44 Cfr 206.120

§ 206.120

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–11 Edition)

(ii) Financial assistance for public
transportation and any other transportation related costs or services.
(3) Medical expenses. Medical expenses
are generally limited to the following:
(i) Medical costs;
(ii) Dental costs; and
(iii) Repair or replacement of medical
equipment.
(4) Funeral expenses. Funeral expenses
are generally limited to the following
(i) Funeral services;
(ii) Burial or cremation; and
(iii) Other related funeral expenses.
(5) Moving and storage expenses. Necessary expenses and serious needs related to moving and storing personal
property to avoid additional disaster
damage generally include storage of
personal property while disaster-related repairs are being made to the primary residence, and return of the personal property to the individual or
household’s primary residence.
(6) Other. Other disaster-related expenses not addressed in this section
may include:
(i) The purchase of a Group Flood Insurance Policy as described in paragraph (d) of this section.
(ii) Other miscellaneous items or
services that FEMA, in consultation
with the State, determines are necessary expenses and serious needs.
(d) Group Flood Insurance purchase.
Individuals identified by FEMA as eligible for ‘‘Other Needs’’ assistance
under section 408 of the Stafford Act as
a result of flood damage caused by a
Presidentially-declared major disaster
and who reside in a special flood hazard
area (SFHA) may be included in a
Group Flood Insurance Policy (GFIP)
established under the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations
at 44 CFR 61.17.
(1) The premium for the GFIP is a
necessary expense within the meaning
of this section. FEMA or the State
shall withhold this portion of the Other
Needs award and provide it to the NFIP
on behalf of individuals and households
who are eligible for coverage. The coverage shall be equivalent to the maximum assistance amount established
under section 408 of the Stafford Act.
(2) FEMA or the State IHP staff shall
provide the NFIP with records of individuals who received an ‘‘Other Needs’’

award and are to be insured through
the GFIP. Records of ‘‘Other Needs’’
applicants to be insured shall be accompanied by payments to cover the
premium amounts for each applicant
for the 3-year policy term. The NFIP
will then issue a Certificate of Flood
Insurance to each applicant. Flood insurance coverage becomes effective on
the 30th day following the receipt of
records of GFIP insureds and their premium payments from the State or
FEMA, and such coverage terminates
36 months from the inception date of
the GFIP, which is 60 days from the
date of the disaster declaration.
(3) Insured applicants would not be
covered if they are determined to be ineligible for coverage based on a number
of exclusions established by the NFIP.
Therefore,
once
applicants/policyholders receive the Certificate of Flood
Insurance that contains a list of the
policy exclusions, they should review
that list to see if they are ineligible for
coverage. Those applicants who fail to
do this may find that their property is,
in fact, not covered by the insurance
policy when the next flooding incident
occurs and they file for losses. Once the
applicants find that their damaged
buildings, contents, or both, are ineligible for coverage, they should notify
the NFIP in writing in order to have
their names removed from the GFIP,
and to have the flood insurance maintenance requirement expunged from
the data-tracking system.
[67 FR 61452, Sept. 30, 2002; 67 FR 62896, Oct.
9, 2002]

§ 206.120 State administration of other
needs assistance.
(a) State administration of other needs
assistance. A State may request a grant
from FEMA to provide financial assistance to individuals and households in
the State under § 206.119. The State
may also expend administrative costs
not to exceed 5 percent of the amount
of the grant in accordance with section
408(f)(1)(b) of the Stafford Act. Any
State that administers the program to
provide financial assistance to individuals and households must administer
the program consistent with § 206.119
and the State Administrative Option
and the State Administrative Plan

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
that we describe at paragraph (b) and
(c) of this section.
(b) State administrative options. The
delivery of assistance under § 206.119 is
contingent upon the State choosing an
administrator for the assistance. The
State may either request that FEMA
administer the assistance or the State
may request a grant from FEMA for
State administration. The Governor or
designee will execute the State Administrative Option annually. During nondisaster periods the State may submit
any proposed amendments to the administrative option in writing to the
FEMA Regional Administrator. FEMA
shall review the request and respond to
the Governor or his/her designee within
45 days of receipt of the proposed
amendment;
(c) State Administrative Plan (SAP).
The delivery of assistance by a State
under this section is contingent upon
approval of a SAP, which describes the
procedures the State will use to deliver
assistance under section 408 of the
Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5174, when a
State requests a grant to administer
Other Needs assistance. All implementation procedures must be in compliance with Federal laws and requirements, State laws and procedures, and
paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section.
(1) Timeframe for submission of SAP. A
signed SAP, or renewal, must be provided to the FEMA Regional Administrator prior to November 30 of each
year. A SAP shall be effective for at
least one year, and must be resubmitted in full every three years.
(2) Renewals. Annual updates/revisions to the SAP must be submitted by
November 30 of each year for FEMA’s
review and approval by December 31. If
the SAP does not need to be updated/
revised, a letter from the State stating
the SAP is still current must be submitted by November 30 to document
the SAP submission requirement.
(3) Amendments. The State may request amendments to the SAP at any
time. An amendment is effective upon
signature by the FEMA Regional Administrator and the Governor or his/
her designee. The State may request an
amendment to the administrative plan
as follows:
(i) During non-disaster periods. The
State may submit any proposed amend-

