Interior Provides $2 Million in Supplemental Disaster Recovery Funding to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Doug Domenech today announced that Interior will provide $2,000,000 to the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to streamline financial management and coordination of disaster recovery funding across local agencies and organizations receiving federal assistance as a result of impacts from Typhoon Yutu.

“We are grateful that Congress has provided assistance for disaster recovery in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech. “On my recent trip to the territory, I could still see houses and infrastructure that were impacted by Typhoon Yutu in 2018. The people of the CNMI will benefit from this assistance to facilitate a complete and thorough utilization of all federal funds made available to assist in disaster recovery.”

The grant made available to the CNMI will also be used to create a transparency website to track and report progress on all federal recovery program awards and recovery activities for the public and other interested parties. 

Public Law 116-20, also known as the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019, made funding available to several federal departments and agencies for expenses related to the consequences of recent wildfires, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters. Two million was provided to the U.S. Department of the Interior for the CNMI. See the full text of the Public Law.

Follow the work of the Office of Insular Affairs on Twitter at @ASIIADomenech.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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