Chicago Fights FEMA Over Snowjob

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jul 31, 2008 4:30PM

The City of Chicago is fighting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over nearly $6 million in federal disaster money the city used for snow removal in 1999 and 2000. In a complaint filed in federal court, the city says that it had a right to use those funds to clear runways at O'Hare and Midway. FEMA has been trying to recover those funds for three years, contending that airlines should have paid for snow removal services at the airports. “That’s a conclusion we disagree with,” a spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department told Crain's.

Chicago has already lost two administrative appeals, and now is asking a federal judge to rule that FEMA's actions are "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law; without observance of procedure as required by law, and unwarranted by the facts.” Airlines typically pay for snow removal at airports, but since FEMA declared Cook County eligible for disaster recovery funds after snowstorms both years, the city is arguing that those extraordinary situations superseded those agreements. “These were declared disaster areas and disaster money was used,” said the spokeswoman. The city is also asking the court to rule that Chicago did not receive federal disaster funding twice. “It is a misinterpretation of our accounting,” the city’s spokeswoman said.

Photo by Jeff Cagle