Order Code RS22239
Updated September 9, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for
Hurricane Katrina Relief
Jennifer E. Lake
Domestic Social Policy Division
Ralph M. Chite
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
In response to the widespread destruction brought to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane
Katrina, the 109th Congress has completed action on two separate emergency
supplemental bills (P.L. 109-61/H.R. 3645 and P.L. 109-62/H.R. 3673), which together
provide $62.3 billion for the immediate emergency response and recovery needs of the
affected region. Both measures contain all funding requested by the Administration,
including $10.5 billion in P.L. 109-61 and $51.8 billion in P.L. 109-62. Of the
combined amount provided in the two measures, $60 billion is for the ongoing efforts
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide emergency food,
shelter, and medical care to flooded regions; $1.9 billion is for the Department of
Defense to defray the cost of deploying military personnel to the region for rescue and
relief, and for other response costs; and $400 million is for the Army Corps of Engineers
to restore navigation waterways and repair damaged flood control projects in affected
Gulf states. The Administration has stated that additional requests for supplemental
funding will be made in the weeks and months ahead, as loss and recovery estimates
become available. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Overview of Congressional Action1
Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005,
causing widespread flooding and significant property and infrastructure damage to
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In response, the 109th Congress has completed
action on two emergency supplemental measures (P.L. 109-61/H.R. 3645 and P.L. 109-
62/H.R. 3673), which together have provided $62.3 billion in emergency supplemental
funding for immediate relief and response needs. (See Table 1.) Both measures contain
funding levels as requested by the Administration in its two separate requests, and both
1 Other CRS analysts contributing to this report were Keith Bea (FEMA), Amy Belasco
(Defense), and Nicole T. Carter (Army Corps of Engineers).
Congressional Research Service { The Library of Congress

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were enacted within one day after the requests were submitted — P.L. 109-61 on
September 2 and P.L. 109-62 on September 8.
The first supplemental (P.L. 109-61) provided $10 billion in FY2005 funding for the
Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
and $0.5 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) to support the costs of evacuation,
emergency repairs, and deployment of personnel, and other costs resulting from the
immediate relief efforts. The second supplemental (P.L. 109-62) added $50 billion to the
FEMA funding and $1.4 billion to the DOD funding, and also provided $400 million to
the Army Corps of Engineers for restoring the Gulf state waterways and repairing their
flood control projects.
P.L. 109-61 and P.L. 109-62 are expected to be followed by other emergency
supplemental measures in the weeks and months ahead. The President has indicated that
he will make additional requests for emergency funding as soon as reliable estimates of
hurricane damage can be completed and a more comprehensive assessment of required
resources is available.
Table 1. FY2005 Supplemental Appropriations in Response to
Hurricane Katrina
($ in millions)
Federal agency/account
P.L. 109-61
P.L. 109-62
Total
Department of Defense (DoD) - Military
Operations and Maintenance, Defense-Wide
500
1,400
1,900
Department of Defense (DoD) - Civil
Department of the Army - Army Corps of
Engineers
— 400
400
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)
Disaster Relief Fund
10,000
50,000
60,000
Total:
10,500
51,800
62,300
Breakdown of Enacted Supplemental Spending
FEMA. The two enacted emergency supplemental appropriations measures have
directed a total of $60 billion to FEMA to administer relief to the areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina – including $10 billion in P.L. 109-61 and $50 billion in P.L. 109-62.
These relief and assistance funds are derived from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF),
administered by FEMA. DHS uses DRF funds to provide assistance to individuals,
families, state and local governments, and certain nonprofit organizations, as authorized
by the Stafford Act. Stafford Act aid is available after the President issues a declaration
that federal assistance is needed to supplement the resources of states and localities that

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are overwhelmed by particularly significant catastrophes.2 Federal assistance supported
by DRF money is used by states, localities, and certain nonprofit organizations to provide
mass care, restore damaged or destroyed facilities, clear debris, and aid individuals and
families with uninsured needs, among other activities. In response to Hurricane Katrina
the President has issued major disaster declarations for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
and Florida.3
Of the $50 billion provided to FEMA in P.L. 109-62, up to $100 million may be
transferred to the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) for medical and related
relief teams.4 P.L. 109-62 also contains a provision allocating $15 million for the
Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General to carry out audits and
investigations related to Hurricane Katrina response and recovery activities. Beyond these
two allocations, neither of the two supplementals contains specifics on how the FEMA
funding is to be used. The second supplemental (P.L. 109-62) does require the Secretary
of DHS to submit a weekly report to the Appropriations Committees detailing the
obligation and allocation of the $50 billion contained in the act, with the first report due
to Congress no later than September 15, 2005. A comparable provision was not included
in the first enacted supplemental.
A House Appropriations Committee press release indicates that the $50 billion
provided by P.L. 109-62 is expected to be spent for the following:
! $23.2 billion for Individual Housing Assistance;
! $11 billion for Mission Assignments (tasks issued by FEMA to agencies
that are reimbursable from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), including
$3.0 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers;$2.5 billion for Department
of Defense; and $5.5 billion for other agencies;
! $7.65 billion for Public Assistance;
! $1.6 billion for an additional 100,000 trailers for temporary housing;
! $4.6 billion for FEMA Operations;
! $1.3 billion for other needs (Disaster Unemployment Assistance, damage
inspections, counseling, legal and other expenses);
! $0.65 billion for mitigation activities.5
Funding also has been appropriated to the DRF during the annual appropriations
process to provide an available source of funding for disaster relief expenditures. For
FY2005, Congress appropriated $8.5 billion to the DRF. This amount included $6.5
2 For more information on the Stafford Act and the DRF, see CRS Report RL33053, Federal
Stafford Act Disaster Assistance: Presidential Declarations, Eligible Activities, and Funding, by
Keith Bea.
3 For information on Hurricane Katrina, including the disaster declarations, see U.S. Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), “Hurricane Katrina Information,” at [http://www.
fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm], visited Sept. 2, 2005.
4 For more information on the NDMS, see CRS Report RL31719 An Overview of the U.S. Public
Health System in the Context of Emergency Preparedness, by Sara A. Lister.
5 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, “Chairman Lewis Introduces Katrina
R e l i e f P a c kage,” P r e s s r e l e a s e d a t e d S e p t . 8 , 2 0 0 5 , a c c e s s e d a t
[http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_
id=513].