§ 206.120

ments to the SAP in writing to the
FEMA Regional Administrator. FEMA
shall review the request and respond to
the Governor or his/her designee within
45 days of receipt of the proposed
amendment;
(ii) During Presidentially-declared disasters. The State shall submit any proposed amendments to the SAP in writing to FEMA within three days after
disaster declaration. FEMA shall review the request and respond to the
Governor or his/her designee within
three days of receipt.
(d) State administrative plan requirements. The State shall develop a plan
for the administration of the Other
Needs assistance that describes, at a
minimum, the following items:
(1) Assignment of grant program responsibilities to State officials or agencies.
(2) Staffing Schedule that identifies
the position, salary and percent of time
for each staff person assigned to program administration and/or implementation.
(3) Procedures for interaction with
applicants:
(i) Procedures for notifying potential
applicants of the availability of the
program, to include the publication of
application deadlines, pertinent program descriptions, and further program
information on the requirements which
must be met by the applicant in order
to receive assistance;
(ii) Procedures for registration and
acceptance of applications, including
late applications, up to the prescribed
time limitations as described in
§ 206.112;
(iii) Procedures for damage inspection and/or other verifications.
(iv) Eligibility determinations.
(A) Under a cooperative agreement: The
procedure for eligibility determinations when the FEMA application and
inspection systems are used by the
State but additional eligibility criteria
are necessary to make State eligibility
determinations.
(B) Under a grant: The procedure for
eligibility determinations when the
FEMA application and inspection systems are not used by the State, including the method for determination of
costs for personal property and provision of a standard list for personal

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§ 206.120

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–11 Edition)

property items with allowable costs
identified for each item.
(v) Procedures for checking compliance for mandated flood insurance in
accordance with § 206.110(k);
(vi) Procedures for notifying applicants of the State’s eligibility decision;
(vii) Procedures for disbursement of
funds to applicants;
(viii) Procedures for applicant appeal
processing. Procedures must provide
for any appealable determination as
identified in § 206.115(a);
(ix) Procedures for expeditious reporting of allegations of fraud, waste
or abuse to DHS Office of Inspector
General.
(x) Capacity to investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse independently if requested by DHS OIG, or
in conjunction with DHS OIG.
(xi) Provisions for safeguarding the
privacy of applicants and the confidentiality of information, in accordance
with § 206.110(j).
(xii) Provisions for complying with
§ 206.116(b), Recovery of funds.
(4) Procedures for financial management, accountability and oversight.
(i) Procedures for verifying by random sample that assistance funds are
meeting applicants’ needs, are not duplicating assistance from other means,
and are meeting flood insurance requirements.
(ii) Provisions for specifically identifying, in the accounts of the State, all
Federal and State funds committed to
each grant program; and for immediately returning, upon discovery, all
Federal funds that are excess to program needs.
(iii) Provisions for accounting for
cash in compliance with State law and
procedure and the Cash Management
Improvement Act of 1990, as amended.
(iv) Reports.
(A) Procedures for preparing and submitting quarterly and final Financial
Status Reports in compliance with 44
CFR 13.41.
(B) Procedures for submitting Program Status Reports in compliance
with paragraph (f)(2)(iii) of this section.
(C) Procedures for preparing and submitting the PSC 272, Federal Cash
Transactions Report.

