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A GUIDE TO THE DISASTER DECLARATION PROCESS

AND FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE

Local and State governments share the responsibility for protecting their citizens from disasters, and for helping

them to recover when a disaster strikes. In some cases, a disaster is beyond the capabilities of the State and local

government to respond.

In 1988, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206, was

enacted to support State and local governments and their citizens when disasters overwhelm them. This law, as

amended, establishes a process for requesting and obtaining a Presidential disaster declaration, defines the type and

scope of assistance available from the Federal government, and sets the conditions for obtaining that assistance. The

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response

Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, is tasked with coordinating the response.

This paper explains the declaration process and provides an overview of the assistance available.

— THE DECLARATION PROCESS —

The Stafford Act (§401) requires that: “All requests

for a declaration by the President that a major disaster

exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected

State.” A State also includes the District of Columbia,

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands. The Marshall Islands and the

Federated States of Micronesia are also eligible to

request a declaration and receive assistance.

The Governor’s request is made through the

regional FEMA/EPR office. State and Federal officials

conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) to

estimate the extent of the disaster and its impact on

individuals and public facilities. This information is

included in the Governor’s request to show that the

disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective

response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the

local governments and that Federal assistance is

necessary. Normally, the PDA is completed prior to the

submission of the Governor’s request. However, when

an obviously severe or catastrophic event occurs, the

Governor’s request may be submitted prior to the PDA.

Nonetheless, the Governor must still make the request.

As part of the request, the Governor must take

appropriate action under State law and direct execution

of the State’s emergency plan. The Governor shall

furnish information on the nature and amount of State

and local resources that have been or will be

committed to alleviating the results of the disaster,

provide an estimate of the amount and severity of

damage and the impact on the private and public

sector, and provide an estimate of the type and amount

of assistance needed under the Stafford Act. In

addition, the Governor will need to certify that, for the

current disaster, State and local government obligations

and expenditures (of which State commitments must be

a significant proportion) will comply with all

applicable cost-sharing requirements.

Based on the Governor’s request, the President may

declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus

activating an array of Federal programs to assist in the

response and recovery effort.

— ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE —

Not all programs, however, are activated for every

disaster. The determination of which programs are

activated is based on the needs found during damage

assessment and any subsequent information that may

be discovered.

FEMA/EPR disaster assistance falls into three

general categories:

• Individual Assistance — aid to individuals and

households;

• Public Assistance — aid to public (and certain

private non-profit) entities for certain emergency

services and the repair or replacement of disaster-

damaged public facilities;

• Hazard Mitigation Assistance — funding for

measures designed to reduce future losses to

public and private property.

Some declarations will provide only individual

assistance or only public assistance. Hazard mitigation

opportunities are assessed in most situations.

A summary of each of these programs follows.

Because program complexities require lengthy

explanations, the discussion that follows is simply an

overview.

INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE

Individuals And Households Program

The Individuals and Households Program (IHP) is

a combined FEMA/EPR and State program. When a

major disaster occurs, this program provides money

and services to people in the declared area whose

property has been damaged or destroyed and whose

losses are not covered by insurance. In every case, the

disaster victim must register for assistance and

establish eligibility. The toll-free telephone registration

number is 1-800-621-FEMA (or TTY 1-800-462-7585

for the hearing or speech impaired). FEMA/EPR (or

the providing agency) will verify eligibility and need

before assistance is offered.

What Types of Assistance Are Provided?

The IHP - Housing Assistance assures that people

whose homes are damaged by disaster have a safe

place to live. The IHP - Other Needs Assistance

(ONA) provides financial assistance to individuals and

households who have other disaster-related necessary

expenses or serious needs and do not qualify for a low

interest loan from Small Business Administration

(SBA). These programs are designed to provide funds

for expenses that are not covered by insurance. They

are available only to homeowners and renters who are

United States citizens, non-citizen nationals, or

qualified aliens affected by the disaster. The following

is a list of the types of assistance available through this

program and what each provides.

Temporary Housing - homeowners and renters

receive funds to rent a different place to live or a

temporary housing unit when rental properties are not

available.

