Appendix I › III. Work Eligibility Considerations for Water Control Facilities

What work on levees, dams, channels and basins is eligible?

FEMA term

Work eligibility: water control facilities (Categories A, B and D)

Short answer

Eligible: debris removal for an immediate threat, flood fighting, emergency repairs to engineered and maintained facilities, silt removal to restore their capacity, and permanent repair or replacement. Not eligible: work only to protect farmland, raising levees, dewatering to dry land, natural channels and shorelines, and facilities under the Corps of Engineers’ permanent repair authority.

What FEMA requires

Covers dams and reservoirs, irrigation and water conveyances, aqueducts, drainage channels, sediment and debris basins, stormwater basins, coastal shoreline protection, flood control works, and navigational and shipping channels.
Stormwater drainage built with road projects inside the right-of-way is Category C, not D.
Common EHP laws: NEPA, NHPA, ESA, Clean Water Act, EOs 11988 and 11990; waterway work usually needs a Section 404 permit.
Debris rules differ for navigable and non-navigable waterways. Separate incident debris from pre-existing debris and debris from other incidents.
The Corps of Engineers can do flood fighting but cannot reimburse applicants for their own flood fighting.
A waiver for ineligible work requires FEMA’s Assistant Administrator for Recovery.

<table class="pt-table"><thead><tr><th>Category</th><th>Eligible</th><th>Not eligible</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A: Debris</td><td>Debris removal from natural features or engineered facilities to eliminate an immediate threat</td><td>Debris removal only to protect agricultural land; debris surveys; flood control works under another federal agency; federally maintained navigable waterways</td></tr><tr><td>B: Flood fighting and emergency repairs</td><td>Flood fighting; emergency repairs of engineered, maintained facilities; repairing deliberate breaches; secondary levees riverward of a primary levee; emergency repairs of works under another federal agency</td><td>Measures only to protect agricultural land; permanently raising levee height or capacity; dewatering mainly to dry land</td></tr><tr><td>D: Capacity restoration</td><td>Debris and silt removal to restore capacity of engineered, maintained facilities</td><td>Flood control works under USACE authority</td></tr><tr><td>D: Restoration</td><td>Permanent repair or replacement, including PNP irrigation that supplies drinking water, fire suppression or electricity generation</td><td>Natural channels, lakes and shorelines; agricultural-only PNP irrigation; federally constructed shoreline protection</td></tr></tbody></table>

Documentation

Maintenance records showing the facility was engineered and maintained; evidence separating incident debris from pre-existing sediment; and documentation of whether another federal agency (such as the Corps of Engineers) has authority over the facility.

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

“Engineered and maintained” is the deciding phrase. Without maintenance records showing regular desilting or upkeep, FEMA treats a channel or basin like a natural feature, and sediment removal becomes ineligible.

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.