FEMA Has Taken or Proposed Actions to Address Potential Duplication Issues Identified by GAO, but Challenges Remain

		FEMA Needs Better Coordination and Improved Data Collection to Reduce Risk of Unnecessary Duplication in Four Grant Programs

In February 2012, we identified multiple factors that contributed to the risk  of FEMA potentially funding unnecessarily duplicative projects across four  of the largest grant programs—the Port Security Grant Program, the  State Homeland Security Program, the Transit Security Grant Program,  and the Urban Areas Security Initiative. Specifically, we found that FEMA made award  decisions with differing levels of information and lacked a process to  coordinate application reviews. FEMA Has Taken Actions to Enhance Preparedness Grant Management, But Challenges Remain

Since we issued our February 2012 report, FEMA officials have identified  actions they believe will enhance management of the four grant programs  we analyzed; however, FEMA still faces challenges to enhancing  preparedness grant management. The fiscal year 2013  President’s Budget proposed the establishment of the National  Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP), a consolidation of 16 grant  programs (including the 4 grants we analyzed in our February 2012  report) into a comprehensive single program. As of March 2013,  FEMA officials reported that the agency was drafting guidance for the  execution of the NPGP based on stakeholder feedback and direction from  Congress pending the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill. If  approved, and depending on its final form and execution, the  consolidated NPGP could help reduce redundancies and mitigate the  potential for unnecessary duplication, and may address the  recommendation in our February 2012 report to enhance FEMA’s internal  coordination and administration of the programs. Second, in March 2013, FEMA officials reported that the agency intends  to start collecting and analyzing project-level data from grantees in fiscal  year 2014; however, FEMA has not yet finalized specific data  requirements and has not fully established the vehicle to collect these  data—a new data system called the Non-Disaster Grants Management  System (ND Grants). Collecting appropriate data and implementing ND Grants with project- level enhancements as planned, and as recommended in our February  2012 report, would better position FEMA to identify potentially  unnecessary duplication within and across grant programs. FEMA Has Made Progress in Establishing National Preparedness Capabilities, but Challenges Remain in Establishing Performance Measures That Could Assist in Prioritizing Grant Funding

		FEMA Has Faced Challenges Developing a National Assessment of Preparedness

According to DHS and FEMA strategic documents, national preparedness  is the shared responsibility of the “whole community,” which requires the  contribution of a broad range of stakeholders, including federal, state, and  local governments, to develop preparedness capabilities to effectively  prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to, and recover  from a major disaster. However, we have previously found that DHS and FEMA have faced  challenges in developing and implementing such an assessment. Challenges Remain in Establishing Capability Requirements and Performance Measures That Could Assist in Prioritizing Preparedness Grant Funding

While FEMA issued the first National Preparedness Report, the agency  has not yet established clear, objective, and quantifiable capability  requirements and performance measures that are needed to identify  capability gaps in a national preparedness assessment, as recommended  in our March 2011 report. Third, the  report’s final finding notes that while many programs exist to build and  sustain preparedness capabilities across all mission areas, challenges  remain in measuring progress over time. According to the report, in many  cases, measures do not yet exist to gauge performance, either  quantitatively or qualitatively. However,  FEMA officials stated that they have efforts under way to assess regional,  state, and local capabilities to provide a framework for completing a  national preparedness assessment. For example, in April 2012, FEMA  issued guidance on developing Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk  Assessments (THIRA), which were initially required to be completed by  state and local governments receiving homeland security funding by  December 31, 2012. The outcome of the THIRA process is intended to  be a set of national capability performance requirements and measures,  which FEMA officials stated they intend to incorporate into future National  Preparedness Reports. While the recently completed THIRAs and 2012  National Preparedness Report are positive steps in the initial efforts to  assess preparedness capabilities across the nation, capability  requirements and performance measures for each level of government  that are clear, objective, and quantifiable have not yet been developed. As a result, it is unclear what capability gaps currently exist, including at  the federal level, and what level of resources will be needed to close such  gaps through prioritized preparedness grant funding. We will continue to  monitor FEMA’s efforts to develop capability requirements and  performance measures.
Why GAO Did This Study

