44 CFR Part 206.110

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§§ 206.102–206.109

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–09 Edition)

potential problem areas; and any deviations from the approved plan. The Regional Administrator may require additional annexes as necessary for subsequent phases of the operation.
(3) Evaluation of capability. State and
local government assumption of the
temporary housing assistance program
for a particular disaster shall be approved by the Assistant Administrator
for the Disaster Assistance Directorate
based on an evaluation of the capabilities and commitment of the entity by
the Regional Administrator. At a minimum, the evaluation shall include a
review of the following:
(i) The State temporary housing assistance plan which has been approved
by the Regional Administrator prior to
the incident, and the specific operational annex which has been approved
in accordance with paragraph (s)(2) of
this section.
(ii) Past performance in administration of temporary housing assistance
or other similar operations;
(iii) Management and staff capabilities; and
(iv) Demonstrated understanding of
the tasks to be performed.
(4) Grant application. Approval of
funding shall be obtained through submission of a project application by the
State or local government through the
Governor’s Authorized Representative.
The State shall maintain adequate documentation according to the requirements of 44 CFR part 13, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants
and Cooperative Agreements to State
and Local Governments, to enable
analysis of the program. Final reimbursement to the State, or final debt
collection, shall be based on an examination of the voucher filed by the
State.
(5) Authorized costs. All expenditures
associated with administering the program are authorized if in compliance
with 44 CFR 13.22, Allowable Costs, and
the associated OMB Circular A–87, Cost
Principles for State and Local Governments. Examples of program costs allowable under the Temporary Housing
Assistance program include home repairs, costs associated with rental payments, reimbursements for temporary
housing including transient accommodations and commercial site rental,

mobile home installation and maintenance, mobile home private site development, cost of supplemental assistance, mortgage and rental payments,
other necessary costs, when approved
by the Assistant Administrator for the
Disaster Assistance Directorate. All
contracts require the review and approval of the Regional Administrator
prior to award, in order to be considered as an authorized expenditure.
(6) Federal monitoring and oversight.
The Regional Administrator shall monitor State-administered activities since
he/she remains responsible for the overall delivery of temporary housing assistance. In addition, policy guidance
and interpretations to meet specific
needs of a disaster shall be provided
through the oversight function.
(7) Technical assistance. The Regional
Administrator shall provide technical
assistance as necessary to support
State-administered operations through
training, procedural issuances, and by
providing experienced personnel to assist the State and local staff.
(8) Operational resources. The Regional Administrator shall make available for use in State or locally administered temporary housing programs
Federal stand-by contracts, memoranda of understanding with Government and voluntary agencies, and Federal property, such as governmentowned mobile homes and travel trailers.
(9) Program reviews and audits. The
State shall conduct program review of
each operation. All operations are subject to Federal audit.
[55 FR 2296, Jan. 23, 1990, as amended at 61
FR 7224, Feb. 27, 1996; 64 FR 46853, Aug. 27,
1999; 67 FR 61460, Sept. 30, 2002; 74 FR 15347,
Apr. 3, 2009]

§§ 206.102–206.109

[Reserved]

§ 206.110 Federal assistance to individuals and households.
(a) Purpose. This section implements
the policy and procedures set forth in
section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5174, as amended by
the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
This program provides financial assistance and, if necessary, direct assistance to eligible individuals and households who, as a direct result of a major
disaster or emergency, have uninsured
or under-insured, necessary expenses
and serious needs and are unable to
meet such expenses or needs through
other means.
(b) Maximum amount of assistance. No
individual or household will receive financial assistance greater than $25,000
under this subpart with respect to a
single major disaster or emergency.
FEMA will adjust the $25,000 limit annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban
Consumers that the Department of
Labor publishes.
(c) Multiple types of assistance. One or
more types of housing assistance may
be made available under this section to
meet the needs of individuals and
households in the particular disaster
situation. FEMA shall determine the
appropriate types of housing assistance
to be provided under this section based
on considerations of cost effectiveness,
convenience to the individuals and
households and the suitability and
availability of the types of assistance.
An applicant is expected to accept the
first offer of housing assistance; unwarranted refusal of assistance may result
in the forfeiture of future housing assistance. Temporary housing and repair assistance shall be utilized to the
fullest extent practicable before other
types of housing assistance.
(d) Date of eligibility. Eligibility for
Federal assistance under this subpart
will begin on the date of the incident
that results in a presidential declaration that a major disaster or emergency exists, except that reasonable
lodging expenses that are incurred in
anticipation of and immediately preceding such event may be eligible for
Federal assistance under this chapter.
(e) Period of assistance. FEMA may
provide assistance under this subpart
for a period not to exceed 18 months
from the date of declaration. The Assistant Administrator for the Disaster
Assistance Directorate may extend this
period if he/she determines that due to
extraordinary circumstances an extension would be in the public interest.

