Federal Government to Pay for Emergency Transporation Repairs in NJ and NY

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying all the costs for emergency transportation repairs and power restoration efforts in parts of New York and New Jersey.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said President Barack Obama approved a request for the government to cover all the costs to help get public transit running again and restore power across the most heavily damaged parts of New York City and northern New Jersey through Nov. 9.

The decision does not mean the federal government will reimburse the states for all the damages associated with the storm. Fugate said FEMA generally pays states back 75 percent of disaster recovery costs.

The agency can pay up to 90 percent, but Fugate said it's too early to know if that will happen with Superstorm Sandy.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)