FEMA has published its initial disaster public notice for FEMA-4931-DR-MP, the major disaster declaration issued August 3 for Super Typhoon Bavi, which struck the CNMI from July 4 through July 12. The notice opens a 30-day window for written public comment and is, for most routine recovery actions, the only public notice FEMA will issue.
The notice confirms the declaration’s scope: Individual Assistance for eligible individuals and households, emergency work under Public Assistance Categories A and B for Saipan, Tinian and Rota, and permanent repair and replacement work under Categories C through G for Rota only, all under the Stafford Act.
The document’s purpose is largely environmental and historic-preservation review. FEMA gives notice that some funded repairs may affect historic properties, wetlands or floodplains, and lays out when facilities can be restored in place: repair costs under 50 percent of replacement and under $385,000, outside a floodway, no major structural damage in a prior declared flood disaster, and not a critical facility such as a hospital, generating plant or emergency operations center. Buildings and structures 50 years or older trigger review for National Register eligibility under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Comments on the notice must be submitted in writing within 30 days of publication to the FEMA Region 9 Office, Regional Environmental Officer, 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200, Oakland, CA 94607.