From fiscal years 2002 through 2012, the Congress appropriated about $39 billion to a variety of DHS preparedness grant programs to enhance the capabilities of state and local governments to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters. DHS allocated more than $21.3 billion through four of the largest preparedness programs--the Port Security Grant Program, the State Homeland Security Program, the Transit Security Grant Program, and the Urban Areas Security Initiative.
In February 2012, GAO identified factors that contribute to the risk of FEMA potentially funding unnecessarily duplicative projects across the four grant programs. In March 2011, GAO reported that FEMA has faced challenges in developing and implementing a national preparedness assessment, which inhibits its abilities to effectively prioritize preparedness grant funding. This testimony updates GAO's prior work and describes DHS's and FEMA's progress over the past year in (1) managing preparedness grants and (2) measuring national preparedness by assessing capabilities. This statement is based on prior products GAO issued from March 2011 to February 2012 and selected updates in March 2013. To conduct the updates, GAO analyzed agency documents and interviewed FEMA officials.

What GAO Found

Officials in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)--a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)--have identified actions they believe will enhance management of the four preparedness programs GAO analyzed; however, FEMA still faces challenges. In February 2012, GAO found that FEMA lacked a process to coordinate application reviews and made award decisions with differing levels of information. To better identify potential unnecessary duplication, GAO recommended that FEMA collect project-level information and enhance internal coordination and administration of the programs. DHS concurred. The fiscal year 2013 President's Budget, proposed the establishment of the National Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP), a consolidation of 16 FEMA grant programs into a single program. However, Members of Congress raised concerns about the NPGP and have not approved the proposal. As a result, FEMA officials reported that the agency was drafting new guidance for the execution of the NPGP based on pending Congressional direction on fiscal year 2013 appropriations. If approved, and depending on its final form and execution, the NPGP could help mitigate the potential for unnecessary duplication and address GAO's recommendation to improve internal coordination. In March 2013, FEMA officials reported that FEMA intends to start collecting and analyzing project-level data from grantees in fiscal year 2014; but has not yet finalized data requirements or fully implemented the data system to collect the information. Collecting appropriate data and implementing project-level enhancements as planned would address GAO's recommendation and better position FEMA to identify potentially unnecessary duplication.
FEMA has made progress addressing GAO's March 2011 recommendation that it develop a national preparedness assessment with clear, objective, and quantifiable capability requirements and performance measures; but continues to face challenges developing a national preparedness system that could assist FEMA in prioritizing preparedness grant funding. For example, in March 2012, FEMA issued the first National Preparedness Report, which describes progress made to build, sustain, and deliver capabilities. FEMA also has efforts underway to assess regional, state, and local preparedness capabilities. In April 2012, FEMA issued guidance on developing Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments (THIRA) to self-assess regional, state, and local capabilities and required states and local areas receiving homeland security funds to complete a THIRA by December 2012. However, FEMA faces challenges that may reduce the usefulness of these efforts. For example, the National Preparedness Report notes that while many programs exist to build and sustain preparedness capabilities, challenges remain in measuring progress over time. According to the report, in many cases, measures do not yet exist to gauge performance, either quantitatively or qualitatively. Further, while FEMA officials stated that the THIRA process is intended to develop a set of national capability performance requirements and measures, such requirements and measures have not yet been developed. Until FEMA develops clear, objective, and quantifiable capability requirements and performance measures, it is unclear what capability gaps currently exist and what level of federal resources will be needed to close such gaps. GAO will continue to monitor FEMA's efforts to develop capability requirements and performance measures.

What GAO Recommends

GAO has made recommendations to DHS and FEMA in prior reports. DHS and FEMA concurred with these recommendations and have actions underway to address them.