Subpanel votes to remove disaster housing from FEMA
Bill would shift responsibility to HUD and would allow only three emergency housing trailers per site to avoid crowding.
Calling it a lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina, the House Financial Services Housing Subcommittee approved a bill Thursday designating the Housing and Urban Development Department as the lead agency for handling long-term housing needs resulting from major disasters.
The bill (H.R. 5393), approved by voice vote, makes several other changes to federal disaster-declaration law aimed at easing the Gulf Coast's recovery from Katrina. The provisions include allowing only three trailers per site after a disaster to avoid the crowded Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer parks, and allowing disaster victims to decline a trailer without losing eligibility for other assistance.
FEMA, still in charge of housing some 10 months after Katrina struck late last August, has been criticized for its inflexible housing rules toward those whose homes whose were damaged or demolished in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by the hurricane.
The measure is sponsored by Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., whose district includes Baton Rouge.
"Instead of the infuriatingly rigid rules that consign people to 'trailer cities,' this bill gives the government greater flexibility to offer more common-sense options and to mobilize creative alternatives that are safer, more attractive and more cost-effective in the long run," Baker said in a statement.
In instances where housing services may be needed for more than 30 days, the bill would allow the president to designate HUD as the lead agency in providing such housing.
The bill also would require federal, state and local governments to develop emergency evacuation plans specifically for disaster victims living in temporary FEMA trailers and calls for victims to be notified before trailers are delivered to their property.