STATEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANTITRUST DIVISION AND 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ON PRESERVING COMPETITION IN THE WAKE 

OF HURRICANE IDA 

In the wake of the damage resulting from Hurricane Ida, the Antitrust Division of the 

Department of Justice (Antitrust Division) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (the 

Agencies) recognize that cooperation among federal, state, and local governments, private 

organizations, and businesses will be necessary to rebuild the communities and economies affected 

by the hurricane. The Agencies understand that Ida may have affected numerous business sectors, 

including health care, housing, telecommunications, and retail. Collaborative agreements can 

enable businesses to recover more quickly by allowing them to jointly bring goods or services to 

consumers faster than they could have done on their own.1 For example, hospitals or other health 

care facilities temporarily may need to combine certain resources or services to meet the health 

care needs of affected communities, or two or more firms might combine their distribution 

networks to better or more quickly bring needed supplies to their customers. The federal antitrust 

laws are sufficiently flexible to permit these beneficial collaborations, including those formed 

between competitors, especially when they are appropriate in scope and limited in duration to 

respond to disasters.2 

By contrast, some companies and individuals may intend to take advantage of the 

devastation caused by Ida and prey on the people and communities affected.3 This behavior will 

not be tolerated. The Agencies will hold accountable any businesses or individuals attempting to 

illegally subvert competition or engage in fraudulent conduct under the guise of disaster recovery. 

The Antitrust Division routinely assists federal, state, and local government agencies in preventing 

and detecting violations of the criminal antitrust laws and related federal crimes, including 

collusion in the competitive bidding process for public procurement.4 The division has a long 

1 See U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE & FED. TRADE COMM’N, Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors 

(2000), available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/ftcdojguidelines.pdf. 2 See U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE & FED. TRADE COMM’N, Antitrust Guidance — Hurricanes Harvey and Irma (Sept. 12, 

2017), available at https://www.justice.gov/atr/page/file/996516/download; U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE & FED. TRADE 

COMM’N, Antitrust Guidance — Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Sept. 27, 2005), available at 

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/atr/legacy/2006/04/27/211541.pdf. 3 See e.g., U.S. Dep’t Justice, U.S. Atty’s Office Middle District of Louisiana, Tips on Avoiding Fraudulent 

Charitable Contribution Schemes, (Sept. 7, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdla/pr/tips-avoiding-fraudulentcharitable-contribution-schemes-0. 4

 The Procurement Collusion Strike Force, U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE (2020), https://www.justice.gov/atr/divisionoperations/antitrust-division-update-2020/pcsf. 
 

                                                            

 

history of finding and prosecuting anticompetitive or fraudulent schemes that follow disasters.5 As 

a member of the National Center for Disaster Fraud Task Force, the Antitrust Division is 

committed to offering its expertise and assistance in the wake of the devastation caused by Ida.6 

In addition, both the Antitrust Division and FTC have authority to investigate and bring 

cases involving civil violations of the antitrust and consumer protection laws. For example, FTC 

will investigate and take action against companies and individuals that target victims of natural 

disasters in violation of the consumer protection laws. Anyone who thinks they’ve seen a scam 

should talk with someone. Talking about it could help avoid that scam. In addition, all suspected 

scams should be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. This helps the FTC stop scammers. 

Anyone with information on price-fixing, bid-rigging, market-allocation agreements, or 

other anticompetitive conduct involving disaster recovery should call the Antitrust Division’s 

Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations. 

Consumers or businesses with concerns about fraudulent activity related to Hurricane Ida 

can call the Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721, or visit https://www.justice.gov/disasterfraud/how-report-disaster-related-fraud. 

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the Inspector 

General (OIG) investigates allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse related to the DHS. If you have 

information about waste, fraud, and abuse of DHS programs, including disaster relief programs 

administered by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, you should contact the DHS 

OIG at 1-800-323-8603 or https://www.oig.dhs.gov/hotline. 

5 See Disaster Recovery, U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE, https://www.justice.gov/atr/disaster-recovery#katrina (last visited 

Sept. 8, 2021, 9:49AM).

6

 See generally U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE, Preventing and Detecting Bid Rigging, Price Fixing, and Market Allocation 

in Post-Disaster Rebuilding Projects (June 25, 2015), available at 

https://www.justice.gov/atr/page/file/997121/download.