Chapter 7 › XIII.F Increased Operating Costs

Will FEMA pay higher operating costs during the emergency?

FEMA term

Increased operating costs

Short answer

Only narrowly: costs tied to eligible emergency actions to save lives or protect health, safety or property, for a limited time, and tracked separately. Most increased operating costs are ineligible.

What FEMA requires

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.

Documentation

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

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

Set up a separate cost code for any increased operating cost on day one, with the specific threat it addresses.

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.