§ 206.110

(f) Assistance not counted as income.
Assistance under this subpart is not to
be counted as income or a resource in
the determination of eligibility for
welfare, income assistance or incometested benefit programs that the Federal Government funds.
(g) Exemption from garnishment. All
assistance provided under this subpart
is exempt from garnishment, seizure,
encumbrance, levy, execution, pledge,
attachment, release or waiver. Recipients of rights under this provision may
not reassign or transfer the rights.
These exemptions do not apply to
FEMA recovering assistance fraudulently obtained or misapplied.
(h) Duplication of benefits. In accordance with the requirements of section
312 of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5155,
FEMA will not provide assistance
under this subpart when any other
source has already provided such assistance or when such assistance is
available from any other source. In the
instance of insured applicants, we will
provide assistance under this subpart
only when:
(1) Payment of the applicable benefits are significantly delayed;
(2) Applicable benefits are exhausted;
(3) Applicable benefits are insufficient to cover the housing or other
needs; or
(4) Housing is not available on the
private market.
(i) Cost sharing. (1) Except as provided
in paragraph (i)(2) of this section, the
Federal share of eligible costs paid
under this subpart shall be 100 percent.
(2) Federal and State cost shares for
‘‘Other Needs’’ assistance under subsections 408 (e) and (f) of the Stafford
Act will be as follows;
(i) The Federal share shall be 75 percent; and
(ii) The non-federal share shall be
paid from funds made available by the
State. If the State does not provide the
non-Federal share to FEMA before
FEMA begins to provide assistance to
individuals and households under subsection 408(e) of the Stafford Act,
FEMA will still process applications.
The State will then be obliged to reimburse FEMA for the non-Federal cost
share of such assistance on a monthly
basis. If the State does not provide
such reimbursement on a monthly

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WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with CFR

§ 206.110

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–09 Edition)

basis, then FEMA will issue a Bill for
Collection to the State on a monthly
basis for the duration of the program.
FEMA will charge interest, penalties,
and administrative fees on delinquent
Bills for Collection in accordance with
the Debt Collection Improvement Act.
Cost shared funds, interest, penalties
and fees owed to FEMA through delinquent Bills for Collections may be offset from other FEMA disaster assistance programs (i.e. Public Assistance)
from which the State is receiving, or
future grant awards from FEMA or
other Federal Agencies. Debt Collection procedures will be followed as outlined in 44 CFR part 11.
(j) Application of the Privacy Act. (1)
All provisions of the Privacy Act of
1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, apply to this subpart. FEMA may not disclose an applicant’s record except:
(i) In response to a release signed by
the applicant that specifies the purpose
for the release, to whom the release is
to be made, and that the applicant authorizes the release;
(ii) In accordance with one of the
published routine uses in our system of
records; or
(iii) As provided in paragraph (j)(2) of
this section.
(2) Under section 408(f)(2) of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5174(f)(2), FEMA
must share applicant information with
States in order for the States to make
available any additional State and
local disaster assistance to individuals
and households.
(i) States receiving applicant information under this paragraph must protect such information in the same
manner that the Privacy Act requires
FEMA to protect it.
(ii) States receiving such applicant
information shall not further disclose
the information to other entities, and
shall not use it for purposes other than
providing additional State or local disaster assistance to individuals and
households.
(k) Flood Disaster Protection Act requirement. (1) The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, Public Law 93–234,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 4106), imposes
certain restrictions on federal financial
assistance for acquisition and construction purposes. For the purpose of
this paragraph, financial assistance for

