Per 44 C.F.R. § 206.206(c)(2), a grantee must review and forward an applicant’s appeal to FEMA within 60 days of receipt. Multiple prior second appeal decisions have reinforced the rule that an applicant has the burden of substantiating its arguments and must explain how documentation supports its appeal. As the Applicant has not demonstrated that the Grantee timely submitted the first appeals to FEMA within the requisite 60-day timeframe, its appeal rights pertaining to the deobligations lapsed.

The Applicant’s first appeals were untimely. Thus, Stafford Act section 705(c) does not bar FEMA’s recovery of funds. Moreover, the Applicant has not demonstrated the deobligations occurred more than three years after transmission of the final expenditure report for the disaster in violation of Stafford Act section 705(a).

Stafford Act §§ 101(a), (b); 325(a)(1), (2); 423(a)-(c); 705(a), (c). 44 C.F.R. §§ 206.32(d); 206.44; 206.201(a), (e); 206.202; 206.206(c). FP-205-081-2, Stafford Act Section 705, Disaster Grant Closeout Procedures, at 2, 4, 7. PA Guide, at 86. 55 Fed. Reg. 2,297 (Jan. 23, 1990). Nashville-Davidson Cty., FEMA-1909-DR-TN, at 4-5 (July 2, 2018); City of Atlanta, FEMA-1858-DR-GA, at 6 (May 10, 2018); Town of Nichols, FEMA-4031-DR-NY, at 5 (May 10, 2018); Town of Windermere, FEMA-1561-DR-FL, at 5 (Apr. 2, 2018); Port of Galveston, FEMA-1791-DR-TX, at 7 (Jan. 19, 2017); Broward Cty. Sch. Bd. of Fla., FEMA-1609-DR-FL, at 3 (Aug. 22, 2016); Village of Waterford, FEMA-4020-DR-NY, at 4 (Sept. 4, 2014).