The board members of the Mora-San Miguel Electrical Cooperative listen to one of the co-op's lawyers speak at an annual members meeting at a high school gym in Mora, N.M. in June 2023. The co-op and the Mora Independent School District are suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency over what they say is an unnecessary hurdle in the way of compensation they deserve for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
A school district and electrical cooperative in Mora County allege in a lawsuit that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is putting an unnecessary burden on them as they seek compensation for the biggest wildfire in New Mexico history.
The Mora Independent School District and the Mora San-Miguel Electrical Cooperative suffered various losses in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire beginning in April 2022. The fire burned thousands of utility poles, and soot and ash damaged school buildings and landscaping, along with other losses, according to the lawsuit Friday.
The fire began as two botched prescribed burns ignited by the U.S. Forest Service. Congress tasked FEMA with administering nearly $4 billion to compensate individuals, businesses and local and tribal governments for losses they incurred in the fire, which burned a 534-square-mile area. Congressional sponsors hoped FEMA would be a way to quickly and fairly compensate thousands of victims without the need of a lawsuit.
Emergency loans for fire victims approved months ago yet to be delivered. Also, no one has applied.
But before the school district and electrical co-op can get access to that $3.95 billion fund, the lawsuit alleges FEMA is adding an unnecessary hurdle: Requiring the public entities to first seek aid from FEMA’s Public Assistance program. That’s a program the agency deploys across the country whenever a disaster occurs that reimburses governmental organizations for costs incurred due to a disaster.
FEMA released rules in late August 2023 that laid out how its compensation program would work. The rules tell public entities that they are expected to apply for the Public Assistance program before being eligible for the $4 billion fund.
The district and co-op’s lawyers say that the requirement is unnecessary, especially because the deadline to file a claim with the $4 billion fund is soon approaching. The office will not accept claims filed after Nov. 14, 2024.
The lawsuit asks a judge to get rid of the rule that requires entities like the school district to go through Public Assistance, along with attorney’s fees.
Local and state officials have complained that the Public Assistance program is slow and burdensome. The lawsuit notes that FEMA is still processing and making Public Assistance payments to local governments in the path of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
“Plaintiffs do not have years to wait on public assistance before filing a claim,” the lawsuit says.
Citing those delays, state lawmakers early last year approved $100 million in zero-interest loans to local governments affected by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, an effort to make quick payments to help communities recover while they wait for Public Assistance funds.
As of July 25, the state had provided $99.6 million of the $100 million provided by the state, including $41.1 million to Mora County, $34.2 million to San Miguel County and $22.6 million to the city of Las Vegas.
Earlier this month, Mora County filed a lawsuit against FEMA that makes the same argument about the Public Assistance programs as the one in the lawsuit filed by the school district and the co-op Friday. The fire damaged and destroyed several county buildings, and did additional damage to roads, watersheds, according to the lawsuit. It also increased operating expenses the county is still shouldering.
Singleton Schreiber, a California-based law firm, is representing all three public entities, along with more than 1,000 other clients. Brian Colón, a former New Mexico state auditor who now works for the firm, is the lead lawyer on the lawsuits.
The electrical co-op did not qualify for the state’s loan program. While it has waited for Public Assistance funds, it has relied on borrowing at high interest to make needed repairs to the electrical grid, director Les Montoya has told Source NM . In March, the co-op told its members that 77% of the roughly 3,700 utility poles destroyed or damaged in the fire had been fixed.
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FEMA reports that it has provided more than $172 million in Public Assistance funds, including $91 million for debris removal and other emergency protective measures, since the federal disaster was declared in May 2022. That funding went to entities in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire burn scar, as well as for fires elsewhere in New Mexico in 2022, like the McBride Fire in Ruidoso and the Cerro Pelado Fire near Los Alamos.
Earlier this month, again anticipating delays with Public Assistance funds, lawmakers at the short special session approved $70 million in loans for local governments affected by the South Fork and Salt fires, similar to the loan program for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has yet to sign the bill, amid an ongoing feud with lawmakers for not taking up a slate of public safety measures at the session. However, she suggested last week that she would approve the funding package for South Fork and Salt Fire victims, which includes the $70 million in loans and $30 million in direct payments to help families and public entities on the Mescalero Apache Reservation and elsewhere in and around the burn scar.
FEMA has not yet responded to the lawsuits on behalf of Mora County, the Mora school district or the electrical co-op.
In addition to the Public Assistance program payments, the FEMA office overseeing the compensation fund has paid out $960.2 million in 6,233 claims payments, as of July 23. That’s about a quarter of the $3.95 billion awarded by Congress.
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