U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio are calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend its agreement to pay the full cost of Puerto Rico’s post-hurricane emergency recovery efforts for – at least – 90 more days.
In a letter to FEMA Administrator Brock Long, the senators asked FEMA to extend its “100 percent federal cost-share” agreement and cover the full cost of any debris removal for 90 more days, and the full cost of any other emergency services – such as food, shelter and fuel for generators – for 120 more days.
The “100 percent cost-share agreement” currently in place – which allows Puerto Rico to be reimbursed by FEMA for the full amount of any of these costs incurred during the recovery – is set to expire today. Unless extended, as the senators are requesting, Puerto Rico will only be reimbursed 90 percent of any costs incurred and will be responsible for paying the remaining 10 percent itself.
Following is the text of the lawmakers’ letter and a pdf is available here.