Heading into the fall, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said he aims to secure some $1.2 billion in federal grant dollars to reimburse Maui County for wildfire recovery costs that the Federal Emergency Management Agency isn’t authorized to cover.

Precisely which disaster recovery costs and services those dollars would pay for, as well as how the total amount was estimated, remain unclear, however.

The funds would come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Program. They could be attached to any one of several federal spending bills that lawmakers are expected to take up through the rest of 2024, Schatz said last week.

“I have to fight to get it onto a must-pass piece of legislation,” he told the Civil Beat Editorial Board of the effort to cover the county’s unmet needs. “I am confident that Maui will eventually get that money. I am not at all confident about the timing.”

The initial $1.2 billion figure that he’ll be seeking stems from a HUD analysis, according to Michael Inacay, Schatz’ deputy chief of staff and communications director. 

More details on what it entails are expected to be released once that spending gets passed into law.

Maui County doesn’t have data on which specific recovery-related services would be included, but they’re expected to be detailed in the Federal Register once the county gets those grant dollars, according to the county’s managing director, Josiah Nishita.

“I guess we’re going to see ultimately if this relationship was good or not based on how much reimbursement we get from FEMA,” Bissen said last month.

FEMA reports that it’s on pace, with the help of other federal agencies, to provide some $3.3 billion toward Maui’s effort to recover from the August 2023 fires. Those dollars have largely gone toward emergency infrastructure and housing needs in the fires’ aftermath, as well as rebuilding schools and debris removal.

The agency is currently working to erect some 169 temporary housing units on Maui to help give displaced fire victims more stable and steady options to remain on the island.

However, FEMA isn’t authorized to cover costs for permanent housing, according to representatives of its Maui response.

Schatz said the $1.2 billion in county unmet needs could be included in an upcoming emergency supplemental funding bill proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration. It might also be lumped into a continuing resolution spending measure or an appropriations bill by the end of December, he said.

“Nothing is guaranteed in this Congress, but that’s my job,” he said during the Aug. 8 commemoration of the fires in Lahaina.

Civil Beat reporter Cammy Clark contributed to this story.