Emergency Work Eligibility

• Repairs are added to the Category A or B project, even if the repair itself is permanent.
• Replacing damaged trees, shrubs or ground cover is not eligible, nor are crops.
• For equipment damage, show maintenance records proving it was in good condition, and when, where and how it was damaged.
• Damage to private property is eligible only for an easement you must repair, or property you leased for sheltering or debris staging where the lease makes you responsible.
• Damage from snow work outside the approved period is not eligible.

Maintenance records, incident reports describing how damage occurred, and lease or easement terms for private property.

• Show that the 5-year still water level plus wave runup exceeds the post-incident elevation of the primary dune.
• FEMA funds up to 6 cubic yards of sand per linear foot above the 5-year still water level or the pre-incident profile, whichever is less, plus base sand below it if needed.
• Imported sand is eligible only if recoverable sand is insufficient or regulations prohibit using it, and the source meets environmental rules.
• Dune grass is eligible only when required by permit as a uniform practice; later maintenance is not.
• A berm on a natural beach does not make it an eligible Category G facility in future disasters, and sand volumes can’t be pooled across disasters.

Pre- and post-storm beach profiles, the 5-year water level and runup calculation, sand quantities and sources.

• Eligible work: wet vacuuming, damp wiping and HEPA vacuuming; removing contaminated wallboard, plaster, carpet, ceilings and fixtures; and cleaning contaminated HVAC, ductwork, plumbing and mechanical systems.
• Sampling must be done by an indoor environmental professional not employed by the remediation company. Pre-remediation sampling is eligible only if it finds mold; post-remediation sampling to confirm completion is eligible.
• Acceptable reasons for delay include power loss, flooding, inaccessibility, damaged HVAC, or not enough resources.
• FEMA looks for pre-existing water problems: bad window seals, standing water, poorly maintained gutters or stained ceiling tiles. See PAPPG Appendix H.

Sampling reports, the remediation scope, photos, and records explaining any delay in drying the building.

• Not eligible when another federal agency has authority over the facility: federal-aid highways (FHWA), flood control works (Corps) and watershed structures (NRCS). Tribal roads are eligible if BIA or FHWA doesn’t fund the work.
• Slope stabilization: eligible for an incident-triggered landslide threatening life or improved property, limited to the least costly option within the threat area. Inspections and limited geotechnical studies are eligible to find out whether a threat exists.
• Measures include emergency drainage, ground protection, partial excavation at the head of the slide, toe buttressing (gabions, rock toes, crib walls, soldier piles) and debris-flow barriers.
• Operation Blue Roof for homes is federal direct assistance only.

A description of the threat, engineering or geotechnical findings, and why the repair is temporary.

• Eligible snow work: de-icing, salting, sanding, snow dumps and snow removal during the 48 hours.
• The period may be extended 24 hours where snowfall exceeds the record by at least 50 percent.
• Once your period is approved, you can’t change it, and contracts covering longer periods are funded only for the 48 hours.
• Other emergency measures, such as search and rescue and sheltering, aren’t limited to the 48 hours.
• Snow clearing needed to perform other eligible work, such as reaching downed power lines, is eligible outside the window.

Records showing the start and end of your chosen 48-hour period, and labor, equipment and contract costs within it. See PAPPG Appendix K.

• Eligible services include education, elections, police, fire and rescue, emergency medical care, homeless and domestic violence shelters, prisons, utilities, and their essential support facilities.
• Not eligible: museums, zoos, community centers, libraries, houses of worship, senior centers, childcare and similar services.
• Provide a cost analysis of at least three options; buying or building (other than modular units) needs FEMA approval first.
• Eligible costs include replacing destroyed furniture and equipment once, alterations, restoring the temporary site, moving, required code upgrades and public notices. Utilities and operating costs are not.
• The deadline is 6 months; only FEMA can extend it, up to 12 months if restoration will take longer, and further only if construction starts within 12 months.
• If you buy or build, you must return FEMA’s share of the equity afterward.