Repair - homeowners receive grants to repair damage

from the disaster that is not covered by insurance. The

goal is to make the damaged home safe and sanitary.

Replacement - under rare conditions, homeowners

receive limited funds to replace their disaster damaged

home.

Permanent Housing Construction - homeowners and

renters receive direct assistance or a grant for the

construction of a new home. This type of assistance

occurs only in very unusual situations, in insular areas

or remote locations specified by FEMA/EPR where no

other type of housing is possible.

Other Needs Assistance (ONA) - applicants receive

grants for necessary and serious needs caused by the

disaster. This includes medical, dental, funeral,

personal property, transportation, moving and storage,

and other expenses that FEMA/EPR approves. The

homeowner may need to apply for a SBA loan before

receiving assistance.

Small Business Administration Disaster Loans

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can

make federally subsidized loans to repair or replace

homes, personal property or businesses that sustained

damages not covered by insurance. The Small Business

Administration can provide three types of disaster

loans to qualified homeowners and businesses:

(1) home disaster loans to homeowners and renters

to repair or replace disaster-related damages to

home or personal property,

(2) business physical disaster loans to business

owners to repair or replace disaster-damaged

property, including inventory, and supplies; and

(3) economic injury disaster loans, which provide

capital to small businesses and to small

agricultural cooperatives to assist them through the

disaster recovery period.

For many individuals the SBA disaster loan

program is the primary form of disaster assistance.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance

The Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)

program provides unemployment benefits and re-

employment services to individuals who have become

unemployed because of major disasters. Benefits

begin with the date the individual was unemployed due

to the disaster incident and can extend up to 26 weeks

after the Presidential declaration date. These benefits

are made available to individuals not covered by other

unemployment compensation programs, such as self-

employed, farmers, migrant and seasonal workers, and

those who have insufficient quarters to qualify for

other unemployment compensation.

All unemployed individuals must register with the

State’s employment services office before they can

receive DUA benefits. However, although most States

have a provision that an individual must be able and

available to accept employment opportunities

comparable to the employment the individual held

before the disaster, not all States require an individual

to search for work.

Legal Services

When the President declares a disaster,

FEMA/EPR, through an agreement with the Young

Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association,

provides free legal assistance to disaster victims. Legal

advice is limited to cases that will not produce a fee

(i.e., these attorneys work without payment). Cases that

may generate a fee are turned over to the local lawyer

referral service.

The assistance that participating lawyers provide

typically includes:

• Assistance with insurance claims (life, medical,

property, etc.)

• Counseling

on landlord/tenant problems

• Assisting in consumer protection matters,

remedies, and procedures

• Replacement of wills and other important legal

documents destroyed in a major disaster

Disaster legal services are provided to low-income

individuals who, prior to or because of the disaster, are

unable to secure legal services adequate to meet their

needs as a consequence of a major disaster.

Special Tax Considerations

Taxpayers who have sustained a casualty loss from

a declared disaster may deduct that loss on the federal

income tax return for the year in which the casualty

actually occurred, or elect to deduct the loss on the tax

return for the preceding tax year. In order to deduct a

casualty loss, the amount of the loss must exceed 10

percent of the adjusted gross income for the tax year by

at least $100. If the loss was sustained from a federally

declared disaster, the taxpayer may choose which of

those two tax years provides the better tax advantage.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can expedite

refunds due to taxpayers in a federally declared

disaster area. An expedited refund can be a relatively

quick source of cash, does not need to be repaid, and

does not need an Individual Assistance declaration. It

is available to any taxpayer in a federally declared

disaster area.

Crisis Counseling

The Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training

Program (CCP), authorized by §416 of the Stafford

Act, is designed to provide supplemental funding to

States for short-term crisis counseling services to

people affected in Presidentially declared disasters.

There are two separate portions of the CCP that can be

funded: immediate services and regular services . A

State may request either or both types of funding.

The immediate services program is intended to

enable the State or local agency to respond to the

immediate mental health needs with screening,

diagnostic, and counseling techniques, as well as

outreach services such as public information and

community networking.

