That Giant Sucking Sound

Edit [Moderator]: Moved from General to General News.

Many Saw Free Air-Conditioner in Post-9/11 Clean-Air Program
By JAMES BARRON




In the spring of 2002, as the weather warmed up for the first time since the 9/11 attack, federal and state officials announced a plan to reimburse New Yorkers who replaced air-conditioners damaged by dust and debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center. People who bought air purifiers to rid their apartments of microscopic particles from the fallen buildings would receive government money as well.

Because so much time had passed and because the problem was believed to be so widespread, the government offered to pay without requiring proof that the recipients had actually been affected by the catastrophe. By May 2002, the program was even promising cash advances to people who could not afford air-conditioners or air purifiers, without requiring them to present receipts.

It was an honor system of sorts, one that relied on the belief that people shaken by a national tragedy would not turn around and use it for personal gain - in this case, a free air-conditioner as warm weather approached.

But a federal audit released yesterday suggests that that is exactly what happened.

About 62 percent of the people who were reimbursed for air-quality products were not eligible, based on a sample of 4,435 applicants. Given that as many as 225,000 people asked for money back, the finding could mean that roughly 140,000 people used the program improperly, according to Dennis White, an official who worked on the audit for the Department of Homeland Security.

The audit showed, according to Representative Carolyn B. Maloney of Manhattan, that the agencies that arranged the reimbursements "did not run a sound program with proper or clear guidelines on what people should do about potential contaminated air or how to properly utilize the programs that were meant to help them."

The audit criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York State, saying that they "reduced managerial controls and increased the risk of abuse." In all, the audit said, decisions by agency and state officials "greatly increased the number of apparently fraudulent applications."

Some people who applied for - and received - money were miles from ground zero. And a program that had been budgeted for $15 million ballooned to more than $45 million.

The money was paid out under an effort known as the Individual and Family Grant program. By April 2002, seven months after the 9/11 attack, the program had received 17,000 requests for assistance, but had approved only 3,500. Before long, a fresh round of applications came in from Chinatown and other parts of Lower Manhattan. Some applicants had seen misleading advertisements from appliance companies implying that the program would provide air-conditioners at no cost.

To cope with all the applications - and with what state officials say were pressures from New York's congressional delegation to speed the payments - the emergency management agency and the state relaxed the rules. The audit said that inspections to check on air-conditioners were dropped "for valid practical reasons," and that officials made other decisions "to reduce paperwork."

The audit said the agency and the state "took action to address suspected fraudulent applications" once problems had been identified. The audit also said there was no evidence that anyone who was eligible had been denied air-quality equipment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/nyregion/02fund.html?hp&ex=1099458000&en=ee673b8b28cd5912&ei=5094&partner=homepage