Applying for Public Assistance and Applicant Eligibility

• Provide the documents in the table that apply to your organization and facility.
• Private schools: state requirements vary and some states don’t require accreditation, so the school must show the state recognizes it as providing elementary or secondary education. Acceptable records include accreditation documents, a state certification, compliance with compulsory attendance laws, the school calendar and budget, numbers of students and faculty, a list of educational property, tax records, curriculum, transcripts or codes of conduct, tuition receipts, financial statements, commencement documents, inclusion in the federal Private School Universe Survey, and state homeschool registration forms.

See the table for the documents each type of nonprofit must provide with its RPA.

• Education: primary or secondary education under state law, or higher education that admits high school graduates, is authorized to provide post-secondary education, awards qualifying degrees or at least one-year training programs, and is accredited by a nationally recognized body.
• Emergency medical: diagnosis or treatment of mental or physical injury or disease in clinics, dialysis centers, in-patient care, hospices, nursing homes, hospitals and related facilities, long-term care, outpatient and rehabilitation centers.
• Utility: telecommunications; electric generation, transmission and distribution; irrigation for drinking water, fire suppression or electricity generation; sewer and wastewater; water service by a company supplying municipal water.
• Emergency services: ambulance, fire protection, rescue, and public broadcasting that relays the Emergency Alert System.
• Noncritical, essential social services: community and arts facilities; alcohol and drug treatment; assisted living; custodial care; center-based childcare; day care for people with disabilities; food assistance; health and safety services including animal control; low-income housing; religious instruction; domestic abuse residential services; residential services and sheltered workshops for people with disabilities; homeless shelters; houses of worship; libraries; museums; senior centers; and zoos.
• Ineligible: brief or irregular community activities, athletic training, political activities, advocacy or lobbying, conferences, flood control not under the PNP’s legal responsibility, land reclamation, agricultural-only irrigation, other day care and residential services, job counseling, public housing other than low-income housing, recreation, cemeteries, docks and piers, camps, retreats, grounds at museums and historic sites, and open natural areas.

Proof of the services your facility provides, such as licenses, accreditation, program schedules and the people served.

• For nonprofits with noncritical, essential social service facilities, FEMA funds eligible debris removal and emergency protective measures, but permanent work only to the extent an SBA loan won’t cover it.
• Nonprofits that provide no critical services must apply for an SBA disaster loan and receive a determination for permanent work on facilities that provide noncritical services, or mixed-use facilities where the damaged portion provides only noncritical services.
• No SBA application is needed for facilities providing critical services, even if they also provide noncritical services.
• FEMA and SBA cannot fund what insurance covers; you must pursue the insurance claims you are entitled to.
• The PAPPG notes SBA disaster loans of up to $2 million for qualified businesses and most nonprofits, covering losses not fully covered by insurance, with possible mitigation increases of up to 20 percent above the damage if SBA approves.
• If you miss the SBA deadline, including any extension, permanent work is ineligible. If you decline a loan, or SBA denies it because you can’t meet its terms, PA is limited to costs the loan wouldn’t have covered.

Your SBA disaster loan application and SBA’s determination (approval, denial or your decision to decline), with dates showing you applied before SBA’s deadline; and insurance claims and proceeds.

• Multiple facilities: each building is evaluated independently. Buildings in a complex with outdoor facilities such as pools or fields are not evaluated separately from the complex. Support facilities are judged by the purpose of what they support.
• Mixed-use facility: primary use is the use for more than 50 percent of physical space, evaluating the whole structure. Common space is excluded. If 50 percent or more is ineligible, the whole facility is ineligible. If eligible, FEMA prorates funding; you must restore the entire facility to receive funding for the eligible portion.
• Eligible PNP irrigation and public broadcasting facilities are exempt from the primary use test.
• FEMA does not calculate critical vs. noncritical use within a facility, only eligible vs. ineligible.
• Mixed-use space: for space used for both eligible and ineligible services, primary use is the use for more than 50 percent of operating time. If you can’t support that, the space is left out of the calculation.
• Multiple services: FEMA looks at IRS documents, pre-disaster charter and bylaws, and evidence of routine day-to-day use.
• Multiple entities and leases: see the table. Funding is prorated by the share the applicant owns and dedicates to eligible services.