The regular services program is designed to

provide up to nine months of crisis counseling,

community outreach, and consultation and education

services to people affected by a Presidentially declared

disaster. Funding for this program is separate from the

immediate services grant.

To be eligible for crisis counseling services funded

by this program, the person must be a resident of the

designated area or must have been located in the area

at the time the disaster occurred. The person must also

have a mental health problem which was caused by or

aggravated by the disaster or its aftermath, or he or she

must benefit from services provided by the program.

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

Public Assistance, oriented to public entities, can

fund the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replace-

ment of a public facility or infrastructure, which is

damaged or destroyed by a disaster.

Eligible applicants include State governments, local

governments and any other political subdivision of the

State, Native American tribes and Alaska Native

Villages. Certain private nonprofit (PNP) organizations

may also receive assistance. Eligible PNPs include

educational, utility, irrigation, emergency, medical,

rehabilitation, and temporary or permanent custodial

care facilities (including those for the aged and

disabled), and other PNP facilities that provide

essential services of a governmental nature to the

general public. PNPs that provide “critical services”

(power, water--including water provided by an

irrigation organization or facility, sewer, wastewater

treatment, communications and emergency medical

care) may apply directly to FEMA/EPR for a disaster

grant. All other PNPs must first apply to the Small

Business Administration (SBA) for a disaster loan. If

the PNP is declined for a SBA loan or the loan does

not cover all eligible damages, the applicant may re-

apply for FEMA/EPR assistance.

As soon as practicable after the declaration, the

State, assisted by FEMA/EPR, conducts the Applicant

Briefings for State, local and PNP officials to inform

them of the assistance available and how to apply for

it. A Request for Public Assistance must be filed with

the State within 30 days after the area is designated

eligible for assistance. Following the Applicant’s

Briefing, a Kickoff Meeting is conducted where

damages will be discussed, needs assessed, and a plan

of action put in place. A combined Federal/State/local

team proceeds with Project Formulation, which is the

process of documenting the eligible facility, the

eligible work, and the eligible cost for fixing the

damages to every public or PNP facility identified by

State or local representatives. The team prepares a

Project Worksheet (PW) for each project. Projects fall

into the following categories:

• Category A: Debris removal

• Category B: Emergency protective measures

• Category C: Road systems and bridges

• Category D: Water control facilities

• Category E: Public buildings and contents

• Category F: Public utilities

• Category G: Parks, recreational, and other

For insurable structures within special flood hazard

areas (SFHA), primarily buildings, assistance from

FEMA/EPR is reduced by the amount of insurance

settlement that could have been obtained under a

standard NFIP policy. For structures located outside of

a SFHA, FEMA/EPR will reduce the amount of

eligible assistance by any available insurance proceeds.

FEMA/EPR reviews and approves the PWs and

obligates the Federal share of the costs (which cannot

be less than 75 percent) to the State. The State then

disburses funds to local applicants.

Projects falling below a certain threshold are

considered ‘small.’ The threshold is adjusted annually

for inflation. For fiscal year 2005, that threshold is

$55,500. For small projects, payment of the Federal

share of the estimate is made upon approval of the

project and no further accounting to FEMA/EPR is

required. For large projects, payment is made on the

basis of actual costs determined after the project is

completed; although interim payments may be made as

necessary. Once FEMA/EPR obligates funds to the

State, further management of the assistance, including

disbursement to subgrantees is the responsibility of the

State. FEMA/EPR will continue to monitor the

recovery progress to ensure the timely delivery of

eligible assistance and compliance with the law and

regulations.

Hazard Mitigation

Hazard Mitigation refers to sustained measures

enacted to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people

and property from natural hazards and their effects. In

the long term, mitigation measures reduce personal

loss, save lives, and reduce the cost to the nation of

responding to and recovering from disasters.

Two sections of the Stafford Act, §404 and §406,

can provide hazard mitigation funds when a Federal

disaster has been declared. In each case, the Federal

government can provide up to 75 percent of the cost,

with some restrictions.

