‘Yes, it does’; ‘No, it doesn’t’

Washington Resident Rep. Pete A. Tenorio is insisting that the Commonwealth is eligible for help with its power problems under a federal emergency aid law.

Contrary to a statement by a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, Tenorio said, the Stafford Act covers many emergencies or disasters other than “natural disasters.” He added that Saipan’s power crisis poses a threat to public health and safety that should be evident and easily justified.

“Based upon my discussions with FEMA and Department of Homeland Security officials in D.C., I have to wonder if Region 9 staff has been misrepresented. There is clearly precedent for this request,” said Tenorio.

He noted that FEMA has provided emergency assistance to several non-natural disasters in the last few years, including the New York power outage in August 2003, and the Minnesota bridge collapse in August 2007.

Now that Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has already declared a disaster emergency for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., all he needs to do is to make a formal request under the Stafford Act, Tenorio said.

“If the governor makes the request, then, if needed, I will gladly help justify, document, and convince FEMA of the severity of our problem,” said Tenorio.

But the Fitial administration continues to downplay Tenorio’s call for federal intervention. The governor’s spokesman noted that the CNMI Office of the Attorney General and FEMA have already advised that the Stafford Act does not apply to the power problem. The CNMI Department of Finance, after consulting with FEMA, has also advised that the act is not applicable.

“Tenorio is not a lawyer,” said press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. “Moreover, not only does Pete A. misunderstand the Stafford Act, he also calls for action only two days before we connect an additional 15 megawatts through the Aggreko equipment. In other words, this is not too little, too late—it is nothing, too late.”

Reyes also accused Tenorio, who is running for congressional delegate, of politicking. He said, “Pete A. has embarrassed the CNMI by criticizing our governor in a letter to the President for political purposes—for the sake of his election in November. Instead of showing unity, he shows dissent. However, this is no surprise, given his demonstration of dissent on federalization, when he went against the [Fitial] administration, the business community, and even some members of the Legislature by supporting federalization and the original Senate draft that proposed long-term residency for foreign workers. It’s a bit too late for Pete A. to pretend to be bipartisan at this time.”

Rep. Tina Sablan, one of the leaders of a local initiative to seek federal help with the power crisis, maintained that the Commonwealth could seek emergency assistance under the Stafford Act.

Sablan said the federal law authorizes the U.S. president to take several types of action, and those include major disaster declarations, which require a gubernatorial request; emergency declarations, which do not require a gubernatorial request, but only a determination by the President that federal assistance is required; and pre-declaration activities, when a disaster is imminent but not yet declared, and under which the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security may place agency employees on alert.