acquisition or construction purposes
means assistance to an individual or
household to buy, receive, build, repair
or improve insurable portions of a
home and/or to purchase or repair insurable contents. For a discussion of
what elements of a home and contents
are insurable, See 44 CFR part 61, Insurance Coverage and Rates.
(2) Individuals or households that are
located in a special flood hazard area
may not receive Federal Assistance for
National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP)—insurable real and/or personal
property, damaged by a flood, unless
the community in which the property
is located is participating in the NFIP
(See 44 CFR part 59.1), or the exception
in 42 U.S.C. 4105(d) applies. However, if
the community in which the damaged
property is located qualifies for and enters the NFIP during the six-month period following the declaration, the Governor’s Authorized Representative may
request a time extension for FEMA (See
§ 206.112) to accept registrations and to
process assistance applications in that
community.
(3) Flood insurance purchase requirement: (i) As a condition of the assistance and in order to receive any Federal assistance for future flood damage
to any insurable property, individuals
and households named by FEMA as eligible recipients under section 408 of the
Stafford Act who receive assistance,
due to flood damages, for acquisition or
construction purposes under this subpart must buy and maintain flood insurance, as required in 42 U.S.C. 4012a,
for at least the assistance amount.
This applies only to real and personal
property that is in or will be in a designated Special Flood Hazard Area and
that can be insured under the National
Flood Insurance Program.
(A) If the applicant is a homeowner,
flood insurance coverage must be
maintained at the address of the flooddamaged property for as long as the address exists. The flood insurance requirement is reassigned to any subsequent owner of the flood-damaged address.
(B) If the applicant is a renter, flood
insurance coverage must be maintained
on the contents for as long as the
renter resides at the flood-damaged
rental unit. The restriction is lifted

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
once the renter moves from the rental
unit.
(C) When financial assistance is used
to purchase a dwelling, flood insurance
coverage must be maintained on the
dwelling for as long as the dwelling exists and is located in a designated Special Flood Hazard Area. The flood insurance requirement is reassigned to
any subsequent owner of the dwelling.
(ii) FEMA may not provide financial
assistance for acquisition or construction purposes to individuals or households who fail to buy and maintain
flood insurance required under paragraph (k)(3)(i) of this section or required by the Small Business Administration.
(l) Environmental requirements. Assistance provided under this subpart must
comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other
environmental laws and Executive Orders, consistent with 44 CFR part 10.
(m) Historic preservation. Assistance
provided under this subpart generally
does not have the potential to affect
historic properties and thus is exempted from review in accordance with section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, with the exception of
ground disturbing activities and construction related to §§ 206.117(b)(1)(ii)
(Temporary housing), 206.117(b)(3) (Replacement housing), and 206.117(b)(4)
(Permanent housing construction).
[67 FR 61452, Sept. 30, 2002; 67 FR 62896, Oct.
9, 2002]

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with CFR

§ 206.111

Definitions.

Adequate, alternate housing means
housing that accommodates the needs
of the occupants; is within the normal
commuting patterns of the area or is
within reasonable commuting distance
of work, school, or agricultural activities that provide over 50 percent of the
household income; and is within the financial ability of the occupant.
Alternative housing resources means
any housing that is available or can
quickly be made available in lieu of
permanent housing construction and is
cost-effective when compared to permanent construction costs. Some examples are rental resources, mobile
homes and travel trailers.

§ 206.111

Applicant means an individual or
household who has applied for assistance under this subpart.
Assistance from other means includes
monetary or in-kind contributions
from voluntary or charitable organizations, insurance, other governmental
programs, or from any sources other
than those of the applicant.
Dependent means someone who is
normally claimed as such on the Federal tax return of another, according to
the Internal Revenue Code. It may also
mean the minor children of a couple
not living together, where the children
live in the affected residence with the
parent or guardian who does not actually claim them on the tax return.
Displaced applicant means one whose
primary residence is uninhabitable, inaccessible, made unavailable by the
landlord (to meet their disaster housing need) or not functional as a direct
result of the disaster and has no other
housing available in the area, i.e., a
secondary home or vacation home.
Effective date of assistance means the
date that the applicant was determined
eligible for assistance.
Eligible hazard mitigation measures are
home improvements that an applicant
can accomplish in order to reduce or
prevent future disaster damages to essential components of the home.
Fair market rent means housing market-wide estimates of rents that provide opportunities to rent standard
quality housing throughout the geographic area in which rental housing
units are in competition. The fair market rent rates applied are those identified by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development as being adequate
for existing rental housing in a particular area.
Financial ability means the applicant’s capability to pay housing costs.
If the household income has not
changed subsequent to or as a result of
the disaster then the determination is
based upon the amount paid for housing before the disaster. If the household income is reduced as a result of
the disaster then the applicant will be
deemed capable of paying 30 percent of
gross post disaster income for housing.

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