Apply for FEMA Public Assistance Now

Deadline for Greene County is Jan. 17

NEW YORK – Time is limited for local officials, county agencies and eligible private nonprofit organizations in Greene County to file a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) from FEMA. All RPAs must be submitted by Jan. 17, 2013.

The Public Assistance program reimburses state and local governments, tribal organizations  and certain private nonprofit entities at least 75 percent of costs for disaster-related expenses associated with emergency protective measures, debris removal, and the repair and restoration of damaged infrastructure. The remaining 25 percent comes from non-federal funds.

In order to qualify, damage must be a direct result of Hurricane Sandy.

“Through the Public Assistance program, FEMA is working with our state and local partners to rebuild New York,” said Michael F. Byrne, FEMA federal coordinating officer. “I want to encourage our local partners and eligible private nonprofit organizations to apply to the program.”

“Many communities do not have the resources to handle the costs associated with a disaster,” said Commissioner Jerome M. Hauer of the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.  “The Public Assistance program ensures that necessary funding gets where it’s needed so rebuilding can begin.  FEMA has been instrumental in the recovery process and I echo their call for applications to this program.”

In addition to Greene County, there are 13 New York counties designated for Public Assistance  under President Obama’s federal disaster declaration for New York, including: Bronx, Kings,

Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester.  The deadline to submit a RPA for those counties is:

• Jan. 28, 2013: for Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Richmond, Suffolk and Queens counties;
• Feb. 1, 2013: for Rockland and Westchester counties; and
• Feb. 11, 2013: for Orange, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster counties

Public Assistance is administered by New York State and paid for by FEMA.

In the two months since Hurricane Sandy made landfall, more than $334 million in Public Assistance funds have been awarded to help speed the recovery in New York State.

To learn more about FEMA Public Assistance please visit: www.dhses.ny.gov/oem/recovery.

For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/SandyNY, www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and www.fema.gov/blog.