Department of Homeland Security
 

The State of New York Needs to Sign Mission 


Assignments More Quickly 


OIG-13-85 April 2013
 
OFFlCr. or INSPECTOR GENERAL 

I o f HomdlUld 

APR 3 0 1013 

MEMORANDUM FOR: Debora h Ingram 

nt Agency 

FROM: 

As$lstant Inspector General 

Office of Emergency Management OIIerslght 

SUBIECT: The Store of New York Nms To Sign Mission Assignment!; 

More Quickly 

Attached for your information Is o ur final letter report, The State of N!!w York Need5 

To Sign Mission Assignments More Quickly. 

In response to questions asked by FEMA officiills in New York, our office Initiated iI 

review of HurriCilne Sandy mission assignments in New York. We discussed the results 

o r t hls a udit with FEMAofficlals during the course o r the audit. We also provided a 

discuSSion draft report to FEMA on FeblUary 15, 2011. 

The report contams one recommendation a'mi'd at improving the m iSSion assignment 

process. Your office has concurred with the recommendation, so we consider this 

recommendation implemented ilnd closed. Since the re commendation Is closed, you dQ 

not need to provide Qur office with a written respoMe. 

Consistent with our responsibility under the Inspector General Act, we are providing 

eoples of our report to appropriate congressional committees with overslaht and 

appropri ation responsibility oller the Department of Homeland St!-curity. We will post 

the report on our web~ te for publk di s~ mination. 

Please call me with any questions, or your stafr maY(;Qntact John Kelly, OeputV Assistant 

Inspector Gene ral, Offic~ o f Emergency Management Oversight, at (202)254-4100. 

Attachment 
 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

Background 

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 

storm was the second largest Atlantic hurricane on record, with a diameter of tropical 

storm force winds spanning more than 900 miles, and it affected one of the most 

densely populated areas in the northeastern United States. The storm affected coastal 

and inland communities resulting in loss of life, major flooding, structural damage, and 

power loss to more than 8.5 million homes and businesses, directly affecting more than 

17 million individuals. The President declared a disaster for New Jersey and for New 

York on October 30, 2012. Because of the devastation caused by the storm and the 

impacted population, the President provided direction that all Federal agencies were to 

lean forward and “cut through” bureaucracy and red tape in efforts to expedite 

response aid to survivors. 

 

One significant role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to work 

with the State and identify any unmet needs and to coordinate Federal activities to 

fulfill these needs. The RobertfT.fStaffordfDisasterfRelieffandfEmergencyfAssistancefAct

and 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 206 provide the statutory authority for 

Federal disaster response activities. One way in which FEMA facilitates the Federal 

response and recovery activities is through the use of mission assignments. Mission 

assignments are a way to task and reimburse other Federal departments and agencies for 

providing essential assistance prior to and after a disaster. 

Mission Assignments

A mission assignment can fall into one of three categories, driven by the recipient of the 

service and the type of service provided, they are— 

•	 Federal Operations Support (FOS) – Requested by a Federal agency to support 

Federal operations. This activity is 100 percent federally funded. An example of 

this type of mission assignment is transporting Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS)/FEMA assets to a specific location. 

•	 Technical Assistance (TA) – Requested by the State for expertise provided to 

State and local jurisdictions when they have the resources but do not have the 

knowledge and skills needed to perform the required activity. This activity is 

100 percent federally funded. An example of this type of mission assignment is 

for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide technical oversight to the State 

when they are writing debris removal contracts. 

www.oig.dhs.gov 2 	 OIG-13-85 
 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

•	 Direct Federal Assistance (DFA) – Requested by the State for resources provided 

to affected State and local jurisdictions when they do not have the resources to 

provide specific types of disaster assistance. This activity is subject to the cost 

share provision designated for that specific disaster. Cost share provisions are 

normally 75 percent Federal share and 25 percent State share. However, the 

President can waive the cost-share requirement and make this type of assistance 

100 percent federally funded. An example of this type of mission assignment is 

providing generators. 

