FCC Should Improve Hurricane Recovery Transparency: GAO
The FCC should “enhance the transparency and accountability” of its “operations by publicly reporting on the actions and findings of its Hurricane Recovery Task Force,” after shortcomings when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017,…
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the GAO reported Tuesday. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., sought the study in 2019 (see 1910030043). The Public Safety Bureau issued recommendations in 2018 (see 1808240052). The new audit said the commission “did not have the benefit of substantial public input” when assembling that report. The FCC posted a request for comment on its response in December 2017, but “it is unclear the extent to which residents of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands were able to respond” before the January 2018 deadline, GAO said. The commission didn’t do a field hearing in Puerto Rico on its Hurricane Maria response until February 2020 (see 2002260041) “because they did not want to overburden Puerto Rico’s restoration efforts.” The FCC has since “not issued a report ... or a full accounting of FCC’s response to Hurricane Maria,” GAO said. “According to FCC officials, the task force has continued to support recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and USVI since the task force’s creation in 2017, but these efforts have not been made public.” So “determine if any changes in policy are needed to ensure FCC has transparent operations for any future disaster-related task force,” in addition to enhancing the Hurricane Recovery Task Force’s transparency, GAO said. The office recommended the Department of Homeland Security work with the FCC to update national response framework guidelines with “specific roles and responsibilities for FCC, including identifying new or evolving technologies that could assist disaster response efforts and supporting training or exercises on the appropriate use of such technologies.” GAO said the framework doesn’t give the FCC a clearly defined role. The FCC and DHS concurred with the recommendations. The FCC noted that “under new leadership, it is taking urgent action to refresh its capabilities and procedures for disaster response,” GAO said.