Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Briefing Scheduled for Philadelphia County

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation applicant briefing is scheduled for Philadelphia County, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today.

The meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the Municipal Services Building in Philadelphia. The address is:

Municipal Services Building, 16^th Floor, Room Z

At the briefing, officials from state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations will receive information about applying for federal assistance to recover from Hurricane Sandy during the period from October 26 to November 8, 2012.  

The Public Assistance program is for infrastructure recovery. Unlike Individual Assistance, through which individuals and households may apply for federal funding to help recover from disasters, Public Assistance provides funding for eligible projects to recover elements of the infrastructure. As an example, public roads, bridges and culverts are elements of the infrastructure. 

FEMA manages the Public Assistance program, approves grants and provides technical assistance to the Commonwealth and applicants. The Commonwealth educates potential applicants, works with FEMA to manage the program and is responsible for implementing and monitoring the grants awarded under the program. Local officials are responsible for identifying damage, providing information necessary for FEMA to approve grants and managing each project funded under the program.

For more specifics about the Public Assistance process, including frequently asked questions, see: http://www.fema.gov/public-assistance-frequently-asked-questions.

Federal funding is also available through the Public Assistance program on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures in all counties of the Commonwealth.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. FEMA Region III’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.  Stay informed of FEMA’s activities online: videos and podcasts are available at http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary and www.youtube.com/fema. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion3.