[StBernard] LRA to Release RFI for Alternative Housing Pilot Program

[Westley Annis]

LRA to Release RFI for Alternative Housing Pilot Program 

Submissions to Form Basis for State's Proposal to FEMA


BATON ROUGE, La. (September 21, 2006) - The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) will release a Request for Ideas (RFI) related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Alternative Housing Pilot Program, often referred to as the Katrina Cottage program, at 5:00 p.m. CST on Monday, September 25, 2006. To be included in a database of interested parties, please send contact information to LRAPlanning at la.gov <mailto:LRAPlanning at la.gov> .

The Alternative Housing Pilot Program is intended to address ongoing housing challenges created by the 2005 hurricane season in the states of the Gulf Coast region, specifically Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. 

The proposal is in response to $400 million appropriated by the U.S. Congress in the 2006 Emergency Appropriations Act for the pilot. In related legislation, Congress authorized a one-time waiver of the Stafford Act, which legally binds FEMA to a temporary housing mission reliant primarily on travel trailers and manufactured homes. 

On September 15, 2006 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released the Grant Guidance and Application Kit for the program. All states must submit their applications to FEMA by October 20, 2006. The pilot program is designed to identify, develop, and evaluate new options for housing displaced citizens during and following a natural disaster. 

The process for the RFI will be as follows:

*	The LRA will release the RFI to interested parties on Monday, September 25, 2006 at 5:00pm (CST).
*	The RFI will be available on the LRA website at http://lra.louisiana.gov/rfpmainpage.html 
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/rfpmainpage.html> 
*	Completed RFIs must be submitted to the LRA by 5:00pm (CST) Wednesday, October 4, 2006.
*	The state will select ideas to be submitted to FEMA for funding consideration.

Full details and instructions for the submission will be included in the RFI.

For more information on the FEMA Alternative Housing Pilot Program, go to http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=29940 <http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=29940> .

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicting about $25 billion in insured losses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectivene! ss, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana.


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