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billion in supplemental disaster relief funding (P.L. 108-324) after Hurricanes Charley,
Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne struck Florida and other states in the U.S. in the summer of
2004.6 For the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security appropriation, the President
requested and both the House and Senate recommended, comparable funding of
approximately $2 billion for the DRF.7 (Final action on the regular FY2006 DHS
appropriations bill (H.R. 2360) is pending.)
Defense. Between the two enacted supplementals, the Department of Defense
(DOD) has received $1.9 billion – $500 million in P.L.109-61, and an additional $1.4
billion in P.L. 109-62. As projected by DOD, $1.3 billion of the total will be used for
emergency evacuation of military and civilian personnel, debris removal, and emergency
repairs at over 20 defense installations affected by the hurricane, and $570 million will
pay the cost of mobilizing and supporting some 44,000 National Guard personnel. These
funds do not include FEMA’s reimbursement of DOD – some $2.5 billion thus far – for
its rescue operations.8
Damage at defense installations ranges from minor damage to fences and roofs to
wholesale damage to facilities in New Orleans and Mississippi. Three of the damaged
facilities — the Naval Support Activity in New Orleans, the Mississippi Army
Ammunition Plant, and the Naval Station in Pascagoula, Mississippi — were
recommended for closure by the Department of Defense in the ongoing Base Realignment
and Closure round.9
The second supplemental (P.L. 109-62) also permits DOD to transfer up to $6
million to cover the costs for residents who were evacuated from the U.S. Naval Home
in Mississippi, a retirement home for certain retired military personnel, to the U.S.
Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home in Washington, D.C.

All supplemental DOD funds are appropriated to Operation and Maintenance,
Defense-wide, and are set up as a transfer account whereby DOD can move monies to
other accounts depending on the type of expense (e.g., to pay military personnel costs,
operating costs, procurement, family housing, and Defense health). Unneeded funds in
any account may be returned to the transfer account, and then transferred elsewhere.
Both supplementals contained the amount requested by the Administration.
However, language was added by appropriators to both measures requiring DOD to notify
the congressional defense committees (Armed Services and Appropriations) of any
transfer of funds within five days of a transfer. This reporting requirement will allow
6 For more information, see CRS Report RL32581, Supplemental Appropriations for the 2004
Hurricanes and Other Disasters, by Keith Bea and Ralph M. Chite.
7 For more information, see CRS Report RL32863, Homeland Security Department: FY2006
Appropriations, coordinated by Jennifer E. Lake, and Blas Nuñez-Neto, pp. 49-53.
8 Hurricane Katrina DOD fact sheet, September, 2005 and Congress Daily, “Appropriations:
Bush Submits $52B Supplemental Request,” September 8, 2005.
9 The Base Closure Commission’s final report was submitted to the President on September 8,
2005, which included a recommendation to realign (rather than close) Naval Support Activity,
New Orleans, and to close the other two facilities.

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Congress to distinguish between funds used for hurricane-related expenses from those
used for military operations and regular peacetime activities.
Army Corps of Engineers (Civil Works). The second supplemental (P.L. 109-
62) contained $400 million for the civil works program of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, as requested by the President.10 The funds are divided into two accounts —
$200 million to the agency’s Operation and Maintenance account to repair storm damage
at Corps projects in affected Gulf states, and $200 million to the Flood Control and
Coastal Emergencies account to continue repairs of damaged flood control and hurricane
shore protection projects in affected Gulf states.11 The President requested a similar
division of funds between the two accounts. Although the language in the request and the
enacted measure differ in how they describe the activities to be funded, the scope of
activities in the bill appears similar to the scope requested. The Corps is required to
report weekly to the Committees on Appropriation on the allocation and obligation of
these funds, beginning September 15, 2005.
Although emergency supplemental appropriations for the Corps have not been the
subject of controversy, the funding history of Corps levee and floodwall projects for New
Orleans is receiving attention. For a discussion of the appropriations history for New
Orleans Corps projects, see CRS Report RS22238, New Orleans Levees and Floodwalls:
Hurricane Damage Protection.
10 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Department of Defense) has military and civilian
responsibilities. Under its civil works program at the direction of Congress, the Corps plans,
constructs, and operates, and maintains a wide range of water resources facilities.
11 The Corps also is performing emergency work under the National Response Plan. The
Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b) authorizes FEMA to direct DOD to use its resources to provide
assistance in the event of a major disaster or emergency declaration by the President. Under the
National Response Plan, DOD is responsible for emergency support for public works and
engineering. The Corps is the designated operating agent for DOD in executing these activities.
The Corps’ funding for these activities is provided through mission assignments made by FEMA
and paid for from the Disaster Relief Fund. For additional information, see
[http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/functions/cw/cecwo/readness.htm], visited Sept, 8, 2005.

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