44 Cfr 206.110

Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
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.
This program provides financial assist-

§ 206.110

ance 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.
(f) Assistance not counted as income.
Assistance under this subpart is not to

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§ 206.110

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–11 Edition)

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
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

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS
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
once the renter moves from the rental
unit.

§ 206.111

(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]

§ 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.
Applicant means an individual or
household who has applied for assistance under this subpart.

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