HCR 105 (LSB 5379YH (8) 85)

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 105

BY  COWNIE, HALL, GRASSLEY, LANDON, DEYOE, WORTHAN, SHEETS, KAUFMANN, STANERSON, MOORE, KLEIN, MAXWELL, HANUSA, WINDSCHITL, DOLECHECK, BAUDLER, RAYHONS, L. MILLER, FORRISTALL, DRAKE, BRANDENBURG, HEATON, UPMEYER, HIGHFILL, HAGENOW, PETTENGILL, ALONS, SALMON, LOFGREN, HUSEMAN, WATTS, SODERBERG, HEARTSILL, SANDS, SCHULTZ, VANDER LINDEN, FRY, 

S. OLSON, BACON, COSTELLO, HESS, R. TAYLOR, KOESTER, BALTIMORE, ROGERS, SHAW, BYRNES, 

J. SMITH, GASSMAN, FISHER, PAULSEN, JORGENSEN, HEIN, GUSTAFSON, DUNKEL, HANSON, ABDUL-SAMAD, GASKILL, M. SMITH, STUTSMAN, KEARNS, BEARINGER, LYKAM, T. TAYLOR, OURTH, FORBES, STAED, OLDSON, GAINES, KRESSIG, JACOBY, RIDING, MUHLBAUER, WOLFE, WESSEL-KROESCHELL, BERRY, PRICHARD, THOMAS, DAWSON, RUFF, THEDE, KELLEY, WOOD, ANDERSON, STECKMAN, LENSING, HEDDENS, LUNDBY, HUNTER, MURPHY, WINCKLER, MASCHER, COHOON, MEYER, and H. MILLER

A Concurrent Resolution urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reverse its unilateral decision to place new and unachievable conditions on the eligibility of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, rural electric cooperatives, and municipal utilities to receive storm recovery funding in the event of a presidential major disaster declaration.

   WHEREAS, since February 2007, Iowa has experienced 19 presidential disaster declarations resulting in rural electric cooperative and municipal utility system damage in nearly every instance; and
   WHEREAS, during presidential major disaster declarations occurring in 2007 and 2010, rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities incurred particularly significant and widespread system damage; and
   WHEREAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency adopted policy 9580.6, Electric Utility Repair, in 2009, to establish criteria to determine eligibility for repair or replacement of disaster-damaged electric distribution and transmission systems under the authority of rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, public power districts, and other public entities following a presidential major disaster declaration; and
   WHEREAS, since 2009 the Federal Emergency Management Agency has followed and applied policy 9580.6 in Iowa which resulted in the receipt of storm recovery funding by rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities; and
   WHEREAS, three Iowa distribution cooperatives, Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative, and Osceola Electric Cooperative; one municipal utility, Sanborn Municipal Electric Utility; and one transmission cooperative, L and O Power Cooperative submitted applications for storm recovery funding based upon damage suffered during a late winter storm which resulted in a presidential major disaster declaration issued on May 6, 2013; and
   WHEREAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency elected to ignore policy 9580.6 and denied the applications to rebuild damaged transmission and distribution lines in the manner funded by the agency since 2007, stating that the utilities had failed to perform physical testing of their lines before and after the storm; and
   WHEREAS, for the first time in the nation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has determined that these utilities have not been able to substantiate that their conductor was in good repair and was properly maintained prior to the storm event because unprecedented physical testing of their overhead lines was not performed; and
   WHEREAS, the Iowa Utilities Board requires electric utilities to prepare and submit for approval reliability plans and to perform system inspections to ensure that their systems are well maintained, safe, and reliable; and
   WHEREAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been provided copies of the reliability plans and inspection reports for the applicant cooperatives and utilities, all of which substantiate that their systems were well maintained prior to the storm; and
   WHEREAS, the testing required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in ignoring policy 9580.6 is not required by any federal, state, or local regulatory body, is not performed as a matter of industry practice, and is not known to satisfy any industry or engineering standard; and
   WHEREAS, the loss of Federal Emergency Management Agency storm recovery funds will have a significant detrimental financial impact on Iowa’s rural electric cooperatives and their member consumers and on Iowa’s municipal utilities and their customers; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE SENATE CONCURRING, That the Federal Emergency Management Agency and specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VII are urged to reconsider their detrimental policy decision denying storm recovery funding for the applicant utilities and to return to the application of policy 9580.6 which was in place prior to this abrupt change; and

   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to Mr. Craig Fugate, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator; Ms. Beth Freeman, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VII, and to the members of Iowa’s congressional delegation.