(v) Procedures for inventory control,
including a system for identifying and
tracking placement of equipment purchased with grant funds or loaned by
FEMA to the State for purposes of administering the Individuals and Households Program.
(vi) Procedures for return of funds to
FEMA.
(vii) State criteria and requirements
for closing out Federal grants.
(viii) Process for retention of records.
(e) Application for assistance procedure.
This section describes the procedures
that must be followed by the State to
submit an application to administer
the Individuals and Households Program through a Grant Award or a Cooperative Agreement.
(1) The State must submit an Other
Needs assistance application to the Regional Administrator within 72 hours
of the major disaster declaration before IHP assistance may be provided.
FEMA will work with the State to approve the application or to modify it so
it can be approved.
(2) The application shall include:
(i) Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance;
(ii) FEMA Form (FF) 20–20 Budget Information—Non
Construction
Programs;
(iii) Copy of approved indirect cost
rate from a Federal cognizant agency if
indirect costs will be charged to the
grant. Indirect costs will be included in
the administrative costs of the grant
allowed under paragraph (a) of this section; and
(iv) Disaster specific changes to the
State Administrative Plan, if applicable.
(f) Grants management oversight—(1)
Period of assistance. All costs must be
incurred within the period of assistance, which is 18 months from the date
of the disaster declaration. This period
of assistance may be extended if requested in writing by the State and approved in writing by the Assistant Administrator for the Disaster Assistance
Directorate. The State must include a
justification for an extension of the assistance period.
(2) Reporting requirements. (i) The
State shall provide financial status reports, as required by 44 CFR 13.41.

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
(ii) The State shall provide copies of
PSC 272, Federal Cash Transactions Report to FEMA. The PSC 272 is required
quarterly by the Department of Health
and Human Services from users of its
SMARTLINK service.
(iii) The State shall provide weekly
program status reports which include
the number and dollar amount of applications approved, the amount of assistance disbursed and the number of appeals received.
(3) Ineligible costs. Funds provided to
the State for the administrative costs
of administering Other Needs assistance shall not be used to pay regular
time for State employees, but may be
used to pay overtime for those employees.
(4) Closeout. The State has primary
responsibility to closeout the tasks approved under the Grant Award. In compliance with the period of assistance,
as identified in the award, the State
must reconcile costs and payments, resolve negative audit findings, and submit final reports within 90 days of the
end of the period of assistance. The
State must also provide an inventory
of equipment purchased with grant
funds and loaned to it by FEMA for
purposes of administering IHP, which
lists the items, dates, and costs of
equipment purchased.
(5) Recovery of funds. The State is responsible for recovering assistance
awards from applicants obtained fraudulently, expended for unauthorized
items or services, expended for items
for which assistance is received from
other means, and awards made in error.
(i) Adjustments to expenditures will
be made as funding is recovered and
will be reported quarterly on the Financial Status Report.
(ii) A list of applicants from whom
recoveries are processed will be submitted on the quarterly progress report
to allow FEMA to adjust its program
and financial information systems.
(iii) The State will reimburse FEMA
for the Federal share of awards not recovered through quarterly financial adjustments within the 90 day close out
liquidation period of the grant award.
(iv) If the State does not reimburse
FEMA within the 90 day close out liquidation period, a bill for collection
will be issued. FEMA will charge inter-

§ 206.131

est, penalties, and administrative fees
on delinquent bills for collection in accordance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act. Recovered funds, interest, penalties, and fees owed to FEMA
through delinquent bills for collection
may be offset from other FEMA disaster assistance programs from which
the State is receiving funds or future
grant awards from FEMA or other Federal agencies. Debt collection procedures will be followed as outlined in 44
CFR part 11.
(6) Audit requirements. Pursuant to 44
CFR 13.26, uniform audit requirements
apply to all grants provided under this
subpart.
(7) Document retention. Pursuant to 44
CFR 13.42, States are required to retain
records, including source documentation, to support expenditures/costs incurred against the grant award, for 3
years from the date of submission to
FEMA of the final Financial Status Report. The State is responsible for resolving questioned costs that may result from an audit conducted during
the three-year record retention period
and for returning disallowed costs from
ineligible activities.
[67 FR 61452, Sept. 30, 2002; 67 FR 62896, 62897,
Oct. 9, 2002]

§§ 206.121–206.130

[Reserved]

Subpart E—Individual and Family
Grant Programs
§ 206.131 Individual and Family Grant
Program for major disasters declared on or before October 14,
2002.
(a) General. The Governor may request that a Federal grant be made to
a State for the purpose of such State
making grants to individuals or families who, as a result of a major disaster, are unable to meet disaster-related necessary expenses or serious
needs for Presidentially-declared major
disasters declared on or before October
14, 2002 (Note that the reference to section 411 of the Stafford Act refers to
prior legislation amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act 2000). The total
Federal grant under this section will be
equal to 75 percent of the actual cost of
meeting necessary expenses or serious
needs of individuals and families, plus

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