The three-option cost analysis, the damage assessment showing why the facility can’t be used, leases or purchase records, and the restoration schedule for the original facility.

• Notify FEMA and identify the property type; preliminary approval is encouraged.
• Certify the threat, cite the specific law or emergency power used, confirm an authorized official ordered the work, indemnify the federal government, get rights-of-entry and permits, and comply with EHP.
• Eligible related work includes capping wells, pumping septic tanks, filling basements and pools, hazmat testing, securing utilities, permits and title searches. Your own permit fees count only if above normal costs.
• Debris and hazardous material removal can be Category A.
• Commercial structures (businesses, apartments, condos, mobile homes in commercial parks) are generally ineligible.
• Not eligible: structures condemned before the incident, removing slabs and driveways that pose no hazard (except in HMGP buyouts), and placing demolition debris on the right-of-way.

The items listed above for each structure, plus insurance recovery efforts with the owner.

• Inspections must be for safety, not to assess damage.
• Carcass removal can be Category A as part of debris operations, otherwise Category B; FEMA may require certification of the threat from health officials, HHS or USDA.
• Small animals such as rodents usually don’t pose a threat unless a health official says so.
• FEMA doesn’t fund carcass work another agency covers, such as NRCS, USDA’s Farm Service Agency, or EPA and the Coast Guard for contaminated carcasses.

Inspection logs and placards, and health official certifications and disposal records for carcasses.

• In an infectious disease declaration, FEMA may fund evacuation, moving supplies, and care and shelter directly related to the incident, as set out in the disaster-specific guidance.
• Mosquito abatement eligibility is decided with the CDC. The eligible amount is disaster-related cost minus your average abatement spending over the three most recent non-disaster years (see PAPPG Appendix F).

The public health official’s written validation, and three years of normal mosquito abatement spending.

• Only congregate sheltering by the host is eligible.
• Direct FEMA funding requires that the impacted state requested help, the host accepts evacuees based on need without restriction, the host transmits a written agreement, and its governor or tribal chief executive signs the FEMA agreement.
• Hosts can also recover employees’ regular time, unused shelter capacity they provided, certain law enforcement, transport and medical costs, and returning evacuees home.
• Not eligible: waived state park fees for self-evacuees, and gas cards, vouchers, debit cards or cash to evacuees.
• Childcare: licensed day care and before- and after-school care for sheltered families, including labor, facility, supplies and commodities, in congregate or non-congregate settings.

Host-state agreements, evacuee intake and tracking records, insurance checks for medical and ambulance costs, and childcare attendance and cost records.

• Notify FEMA Headquarters and your Regional Administrator through the recipient within 5 days of starting NCS (or 5 days after the declaration if you started earlier).
• Requests for non-traditional facilities need a justification, whether Transitional Sheltering Assistance was requested, the options with costs, and the timeframe.
• Feeding and support services are generally limited to the first 30 days.
• Not eligible: à la carte charges, unoccupied rooms or units, damage beyond the nightly rate at traditional facilities, and case management or behavioral health services.
• Survivors’ homeowners insurance with living-expense coverage is not a duplication of benefits.
• Extensions come in 30-day increments; ask at least 7 days before expiration. The Regional Administrator can approve up to 6 months from the declaration; FEMA Headquarters approves beyond that.

A weekly data report through the recipient, with registration IDs, household contacts, counts by county, damaged dwelling addresses, habitability status, rooms occupied, check-in and check-out dates and shelter sites.

• Facility: lease, utilities, minor modifications for habitability, ADA access, childcare or pet sheltering, restoration afterward, generators and secure medical storage.
• Staff: medical, personal assistance, veterinary, public information, social workers, food service, custodial and National Guard.
• Supplies: meals, cooking supplies, pet supplies, medical equipment and supplies, infant supplies, cots and bedding, hygiene kits, and set ratios for TVs (1 per 50), computers (1 per 25) and washers and dryers (1 each per 50).
• Services: management, security, cleaning, transport for shelter support, personal assistance services, emergency medical and crisis care, limited outpatient care, and sheltering self-evacuees.
• Payments to the Red Cross or other groups under a written agreement are eligible; their own mission costs are not. Volunteer agency labor counts only as a donated resource.
• Not eligible: transporting residents to and from the shelter (other than medical), disaster case management, and most behavioral health services.

