Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program
The Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program provides supplemental Federal assistance to States and local communities to return an area impacted by disaster to its pre-disaster conditions and function. PA supports initiatives that protect against immediate threats to life, public safety and improved property; the removal of debris as a result of a disaster and the restoration – through repair or replacement – of disaster-damaged structures and facilities. The program is managed by FEMA, administered by GOHSEP and is available after a Presidentially declared emergency or disaster.
FEMA Work Categories
Category A
- Debris Removal
Category B
- Emergency Protective Measures
Repair Restoration of Disaster-damaged Public Facilities and Property
Category C
- Roads + Bridges
Category D
- Water Control Facilities
Category E
- Buildings + Equipment
Category F
- Utilities
Category G
- Parks + Recreational + Other
Management Costs
Category Z
- Management Costs
Who can Participate in the PA Program?
There are four (4) eligibility requirements that must be met to participate in the PA Program: the Subrecipient (Applicant), the Facility, the Work, and the Cost. The Subrecipient (Applicant) – is the basis for eligibility. The Subrecipient must be eligible for the facility to be eligible. The facility must be eligible for the work to be eligible. The work must be eligible for the cost to be eligible.
Eligibility
- State government agencies.
- Local governments and special districts – For example school districts, irrigation districts, fire districts and utility districts.
- Private Nonprofit organizations (PNPs). PNPs must own or operate facilities that are open to the general public and that provide certain essential and critical services otherwise performed by a government agency.
- Federally recognized Native American Indian Tribes or authorized Tribal organizations, including Alaskan Native villages and organizations.
- The legal responsibility of an eligible Applicant and not under the specific authority of another Federal agency.
- Located in the designated disaster area.
- Damaged by the declared disaster or emergency.
- In active use and open to the general public at the time of the disaster.
- Required as a direct result of a major disaster event.
- Located within a designated disaster area.
- The legal responsibility of an eligible Applicant.
- Directly tied to the performance of eligible work
- Adequately documented
- Reduced by all applicable credits, such as insurance proceeds and salvage values.
- Authorized and not prohibited under Federal, State, Local, or Tribal laws or regulations
- Consistent with the Applicant’s internal policies, regulations, and procedures
- Necessary and reasonable to accomplish the work properly and efficiently
Cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the Applicant makes the decision to incur the cost.
Examples of Eligible PA Work
- Trees and woody debris.
- Construction and demolition debris.
- Sand, mud, silt, gravel, rocks, and boulders.
- White goods.
- Vehicle and vessel wreckage.
- Removal of debris from improved public property and public rights-of way (ROWs)
- Debris removal from waterways that is necessary to eliminate the immediate threat to life, public health, and safety, or improved property
- Transporting and pre-positioning equipment and other resources for response.
- Flood fighting.
- Firefighting.
- Emergency Operations Center related costs.
- Emergency access.
- Supplies and commodities.
- Medical care and transport.
- Evacuation and sheltering.
- Childcare.
- Safety inspections.
- Animal carcass removal and disposal.
- Demolition of structures.
- Search and rescue.
- Security, such as barricades, fencing, or law enforcement.
- Use or lease of temporary generators for facilities that provide essential community services.
- Dissemination of information to the public to provide warnings and guidance about health and safety hazards.
- Searching to locate and recover human remains.
- Storage and interment of unidentified human remains.
- Mass mortuary services.
- Certain emergency repairs necessary to prevent further damage to an eligible facility and its contents.
- Certain mosquito abatement activities.
- Mold remediation activities.
- Road surfaces, bases, shoulders, and ditches.
- Road drainage structure and low-water crossings.
- Associated facilities such as lighting, sidewalks, guardrails, and signs.
- Bridge approaches, decking, pavement, piers, girders, and abutments.
- Bridge slope protection.
- Canals, aqueducts, and sediment and debris basins.
- Certain irrigation facilities.
- Dams, reservoirs, levees, and floodwalls.
- Stormwater retention and detention basins.
- Engineered drainage channels.
- Pumping facilities.
- Irrigation facilities.
- Navigational waterways and shipping channels.
- Coastal shoreline protective devices.
- Repair or replacement of buildings, contents, and equipment.
- Codes and standards upgrades or a portion of that work.
- Recovery of files.
- Temporary or permanent relocation.
- Under certain circumstances, ADA compliance work or a portion of that work.
- Water storage facilities, treatment plants, and delivery systems.
- Power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.
- Natural gas transmission and distribution facilities.
- Sewerage collection systems and treatment plants
- Communication systems.
- Mass transit facilities.
- Beaches, parks, playground equipment, swimming pools, bath houses, tennis courts, and picnic tables.
- Boat docks, piers, ports and harbors, fish hatcheries.
- Golf courses.
- Ball fields
- Other facilities that do not fit in Categories C – F.
- Management costs for Public Assistance (PA) projects, including indirect and direct administrative costs associated with the PA portion of a major disaster or emergency.
- Up to 5 percent of the Applicant’s total award amount for that major disaster or emergency.
Public Assistance Personnel
Nathan Gary – PA Lead [email protected]
Brittany Humphries- PA State Applicant Liaison/PDAs lead [email protected]
Daniel Crothers- PA Officer/Tech lead [email protected]
Jill Ruth- Grants Management lead [email protected]
Tina Emerson Closeout Lead [email protected]
Tashanti Pitts Disaster Oversight [email protected]
Jim Richard – Debris SME [email protected]
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If you are a current recipient of a Public Assistance grant administered by GOHSEP and want to know your grant status, please click below to login to:
Related Links
Environmental and Historic Preservation Guidance for FEMA Grant Applicants