DHS OIG: FEMA must apply STEP lessons from Puerto Rico to future programs

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) published report OIG-22-25 on February 4, 2022: FEMA Should Apply Lessons Learned from the STEP Pilot Program Implementation in Puerto Rico to Future Programs. The auditor assessed FEMA’s effectiveness on timeliness, procurement and oversight of the Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power (STEP) pilot in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and María in September 2017.

According to the report, FEMA did not ensure Puerto Rico implemented STEP on time or met initial or extended deadlines to access homes and begin repairs. Nor did it ensure repairs were completed within the six months federal regulations set for emergency work. FEMA officials attributed delays to local challenges such as limited hardware-store inventories. Repairs under the pilot, the OIG says, finished in January 2019 — 15 months after the October 2017 start.

In a March 2019 report, FEMA put the total STEP cost in Puerto Rico at about 1.4 billion. In cost and homes repaired, the island pilot was the largest FEMA had ever undertaken. Local authorities called it “Tu Hogar Renace”; it was administered by the Department of Housing (PRDOH) and authorized October 25, 2017 under Section 403 of the Stafford Act.

Beyond hurricane impacts, geography and construction and supply limits, the OIG attributes delays to inadequate FEMA oversight: it did not set program- or award-specific performance goals, did not coordinate oversight efforts, did not document oversight activities and did not validate the accuracy of progress data. FEMA canceled STEP for future disasters; the OIG holds that applying lessons learned to similar state-administered shelter programs would help keep survivors from remaining in unsafe, unsanitary conditions for prolonged periods and would strengthen stewardship of public funds.

The report makes two recommendations to FEMA’s Recovery Directorate. FEMA concurred with both; at the time of the report they remained open and resolved pending formal closure. Obligated is not disbursed; oversight findings are not a fraud indictment.