The mission assignment process begins in anticipation of or in response to a President’s 

declaration of emergency or major disaster and the State decides whether Federal 

assistance is needed. When the State decides that Federal assistance is needed they will 

sign a FEMA-State agreement for the disaster. Without this document, Federal 

assistance cannot begin. With the FEMA-State agreement signed, the State will submit 

an Action Request Form to request assistance from the Federal Government. FEMA will 

evaluate and determine how to respond to the request. Not all requests will result in a 

mission assignment, but when it is decided that a mission assignment is the best course 

of action for meeting the assistance needs, then FEMA will assign a project manager to 

the mission assignment and the assigned Federal agency will appoint an action officer. 

The project manager and the action officer will meet and determine how the task will be 

accomplished, prepare the Statement of Work, and develop the period of performance 

and cost estimate. The completed mission assignment will then be sent to the mission 

assignment manager, FEMA project manager, and Federal approving official. For 

Technical Assistance and Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments, the State 

approving official will also have to sign the completed mission assignment. After the 

mission assignment is signed by all, the mission assignment amount is entered as an

obligation in FEMA’s financial system. The assigned Federal agency will then begin the 

execution of the mission assignment. When work is completed, the assigned Federal 

agency will submit a reimbursement request to FEMA. 

Hurricane Sandy Mission Assignments in New Jersey and New York

As shown in table 1, FEMA issued more than 200 mission assignments totaling $657.7 

million to support Hurricane Sandy response and recovery activities in New York and 

New Jersey.. This report focuses on Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments 

because the Federal Government may incur a financial risk if a State does not provide its 

cost share for work done during a Presidentially declared disaster. Without proper 

signatures from the State indicating their agreement with the mission assignment and 

the costs, the Federal Government is at risk of nonpayment by the State for their cost 

share. Although the combined number of Federal Operations Support and Technical 

Assistance mission assignments is greater than the number of Direct Federal Assistance 

mission assignments, Federal Operations Support and Technical Assistance mission 

www.oig.dhs.gov 3 	 OIG-13-85 
 

 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

assignments are 100 percent federally funded and therefore do not contain a State cost 

share. In addition, the amount of money associated with Direct Federal Assistance 

mission assignments far exceeds the money associated with Federal Operations Support 

and Technical Assistance mission assignments. 

Table 1. Hurricane Sandy Mission Assignments and Their Associated Costs 

State 

FOS and TA 

Mission 

Assignments 

Total $ 

(million) 

DFA Mission

Assignments 

Total $ 

(million) 

Total Mission 

Assignments 

Total $ 

(million) 

NJ 83 $79.1 33 $169.9 116 $249.0 

NY 88 $103.1 34 $305.6 122 $408.7 

Totals 171 $182.2 67 $475.5 238 $657.7 

Source: FEMA ECAPS as of 11/30/2012 

Results of Audit 

More than 2 months after Hurricane Sandy, New York had not signed 12 Direct Federal 

Assistance mission assignments totaling $47 million, exposing FEMA to about $11.7 

million in potential liability if New York did not accept its financial responsibility for 

responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. In response to Hurricane 

Sandy’s unprecedented damage, FEMA issued more than 200 mission assignments 

totaling $657.7 million to support response and recovery activities in New York and New 

Jersey. Although New York ultimately signed all mission assignments, New York should 

have signed the 12 Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments in question much 

sooner, and before the Office of Inspector General made inquiries concerning why they 

were not signed. 

New York Should Have Signed Its Mission Assignments With Federal-State Cost Share 

Earlier

As of early January 2013, New York had not signed 12 Direct Federal Assistance mission 

assignments totaling $47 million, thus exposing FEMA to paying the State cost share of 

those mission assignments of $11.7 million. Although FEMA provided New York with a 

total of 34 Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments valued at $305.6 million, the 

New York approving officers did not sign and thus accept New York’s responsibility for 

the 12 mission assignments until January 15, 2013, more than 2.5 months after 

Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York City. 

FEMA relaxed its policy that requires the State approving official to sign Direct Federal 

Assistance mission assignments before work can be performed, when the President 

declared a disaster for New York. The President provided direction that all Federal 

www.oig.dhs.gov 4 OIG-13-85 
 

 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

agencies were to lean forward and “cut through” bureaucracy and red tape in efforts to 

expedite response aid to survivors. As a result, the State approving official did not sign 

or approve the Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments before they were issued, 

which put the State cost share at risk of not being collected. 

