with NEPA and to expedite the provision of temporary housing to displaced 
persons. FEMA will apply the PEA to the alternative actions described above throughout the State of 
Mississippi. For actions with impacts not described in the PEA or for action-specific considerations that 
require additional analysis, as suggested by the PEA, FEMA will prepare a Supplemental Environmental 
Assessment (SEA) that tiers from the PEA. The PEA, and SEAs as appropriate, will provide the required 
NEPA clearance. They will also provide, along with appropriate consultations, a means for FEMA to address 
compliance with other Federal environmental laws and regulations, including the Endangered Species Act 
and National Historic Preservation Act.

Based upon the information contained in the PEA, the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts 
resulting from implementation of the alternative actions, and in accordance with FEMA's regulations in 44 
CFR Part 10 (Environmental Considerations) and Executive Orders 11988 (Floodplain Management), 11990 
(Protection of Wetlands), and 12898 (Environmental Justice), the following is concluded:

A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process 
will not required based on the fact that there will be no long-term adverse direct, indirect, or cumulative 
impacts on the natural environment resulting from FEMA actions, as identified in the PEA, taken to establish 
temporary housing. This FONSI is based upon the proposed action fitting one of the alternatives described in 
the PEA and meeting all conditions prescribed for that particular alternative.  In those instances where the 
proposed action does not conform to the described alternative actions or to all the conditions, an SEA and 
corresponding FONSI would be prepared to address the differences.


Signed on September 20, 2005 by Alessandro Amaglio, Environmental Liaison Officer, FEMA-DR-1604-MS