President Donald Trump has declared Major Disaster Declarations in 21 states and territories, allowing FEMA to ramp up its assistance to state governments as COVID-19 continues to spread across the country. As of March 30, District of Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington, as well as a number of tribal areas, are under Major Disaster Declarations.
While a Major Disaster Declaration allows FEMA to utilize its full suite of disaster assistance programs, the agency conducts a damage assessment survey to determine which programs it believes are needed. Unlike in many major disasters, FEMA has not approved any of its Individual Assistance (IA) programs for use in connection with the pandemic – prompting ire from some members of Congress. Instead, FEMA will be expanding its Public Assistance (PA) programs, covering all National Guard expenses, and providing more robust direct assistance as the nation addresses the public health and economic fallout of the pandemic. While IA has not yet been authorized, the agency is able to authorize the program later in the disaster recovery process.
The moves come after President Trump declared a National Emergency on March 13. That declaration allowed FEMA to offer both direct federal assistance as well as PA grants to assist states with emergency preparedness. Because the emergency declared was national in scope, individual requests for disaster declarations by state or territorial governors are not needed to access this funding. These PA Emergency Preparedness (Category 2) Grants are open to state, local, and eligible nonprofits to reimburse costs associated with a wide variety of pandemic related work – including medical and hygiene supplies and increasing shelter capacity. PA Category 2 funding could be used to assist overwhelmed homeless service providers in finding space for COVID-19 positive or symptomatic shelter residents. The application period for the PA program typically lasts for 30 days. The funding will be provided at the typical 75% federal cost share. FEMA will not duplicate any assistance provided by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Center for Disease Control.
A fact sheet from NLIHC on FEMA Public Assistance is at: https://bit.ly/3ak53UW
An ongoing updated list of Major Disaster Declarations is at: https://bit.ly/39pwJGy
FEMA’s updated Public Assistance Grant application instructions are at: https://bit.ly/3dIUnS2