“As you develop the FY 2009 Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Appropriations bill, we write to urge you to continue a provision included in the FY 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act which prohibited any expenditure of funds to support the Principal Federal Official (“PFO”) position during a Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (“Stafford Act”) declaration,” Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., ranking Republican John L. Mica of Florida and two of their colleagues on the committee wrote in a May 6 letter to the Appropriations Committee.

http://homeland.cq.com/hs/flatfiles/temporaryItems/20080508appropsbriefletter.pdf

According to the Transportation panel members, the PFO — a position created by the Homeland Security Department — interferes with the Federal Coordinating Officer.

“The Stafford Act, which governs federal disaster response, requires the president to appoint a federal coordinating officer each time he declares a major disaster or emergency  . . .  to be the federal official empowered to direct all federal response activities during a disaster declaration,” the letter stated.

But DHS has designated the PFO “as the lead federal official in a disaster,” they wrote.

“Although the PFO has no legal authority to direct federal resources, witnesses have testified before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Response that, in practice, the PFO overlaps and conflicts with the role of the Federal Coordinating Officer, thereby confusing the federal chain of command and delaying federal response activities,” the letter states. “Congressional investigations into the response to Hurricane Katrina identified the role of the PFO as a significant factor contributing to the ineffective federal response.”

The letter noted that while the fiscal 2008 omnibus spending bill (PL 110-161) included the anti-PFO provision, President Bush’s fiscal 2009 budget request would eliminate the language.

“We therefore believe that the prohibition needs to be retained to ensure that federal activities in response to a disaster are carried out effectively and efficiently,” the letter said.