Chapter 7 › XII.D Disposal

What disposal costs will FEMA pay for debris?

FEMA term

Disposal; temporary debris staging and reduction sites; tipping fees

Short answer

FEMA funds efficient, cost-effective disposal, including reducing vegetative debris by mulching, grinding or burning, staging sites, and landfill tipping fees limited to costs of operating the landfill.

What FEMA requires

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.

<table class="pt-table"><thead><tr><th>Truck type</th><th>How much capacity FEMA counts</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Hand-loaded trucks and trailers carrying vegetative debris</td><td>50 percent of the monitor’s observed capacity</td></tr><tr><td>Trucks without solid tailgates</td><td>Up to 85 percent of certified capacity (a 15 percent reduction)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Documentation

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

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

Get your landfill’s tipping-fee breakdown before the disaster. FEMA will strip out non-operating components, and you need the numbers to defend the rest.

Govstar summarizes FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide in plain language and links to the official text. Govstar is independent and not affiliated with FEMA. This is general guidance, not legal advice.