Shelter population logs by night, staffing records, supply purchases, the facility agreement and any agreement with an operating organization.

• Eligible activities include moving patients from compromised medical or care facilities and back, emergency medical transport, buses and other vehicles from pre-set pickup points (including driver standby), paratransit for seniors and people with disabilities, tracking evacuees and animals, food and water and medical care during transport, and advance mobilization in threatened areas.
• Ambulance staging must be part of a state, tribal, territorial or regional evacuation plan; funding ends when the area wasn’t impacted, evacuations and returns are complete, or demand returns to normal.
• Not eligible: ambulance costs covered by insurance, Medicare or Medicaid; self-evacuee transportation; and livestock, exhibition animals and reptiles other than turtles.

Evacuation orders, pickup and drop-off records, evacuee and animal tracking logs, and ambulance and transport invoices with insurance checks.

• Eligible care includes triage, tests and diagnosis, treatment and stabilization, first aid, a one-time 30-day prescription supply, vaccinations to prevent outbreaks, durable medical equipment, consumable medical supplies, temporary facilities and their equipment and security, and ambulances for immunizations and mobile units.
• FEMA judges reasonableness using Medicare’s cost-to-charge ratio.
• Not eligible: inpatient care after admission, follow-up or long-term treatment, and administrative costs.
• Costs covered by private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or another source are excluded; you must document that coverage was pursued, patient by patient.

Patient-by-patient records showing insurance and other coverage was checked, plus facility, staffing and supply costs. Extensions need a justification and an analysis of options with costs.

• Commodities: food, water, ice, hygiene items, cots, blankets, tarps, roof sheeting, generators, and food and supplies for pets and service animals; delivery to unsheltered residents where items can’t be bought; mass feeding by governments or nonprofits.
• Meals: for workers not on per diem, when required by a qualifying labor policy, when severe conditions force extended hours without time to get food, or when food isn’t available to buy.
• Meals must be brought to the work location and bought cost-effectively, such as bulk meals. Restaurant outings and individual meals aren’t eligible.
• Purchased supplies and equipment may be subject to disposition rules.

Purchase and distribution records, lease agreements for storage space, and meal invoices with the workers served and the condition that justified meals.

• Comply with federal and state environmental requirements, get permits, notify agencies, and use certified hazardous waste specialists.
• EPA (inland) and the Coast Guard (coastal) have their own authority to respond to oil and hazardous substance releases.
• Hazardous material removal can be Category A when part of overall debris operations; otherwise it is Category B.

Permits, agency notifications, test results, manifests and disposal records.

• Clearing private roads (orphan roads, gated communities, homeowners’ association roads) is eligible when debris blocks emergency responders, limited to what keeps the road passable. No public-interest showing is required, but you need legal process or rights-of-entry and hold-harmless agreements.
• Emergency repairs to private roads are eligible only if there is no other access, the repair economically avoids the need for temporary housing and sheltering, and you complete the legal steps.

Maps of isolated areas, photos of the blockage or damage, and rights-of-entry for private roads.

EOC staff labor follows the force account labor rules: for budgeted staff on emergency work, overtime only.

EOC activation and deactivation records, staff sign-ins, and utility, lease, supply and meal costs.

• Repairing breaches you deliberately made to dewater is eligible as part of the emergency work project.
• Dewatering agricultural and natural areas behind levees is not eligible.

Records of the threat, the measures taken, and labor, equipment and materials used.

• Can be eligible for a limited time: water testing and treatment right after the incident to counter a specific threat; fuel or electricity for increased pumping.
• Ineligible even short term: patient care (except emergency medical care), administration, food (except as supplies or meals), staff working extra hours without doing eligible work, alternate power or water sources, school make-up days and related bus service, and adding landfill capacity.
• For nonprofits, operating costs are generally ineligible unless done at a government’s request.

