Governor announces additional assistance for flood victims

Albany — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joined by his Upstate Storm and Flooding Recovery Task Force, announced additional assistance for local communities, businesses and residents recovering and rebuilding from the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The Governor also sent a letter to President Obama requesting additional federal assistance to help with the recovery efforts. The state efforts include: A new program called NY Works: Neighborhood Rebuilding Corps has been launched to provide temporary work to several hundred unemployed New Yorkers for a three-month period to assist in rebuilding and reconstruction efforts. This program builds upon the governor’s successful “Labor for Your Neighbor” initiative where more than 2,000 New Yorkers heeded the call and signed up to help victims of the storm clean up during Labor Day Weekend. The Neighborhood Rebuilding Corps program is funded by up to a $16 million emergency grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and provides temporary employment that will enable individuals to reenter the workforce by doing disaster recovery work. Temporary workers will be trained to perform demolition, cleaning, repair, renovation, and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed public structures, facilities, and property that are located within designated disaster areas. The first priority is to get those workers who are temporarily or permanently unemployed as a result of the storm back to work. Under this program, New York will hire part-time workers for approximately 20 weeks at an average wage of $15 per hour. Most of these workers will be directly employed by the State Labor Department and some will be employed by the affected counties. Cuomo additionally announced that he will grant a penalty and interest-free extension to taxpayers in affected areas for the payment of school taxes. School districts in affected counties should request an extension from the Department of Tax and Finance as soon as possible. School districts requesting extensions include Warwick Valley and Washingtonville in Orange County. Certain fees or payments required for the replacement of state documents will be waived to allow victims of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee to replace lost or damaged state documents at no cost. Department of Motor Vehicles: registration certificate or license plate for a motor vehicle, trailer, or motorcycle; non-driver identification card or driver’s license; certificate of title; and registration certificate or number plate for a snowmobile, vessel, limited use vehicle, or an all-terrain vehicle. Department of State: documents provided by the Division of Corporations or related to the Uniform Commercial Code; barbering licenses; pocket card for real estate salespersons and brokers; license, certification, or pocket card for real estate appraisers, and other documents. Department of Health: certificates or certified transcripts of birth, and certificates of live birth, death, or fetal death; certification, certified copy, or certified transcript of a certificate of dissolution of marriage; and certified transcript of a marriage. Department of Taxation and Finance: highway use tax certificate or registration and a fuel license or decal. State Liquor Authority: business licenses issued by the Authority. State Education Department: certificate of authorization to provide professional engineering or land surveying services and registration certificates and licensing. Federal requests In a letter sent today to the president, Cuomo requested the following actions: Waiver to expand eligibility for flood insurance for homeowners and farms. Due to the unexpected nature of two “500 year floods,” many New Yorkers are without flood insurance. Crop insurance programs that were designed for large, mid-west states are not geared to New York’s smaller, diverse specialty crop operations. As a result, few New York farms that incurred damage from the storms carried crop insurance or were enrolled in the non-insured crop disaster assistance program Cuomo is requesting a waiver to allow New Yorkers in impacted areas to retroactively enroll in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, and to allow New York agricultural producers to retroactively enroll in crop insurance and NAP in order to be eligible for all USDA-Farm Service Agency Disaster Assistance programs. Homeowners that have been repeatedly flooded and wish to participate in a FEMA-funded buyout are unable to receive fair market value for their homes. Governor Cuomo is asking FEMA to waive certain requirements for property acquisitions. Cuomo is asking the Internal Revenue Service to temporarily suspend certain requirements for state-supported housing in order to allow owners and managers to rent properties to flood victims who may not otherwise meet strict income and age restrictions. Approximately 3,000 buildings have suffered total destruction or major damage and in certain communities many residents are in urgent need of housing. Governor Cuomo is asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to waive certain requirements that would allow displaced families to move into available foreclosed properties. To date, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has only approved 17 out of 464 loan applications for a total of $603,100. Governor Cuomo is asking the SBA to streamline its application requirements and expedite processing of these critical loans for New York businesses. Cuomo is asking FEMA to remove its restrictions on reimbursement for debris removal, which if waived would permit debris to be cleared a quarter mile from improved infrastructure. Additionally, an Army Corps of Engineers study of debris removal in the Susquehanna, Mohawk, Delaware, and Schoharie watersheds was proposed in 2006, but never implemented. Governor Cuomo is requesting for that study to be commenced. Cuomo is requesting for New York State to be granted access to the Emergency Watershed Protection program. This program of the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would provide funds to clear debris-clogged channels, fortify undermined and unstable stream banks, and address threats to water control and other public infrastructure. The Governor is additionally requesting that NRCS expedite damage survey reports needed to begin implementation of this program. Source: The information contained in this article came directly from the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office in Albany.