CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senate President Mitch Carmichael says he is very concerned about a report that West Virginia has been subject to penalties by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Lawmakers learned about the heightened federal oversight this week, even though the penalties began in 2015. The federal agency’s concerns stretch back almost a decade.
West Virginia appears to be the only state, aside from Puerto Rico, in this kind of predicament with FEMA.
The situation stems from years of concern about whether West Virginia has proper safeguards on federal dollars.
“I was really astounded that since 2009 the Federal Emergency Management Agency had identified West Virginia as having problems and issues relating to their disaster recovery response — and there had been no remediation of the problem since 2009,” Carmichael said Monday.
In a letter dated Nov. 12, 2015, FEMA notified Jimmy Gianato, director of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, that West Virginia’s process for accepting federal grant money would have to change.
The federal agency placed West Virginia’s emergency management agency on manual reimbursement.
That meant West Virginia would no longer be able to draw down federal emergency relief funds directly but instead would need to make payments with state dollars and then seek reimbursement.
The penalty affected the hazard mitigation grants program, public assistance grants, the community assistance program, cooperating technical partners and emergency management performance grants.
It includes all open grants, including those meant to provide assistance following the 2016 floods.
The manual reimbursement may add up to 90 days of additional time for any reimbursement request exceeding $100,000.
“The federal action is the result of several years of DHSEM’s inability to comply with grant requirements and failure to remedy identified issues,” wrote the state’s Performance Evaluation and Research Division.
Joe Thornton, who was cabinet secretary for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety from 2010 through 2016, wrote in a signed letter that he did not know about the FEMA penalties.
Jeff Sandy, the current secretary, said he also did not know.
“It’s very disappointing to my staff and the governor’s staff that we were unaware of that letter,” Sandy said.
Carmichael, in an interview Monday at the state Capitol, was concerned that so few state officials were aware of the situation.
“We learned yesterday that this letter had come from FEMA to West Virginia officials and many of the people in that room were not even aware they were in receipt of the document,” Carmichael said.
“So, a series of blunders in my opinion.”
Gianato was recently removed as director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. His former deputy, Michael Todorovich, is now in that position.
But Gianato remains in state government as homeland security adviser.
Carmichael said he doesn’t yet know enough about the situation to say whether Gianato should remain in that position.
“If he’s culpable, certainly there should be ramifications,” Carmichael said.
State officials have told lawmakers that greater auditing efforts are going into effect.
Sandy and state Adjutant Gen. James Hoyer spoke Sunday evening before a committee of top lawmakers.
Carmichael was glad to hear their emphasis on improvement.
“What I’ll say is that the governor has made some changes. General Hoyer is now in charge of this aspect of the recovery process and of FEMA funds as they come into West Virginia,” Carmichael said.
“So we’re going to keep an incredibly close eye on this process. This transcends several administrations, and it’s a black mark on West Virginia.”