Mapp met with Pence at White House to seek additional hurricane recovery support

Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp met with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Aug. 6, 2018, to discuss the U.S. Virgin Islands' hurricane-season preparations and to seek additional federal support for the territory's recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Mapp asked for White House help in addressing what he described as bureaucratic hurdles slowing the recovery process. He was accompanied by Finance Commissioner Valdamier O. Collens, who also served as the governor's authorized representative in Federal Emergency Management Agency matters.

During the meeting, Mapp urged the administration to waive certain rules in FEMA's Sheltering and Temporary Emergency Power program so the agency could fund permanent roofing for about 4,000 storm-damaged homes in the territory. The government said the project would cost more than $250 million.

Mapp and Pence also discussed the allocation of $2 billion that Congress set aside for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the Bipartisan Budget Act to rebuild power systems.

Mapp and Collens also raised concerns about Treasury Department requirements affecting the Community Disaster Loan program. According to Government House, the territory had received more than $200 million in CDL loans but was still awaiting FEMA guidance on what expenditures qualified as projected cash outlays not previously budgeted.

Government House said Mapp also raised Phase III of the Limetree Bay operation related to supplying liquefied natural gas to the eastern Caribbean, and that Pence agreed to arrange a follow-up meeting with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Earlier on Aug. 6, 2018, Mapp sent a letter to President Donald Trump seeking support for expedited federal permitting review for dredging projects at Charlotte Amalie Harbor on St. Thomas and Schooner Bay on St. Croix. Government House said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson had approved $23 million in Community Development Block Grant disaster-recovery funds for the projects and that another $7 million was expected later in August 2018.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-mapp-meets-with-vice-president-pence-seeks-additional-support-for-hurricane-recovery/