FEMA Should Recover $312,117 of $1.6 Million Grant Funds Awarded to the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico

The Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico (Pueblo), received a Public Assistance grant award of $1.6 million from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (New Mexico), a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grantee, for damages from severe storms, flooding, and mudslides that occurred in September 2013. The Pueblo accounted for disaster costs on a project-by-project basis. However, the Pueblo did not follow Federal procurement standards in awarding five contracts totaling $312,117. As a result, full and open competition did not occur and FEMA has no assurance that small and minority businesses and women’s business enterprises had sufficient opportunities to bid on federally funded work. In some instances, FEMA also has no assurance that costs were reasonable.