NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Citing failure to provide aid to an agreed upon number of applicants by summer deadlines, Louisiana has imposed a more than $1 million fine on the private company running the massive Road Home program for Hurricane Katrina victims.

ICF International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., was fined $692,500 for failure to meet a target of 116,000 total Road Home case closings by June 30, or $500 for each closing it did not hold. The company was also fined $356,879 for failure to meet other performance measures, state officials said.

"Each day we strive to restore the public trust in the Road Home program, which is why we are holding ICF accountable," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

"We do recognize that many of the homeowners who have yet to close represent the most complicated Road Home cases to close and we are committed to working through the remaining caseload to identify systemic issues and help applicants move to closing," he added.

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