Fire victims could be on the hook for PG&E's FEMA debt
FEMA says it may have to bill fire victims for a portion of the $4B PG&E owes for its role in sparking Calif. wildfires.
In a recent announcement, FEMA officials said they may have to bill the victims for a portion of the $4 billion Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) owes the government for its liability in sparking wildfires, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Additionally, California’s response agency is seeking more than $2.4 billion from the utility company, a Bloomberg article detailed.
According to The Chronicle, FEMA wants reimbursement from PG&E to cover the government’s response to fires in 2015, 2017 and 2018, which, according to a recent settlement, would have to come from the $13.5 billion settlement the company agreed to pay victims of the 2017 Northern California Wildfires, 2018 Camp Fire and 2015 Butte Fire.
Attorneys for the victims are fighting against FEMA’s claim, which would significantly diminish the victims’ payout. However, Bob Fenton, FEMA’s regional administrator, told The Chronicle that it is driven to seek compensation from PG&E, or else, individual victims would be on the hook if they get settlement money that duplicates funds already paid by the federal government.
“What we are interested in doing is holding PG&E responsible and accountable for the billions of dollars taxpayers provided to assist individuals and communities affected by the wildfires,” Fenton said. “The last thing I want to do is have to go after these individuals that have received claims from the bankruptcy where certain parts of that claim may duplicate funding that we’ve already given them. … It’s much easier upfront to go ahead and simply deal with PG&E directly.”
Legal mandates at play
Federal law requires FEMA to pursue repayment from third parties deemed responsible for causing disasters, the agency said in a statement.
More than 40 members of Congress condemned FEMA’s actions in a letter written to the agency’s acting administrator, stating their “great dismay and concern as [FEMA] moves forward with its decision to litigate claims to the settlement fund for wildfire victims.”
The letter continues, “We believe this decision by FEMA jeopardizes the intended purpose of the fund, which was established to provide some measure of justice and restitution to thousands of households victimized by wildfires.”
A committee representing fire victims said in filings to the judge overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy case that FEMA and California can recover their costs through other means, Bloomberg reported, including dipping into a $1 billion settlement PG&E reached with local government agencies.
A bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled in February to evaluate the federal and state agency claims.
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