**January 29, 2008 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Program
Report**

**(1) Catastrophe Insurance -- A Topic Which Never Goes Away Nor Gets
Settled:**

Fowler, Daniel. "Little Consensus on Giuliani's National Catastrophe
Fund Proposal." *CQ Homeland Security*. 28Jan08. At:
<http://public.cq.com/docs/hs/hsnews110-000002661854.html>

\[Excerpts**:** "The idea generally speaking is that the federal
government would establish the program, whereby the federal government
would stand behind state-run insurers or maybe private insurers in the
event of a very large scale catastrophe," said Robert Hartwig, president
of the Insurance Information Institute, a non-lobbying industry
association. Theoretically, taxpayers wouldn't be on the hook for losses
and any sum "paid by this federal facility, whatever shape or form it
ultimately would take, would have to be paid back and the Treasury would
basically be required to recoup any payments made,"... Creating such a
fund would enable states to pool risk and over the long run create more
stability, rather than basing insurance rates on what happens in
individual states, according to Hartwig....

"But there is little consensus, even among insurers, on the topic. Some
support the idea, some are against it, others aren't taking a position.
Reinsurers, naturally enough, despise the proposal.

"You have got a private market --- our market --- that wants to write
this risk, that would spread the risk around the capital markets of the
world, and a government facility is not only going to squeeze out, but
effectively pre-empt that private market," said Frank Nutter, president
of the Reinsurance Association of America....

"Under a national cat fund,...there will be insufficient money collected
and the federal government will have to appropriate additional money,
which means taxpayers would have to bail out the affected state....

"From an economist's perspective..."When you subsidize people for the
losses from catastrophes, you have an effect on their incentives and
it's a bad effect, and the effect is to make them less careful about
where they locate."....

"The only way a national catastrophe fund would be a good idea is if it
was tied to a requirement on the part of the insurance companies to
support mitigation," Bullock said \[a former FEMA Chief of Staff\].
"Otherwise, the exposure of the federal government could actually be
even more because the availability of insurance might prompt unwise
development in areas of risk."....

"Looking at it from a different point of view, P. J. Crowley, a senior
fellow on homeland security at the Center for American Progress said the
idea had a "considerable amount of merit," and thinks a national
catastrophe fund should be tied to stricter zoning requirements and
building codes. ... Even if there is a distribution of wealth from
states with fewer disasters to states with more, Crowley argued that
isn't necessarily a bad thing. Crowley argues that while the taxpayers
of Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, have the primary
responsibility of paying to protect their ports, people in Missouri
derive benefit from their existence. "Should the people of Missouri pay
to protect the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach?" Crowley said. 'You
can make the case that they have benefits because the commerce that
flows to the West Coast primarily helps ensure the prosperity of the
western United States'."\]

**(2) 11^th^ Annual FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education
Conference, June 2-5:**

Both the EM HiEd Program Assistant and I spent considerable time today
working on, and communicating with a variety of people on topics related
to the upcoming conference:

-   Drafting and coordinating Conference Announcement

-   Putting Conference Application Form (75-1) into the "system" for
    approval

-   Working with cafeteria contractor on determination of two meal price
    options

-   Coordination with FEMA HQ Office of International Affairs on
    delegations they wish to bring in from about a dozen countries

-   Coordination with the Conference Planning Group headed by Carol
    Cwiak at North Dakota State University on proposals and papers that
    are being sent in for consideration.

-   Communicating and approving Carol Cwiak's offer to draft a Call for
    Papers for the Conference -- though somewhat hesitatingly on my part
    since we have a huge stack of proposals, papers and recommendations
    for more already on the desk

-   Communicating with management on need for conference-related support

**(3) FEMA "Image" Washington Post Article Today:**

Barr, Stephen. "FEMA's Image Still Tarnished by Katrina." *Washington
Post,* 20 Jan, 2008. At:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/28/AR2008012802589_pf.html>

\[Excerpts: Less than half of Americans in a national survey said they
hold favorable views of the Federal Emergency Management Agency... FEMA
came in last, for a second consecutive year, in the survey, which asked
respondents to give their views of 22 agencies.... FEMA, a part of the
Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that 'we recognize
that it is going to take time and continued proof by example to rebuild
our image and the confidence of the American people'.\"\]

\[Note to FEMA subscribers: As a long-term employee (1980) I've been
here before. Good customer service, a renewed commitment to excellence
and professionalism, and planning on how to best utilize new resources
(funding) with which to build capability helps -- because things do get
better when the service to customers gets better. Hang in there.\]

**(4) FEMA's Response to Allegations of Suppressed or Influenced
Formaldehyde Reports:**

FEMA News Release Date: January 28, 2008 -- "The Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) does not condone any actions that would prevent
an employee or contractor from expressing an opinion about how FEMA has
handled the formaldehyde concerns.  The health and safety of residents
has been and continues to be our primary concern.  FEMA has not and will
not attempt to, nor will it condone any effort to, suppress or
inappropriately influence any report from the Center for Disease
Control\'s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) or
any report from any agency, including any related to the effects of
formaldehyde on residents in its direct housing program.

The initial consultation with ATSDR was intended to determine effective
mitigation measures, and did not discuss long-term health impacts.  As
is noted in the report, \"FEMA has not requested ATSDR to evaluate
long-term formaldehyde concentrations in trailers or health concerns
related to potential exposures.\"  FEMA received the report on that
consultation on Feb. 1, 2007.  On March 17, FEMA received a letter from
a CDC scientist indicating that the February 2007 health consultation
was incomplete.

ATSDR released a revised report in October 2007.  This revised report
supports the initial report in that ventilation of travel trailers was
effective in lowering formaldehyde levels.  It was revised to include a
number of caveats relating to potential health impacts of long term
exposure.  At the time of the release of this revised report, FEMA was
already moving ahead with CDC on more comprehensive testing, including
long-term health effects.  In addition, FEMA already had begun an
aggressive outreach campaign to occupants advising them of potential
exposure to formaldehyde and offered those residents an option for
immediate relocation to alternative housing.

Secretary Chertoff and Administrator Paulison have each made it clear
that the health and safety of residents is FEMA\'s top priority.  Every
person who has called FEMA\'s formaldehyde call centers with concerns
has been offered an immediate move to a hotel or motel until alternative
housing is located."

**(5) For Those Who Do Strategic and/or Long-Term Planning:**

Government Accountability Office. *State and Local Governments: Growing
Fiscal Challenges Will Emerge during the Next 10 Years*. Washington, DC:
GAO, January 2008, 78 pages. Accessed at:
<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08317.pdf>

 

That\'s it for today.

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM\
Higher Education Project Manager\
Emergency Management Institute\
National Emergency Training Center\
Federal Emergency Management Agency\
Department of Homeland Security\
16825 S. Seton, K-011\
Emmitsburg, MD 21727 \
<wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov>\
<http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu>

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