Separate tracking of the added costs, the specific emergency action they supported, and the time period.

Labor for pre-positioning follows the force account labor rules in Chapter 6.

Records of what was staged, where and when, and how it was later used on eligible work.

• Services such as fire and rescue, animal control, ambulance evacuation and 211 call services are funded through the requesting government as the applicant.
• Nonprofit medical and custodial care facilities can be reimbursed directly for patient evacuation.
• In limited cases, FEMA reimburses a nonprofit directly when essential components are urgently needed to save lives, such as a hospital emergency room or a water or sewage plant.
• A nonprofit volunteer fire department is a direct applicant if an agreement with a government legally authorizes it to provide emergency services in designated areas.
• Nonprofit operating costs are generally ineligible, even for emergency services, unless performed at a government’s request.

The written agreement or contract with the government entity, and records tying costs to your eligible facility.

Typical situations:

• Demolishing unsafe private structures;
• Removing animal carcasses;
• Emergency access;
• Pumping septic tanks or decontaminating wells that threaten pollution;
• Building safety inspections; and
• Slope stabilization. (Operation Blue Roof is federal direct assistance only.)

If the criteria aren’t met, the owner may qualify for Individual Assistance instead.

Your legal authority to enter private property, the basis for finding a threat to the general public, and copies of rights-of-entry and hold-harmless agreements.

Eligible measures include, among others:

• Saving lives and protecting health and safety: pre-positioning resources, flood fighting, emergency operations centers, emergency access, supplies and commodities, medical care and transport, evacuation and sheltering, childcare for shelters, safety inspections, animal carcass removal, demolition, search and rescue, firefighting, security, temporary generators for essential services, public warnings, and recovery and storage of human remains.
• Protecting improved property: emergency berms and temporary levees, emergency repairs such as covering a damaged roof, shoring and bracing, emergency slope stabilization, mold remediation, removing and storing contents, extracting water and mud quickly, and saving animals eligible for replacement.
• Only under limited conditions: increased operating costs, mosquito abatement, temporary relocation of essential services, and snow activities when the declaration authorizes them.

A description of each measure and the threat it addressed, plus labor, equipment, contract and supply records.

• Pre-approval isn’t required, but you must notify FEMA and identify the type of property; preliminary approval is encouraged.
• You need written property identification, a certification of legal authority citing the source, indemnification of the federal government, rights-of-entry, permits and EHP compliance.
• A public health authority or other legal authority must assert the threat, citing the specific legal requirements.
• Private roads: unrestricted roads frequently used by the public are presumed in the public interest; gated or rarely used roads need a showing. Driveways and parking lots aren’t included.
• Private homes: FEMA weighs debris location, volume, height, number of houses and blocks affected, and population.
• Commercial property: typically ineligible because businesses are expected to carry insurance; get written pre-approval. Only the Regional Administrator can make an exception.
• Pursue property owners’ insurance and credit FEMA its share.

The items listed above, plus all standard debris documentation. Source: PAPPG Table 22.

• Monitoring documents debris types and quantities, reductions and methods, and pickup and disposal locations.
• Eligible activities include field supervision, monitoring at loading and disposal sites, compiling load tickets and monitor reports, and training monitors.
• Professional engineers or other certified staff aren’t needed; using them is unreasonable unless you document why their qualifications were required.
• FEMA trains your force account monitors on request.

Load tickets, tower logs, monitor reports and monitor timesheets. See FEMA’s Public Assistance Debris Monitoring Guide.

• Recycling revenue reduces funding, less your costs to market the material. If the contract lets the contractor keep salvage to lower its bid, nothing is owed.
• Staging sites: setup, operation and lease costs are eligible, plus restoration if the lease requires it.
• Tipping fees: only fixed and variable landfill operating costs; special taxes for other government services are removed.
• Lost landfill capacity is not eligible.
• Disposal of sand on a public beach is eligible when it is the cheapest option.

Lease agreements for staging sites, permits, and the breakdown of your tipping fee showing operating components.