Floor plans with square footage by use (excluding common space), schedules showing operating time for shared spaces, IRS documents, pre-incident charter and bylaws, a calendar of activities showing day-to-day use, ownership records, and any leases.

• FEMA first decides whether the nonprofit owns or operates an eligible facility that provides an eligible service.
• Critical services: education, utility, emergency and emergency medical care. Administrative and support facilities essential to a critical service are also eligible, such as kitchens, dormitories, storage, parking lots, access roads, offices, school gyms and playgrounds.
• Noncritical, essential social services must be provided to the general public. That means use is not limited to a set number of people, a group with a financial interest (like a condo association), certain classes of people, or an unreasonably small area; access is not restricted (for example by gates); and any membership fees are nominal, waived for those unable to pay, not so high they exclude much of the community, and in line with similar facilities.
• Facilities that restrict access because of their nature, such as senior centers, childcare, custodial care, rehabilitation or educational facilities, or houses of worship limited to members of a faith, still count as serving the general public.
• If a nonprofit leases its facility to another entity providing eligible services, FEMA reviews the lessee’s fees, not the lease cost.
• Facilities established or primarily used for political, athletic, recreational, vocational, conference, retreat or similar activities are ineligible.
• Nonprofits whose facilities provide only noncritical services must also apply for an SBA disaster loan for permanent work.

A list of the services provided in the damaged facility, when and to whom; membership rules, fee policy and fee waiver policy; and for administrative or support facilities, how they support a critical service.

• FEMA evaluates the organization’s status and the services provided in each facility it owns or operates.
• All three criteria in the table must be met.
• To show nonprofit status: an IRS ruling letter in effect as of the declaration date granting exemption under section 501(c), (d) or (e); or state documentation that it is a non-revenue producing nonprofit organized or doing business under state law.
• If not required to obtain 501(c)(3) or state tax-exempt status, provide articles of association, bylaws or other documents showing it is an organized entity, and a certification of compliance with section 501(c)(3) and state law.
• For-profit entities are not eligible applicants. Governments may contract with private for-profit entities for eligible emergency protective measures, and FEMA reimburses the government.

An IRS ruling letter in effect on the declaration date granting exemption under section 501(c), (d) or (e); or state documentation that you are a non-revenue producing nonprofit organized under state law; or, if exempt from both, articles of association or bylaws plus a certification of compliance with section 501(c)(3) and state law.

• States and territories: including D.C., American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and their agencies. The state designates one agency, usually emergency management, as the recipient, which passes funds through to other agencies as subrecipients.
• Tribal Nations: federally recognized tribes, including Alaska Native villages, are eligible and do not need a separate recipient agency for their own declaration. Alaska Native Corporations are not eligible. State recognized tribes cannot request a declaration but can receive PA.
• Local governments: counties and parishes; municipalities, cities, towns, boroughs and townships; local public authorities; school districts; intrastate districts; councils of governments; regional and interstate entities; agencies of local governments; state recognized tribes; and special districts under state law.
• Community development districts: must own and be legally responsible for an eligible facility that is open to and serves the general public.
• The state or a political subdivision may apply on behalf of rural communities, unincorporated towns or villages, and other public entities not listed.
• For-profit entities are not eligible, but governments may contract with them for eligible emergency protective measures.

Evidence of your government status where it isn’t obvious, such as the statute or charter creating a special district or authority, and for community development districts, proof that the facility is open to and serves the general public.

• FEMA must first decide the applicant is eligible before evaluating any claim. FEMA and the recipient review the RPA to decide.
• The recipient holds applicant briefings as soon as possible after the declaration and notifies potential applicants of the date, time and place.
• Submit the RPA through PA Grants Portal within 30 days after the area is designated. Recipients must also submit an RPA.
• FEMA extends the deadline only if the recipient asks in writing with justification based on circumstances beyond the applicant’s or recipient’s control. Examples: you are only claiming categories of work added after the initial declaration; delays were caused by FEMA; Grants Portal was down on the deadline day when you tried to submit; or communications were down for an extended period.
• The recipient reviews each RPA, assesses the applicant’s risk of noncompliance under 2 CFR 200.332(c), and recommends whether FEMA should approve it.

A Request for Public Assistance submitted in FEMA’s PA Grants Portal, with proof of the submission date; and for a late request, the recipient’s written extension request with its justification.