In November 2012, FEMA’s New York Joint Field Office staff informed us that they were 

having problems with the State of New York signing mission assignments. We learned in 

December that the New York approving officials signed all but 12 New York Direct 

Federal Assistance mission assignments totaling about $47.0 million. The State cost 

share for these 12 direct Federal assistance mission assignments was $11.7 million. 

We contacted the New York State approving office on January 3, 2013, to obtain reasons 

why they had not signed the 12 mission assignments. State of New York officials 

responded on January 16, 2013, asking for a list of the 12 mission assignments. We 

provided them with a list but did not receive a response. 

On January 30, 2012, we asked FEMA for an update on the status of mission 

assignments. FEMA informed us that all mission assignments for New York were signed 

on January 15, 2013. 

Although the New York State approving officers eventually signed all of the previously 

unsigned mission assignments, FEMA needs to ensure that all direct Federal assistance 

mission assignments are signed in a timely manner so that States accept their cost-share 

responsibilities and FEMA does not end up paying the State cost share. 

Conclusion

FEMA did follow the President’s directive to “cut through” bureaucracy and red tape in 

efforts to expedite response to survivors by appropriately providing mission 

assignments to the State of New York in a timely manner. However, when FEMA cuts 

through bureaucracy and red tape to expedite response to survivors, the States that 

received the expedited assistance need to accept their responsibility timely for paying 

their share of the cost of that response. Although New York State quickly accepted

responsibility for the majority of its portions of the disaster assistance costs, it took 

roughly 2.5 months to accept its responsibility on 12 mission assignments. New York 

should have signed the 12 mission assignments in question much sooner, and it should 

not take inquires by the Office of Inspector General to get them signed. 

Recommendation 

www.oig.dhs.gov 5 OIG-13-85 
 

 

 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

We recommend that the Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistant 

Administrator for Response: 

Recommendation #1: Work with the State of New York to sign the 12 mission 

assignments in question and eliminate the risk that FEMA would have to pay the 

State’s cost share of $11.7 million.

Because the State of New York signed the 12 mission assignments in January 

2013, after we started inquiring about their status, we consider the 

recommendation closed and implemented. 

www.oig.dhs.gov 6 OIG-13-85 
 

 

 

 

 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

Appendix A 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was 

established by the HomelandfSecurityfActfoff2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment 

to the InspectorfGeneralfActfoff1978. This is one of a series of audit, inspection, and 

special reports prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities to promote economy, 

efficiency, and effectiveness within the Department. 

The objective of this review was to determine the monetary risk associated with issuing 

Direct Federal Assistance mission assignments without the State approving the cost 

share. We conducted this review by applying the statutes, regulations, and FEMA policies 

and guidelines in effect at the time of our fieldwork. We interviewed FEMA officials and 

performed other procedures considered necessary to accomplish our objective. We did 

not assess the adequacy of the agency’s internal controls applicable to the mission 

assignment activities because it was not necessary to accomplish our audit objective. 

We conducted this performance audit between November 2012 and January 2013, 

pursuant to the InspectorfGeneralfActfoff1978, as amended, and according to generally 

accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and 

perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based upon our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions 

based upon our audit objectives. 

www.oig.dhs.gov 7 OIG-13-85 
 

 

 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

 Department of Homeland Security 

Appendix B 

Report Distribution 

Department of Homeland Security

Secretary 

Deputy Secretary 

Chief of Staff 

Deputy Chief of Staff

General Counsel 

Executive Secretary 

Director, GAO/OIG Liaison Office 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Policy 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Public Affairs

Assistant Secretary for Office of Legislative Affairs 

DHS FEMA Liaison 

Director of Local Affairs, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Acting Chief Privacy Officer 

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Chief of Staff 

Chief Financial Officer 

Chief Counsel

Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Analysis

Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division

Audit Liaison 

Office of Management and Budget

Chief, Homeland Security Branch 

DHS OIG Budget Examiner

Congress

Congressional Oversight and Appropriations Committees, as appropriate 

Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security 

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security

House Committee on Homeland Security 

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

www.oig.dhs.gov 8 OIG-13-85 
 

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