• The vehicle or vessel blocks access to a public-use area;
• It is abandoned;
• You follow applicable state, local, tribal or territorial removal ordinances; and
• You document its handling.

Limited storage is eligible when removal is needed before the owner can be identified. If you find the owner, pursue storage and removal costs and credit FEMA its share.

Photos, location, ordinance followed, owner search records, and storage and disposal records for each vehicle or vessel.

• Navigable waterways you maintain: debris obstructing vessels is eligible down to 2 feet below the low-tide draft of the largest vessel that used the waterway before the incident.
• Non-navigable waterways and flood control works: eligible if the debris obstructs intakes, could damage bridges or culverts, or could flood improved property in a 5-year flood.
• Debris in works built under NRCS watershed authority is ineligible even if NRCS can’t help. Works in the Corps’ Rehabilitation and Inspection Program are eligible for PA debris removal.
• Random surveys are ineligible; a targeted survey (including side-scan sonar) is eligible once you show a specific threat area.
• Coordinate first with EPA or the Coast Guard, the Corps (permits), NMFS and Fish and Wildlife, and with NRCS to avoid duplicate funding.

Before-and-after satellite imagery or bathymetric surveys showing the debris was deposited by the incident, plus permits and agency coordination records.

• Limbs: remove broken limbs threatening improved property or public-use areas. On private property, only limbs extending over the public right-of-way, removed from the right-of-way. Only the minimum cut is eligible.
• Trees: damaged trees are hazardous if root, trunk or limb damage or their lean makes them a hazard, as assessed by the authority having jurisdiction with a qualified individual (forester, TRAQ-qualified assessor or certified arborist).
• Choose a cost-per-tree or cost-per-parcel method and say which you used.
• Bracing a tree is eligible as Category B. Pruning, trimming and landscaping are not.
• Stump removal in areas with archaeological potential needs EHP review; stop work and notify FEMA if resources are found.

• Quantity removed; quantity, location and source of fill for root-ball holes; and the equipment used.
• For each hazard, the location and photo or video of the specific immediate threat.

Source: PAPPG pp. 120–122.

• Debris includes vegetation, construction and demolition debris, sand, mud, silt, gravel, rocks, white goods, and vehicle and vessel wreckage. Snow is not debris.
• Debris on improved public property and public rights-of-way, including federal-aid roads, is eligible. So is residential debris that residents were authorized to move to the right-of-way, for a limited period.
• Commercial debris placed on the right-of-way is not eligible, nor is debris from construction or renovation work.
• For private nonprofits, debris removal is limited to their eligible facility.
• Debris removal from federally maintained navigable channels, agricultural land and natural, unimproved land is not eligible.
• Removing debris to restore an engineered facility’s capacity is permanent work, not Category A.

• Small projects: estimated or actual quantities removed, reduced, disposed and recycled by type; proof of monitoring if contracted; staging and disposal site locations and types; permits; and proof waterway debris isn’t pre-existing.
• Large projects: all of the above plus load tickets, photographs, tower logs, coordination with other agencies, quarantine-area disposal records, and threat documentation for hazardous trees, limbs and stumps.

Source: PAPPG Table 21.

• An immediate threat is a threat of additional damage that can reasonably be expected within five years of the declared incident. The incident must have caused the threat, but the threat can come from a different kind of event, such as post-fire debris flows.
• The work must be the legal responsibility of an eligible applicant.
• For governments, eligibility turns mainly on the immediate threat and legal authority to do the work, not on facility eligibility.
• For private nonprofits, emergency work is generally limited to debris removal from, and protective measures for, their own eligible facility.
• The deadline is six months from the declaration unless the recipient or FEMA extends it, and FEMA weighs how urgently you acted.

• Small projects: a detailed description of the work; you can certify the immediate threat, link to the incident, improved property in a declared area, and legal responsibility.
• Large projects: a detailed description of the work and the immediate threat, plus records showing the threat (technical reports, inspector reports, photographs) when it isn’t obvious.

Source: PAPPG Table 20.