Through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

(HMGP), authorized by §404 of the Act, communities

can apply for mitigation funds through the State. The

State, as grantee, is responsible for notifying potential

applicants of the availability of funding, defining a

project selection process, ranking and prioritizing

projects, and forwarding projects to FEMA for

funding. The applicant, or subgrantee carries out

approved projects. The State or local government must

provide a 25 percent match, which can be fashioned

from a combination of cash and in-kind sources.

Federal funding from other sources cannot be used for

the 25 percent non-federal share with one exception.

Funding provided to States under the Community

Development Block Grant program from the

Department of Housing and Urban Development can

be used for the non-federal share.

The amount of funding available for the HMGP

under a disaster declaration is finite and is limited to

7.5 percent of FEMA/EPR’s estimated total disaster

costs for all other categories of assistance (less

administrative costs). Section 322 of the Disaster

Mitigation Act of 2000 emphasizes the importance of

planning in reducing disaster losses. States will be

required to develop a State Mitigation Plan that

provides a summary of the hazards facing them, an

assessment of the risks and vulnerabilities to those

hazards, and a strategy for reducing those impacts.

These plans will be required by November 1, 2004 as a

condition of non-emergency assistance under the

Stafford Act, and must be reviewed and updated every

three years. States may choose to develop an

Enhanced State Mitigation Plan in order to receive an

increased amount of 20 percent for Hazard Mitigation

Grant Program funding. By November 1, 2004, local

jurisdictions also must develop mitigation plans in

order to be eligible for project grant funding under the

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. In addition, States

may use a set-aside of up to five percent of the total

HMGP funds available for mitigation measures at their

discretion. To be eligible, a set-aside project must be

identified in a State’s hazard mitigation plan and fulfill

the goal of the HMGP, this is, to reduce or prevent

future damage to property or prevent loss of life or

injury.

Eligible mitigation measures under the HMGP

include acquisition or relocation of property located in

high hazard areas; elevation of floodprone structures;

seismic rehabilitation of existing structures;

strengthening of existing structures against wildfire;

dry floodproofing activities that bring a structure into

compliance with minimum NFIP requirements and

State or local code. Up to seven percent of the HMGP

funds may be used to develop State and/or local

mitigation plans.

All HMGP projects, including set-aside projects,

must comply with the National Environmental Policy

Act and all relevant Executive Orders. HMGP grants

cannot be given for acquisition, elevation, or

construction purposes if the site is located in a

designated SFHA and the community is not

participating in the NFIP.

FEMA/EPR’s primary emphasis for HMGP funds,

where appropriate, is the acquisition and demolition,

relocation, elevation, or floodproofing of flood

damaged or floodprone properties (non-structural

measures).

• Acquisition and demolition: Under this approach,

the community purchases the flood-damaged

property and demolishes the structure. The

property owner uses the proceeds of the sale to

purchase replacement housing on the open market.

The local government assumes title to the acquired

property and maintains the land as open space in

perpetuity.

• Relocation: In some cases, it may be viable to

physically move a structure to a new location.

Relocated structures must be placed on a site

located outside of the 100-year floodplain, outside

of any regulatory erosion zones, and in

conformance with any other applicable State or

local land use regulations.

• Elevation/Floodproofing: Depending upon the

nature of the flood threat, elevating a structure or

incorporating other floodproofing techniques to

meet NFIP criteria may be the most practical

approach to flood damage reduction.

Floodproofing techniques may be applied to

commercial properties only; residential structures

must be elevated. Communities can apply for

funding to provide grants to property owners to

cover the increased construction costs incurred in

elevating or floodproofing the structure.

Funding under §406 that is used for the repair

or replacement of damaged public facilities or

infrastructure may be used to upgrade the facilities

to meet current codes and standards. It is possible

for mitigation measures to be eligible for funding

under both the HMGP and §406 programs;

however, if the proposed measure is funded

through §406, the project is not eligible for funds

under the HMGP as well.

— FEMA/EPR REGIONAL OFFICES —

Region 1

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Federal Emergency Management Agency

J.W. McCormack Post Office and Court House,

Room 442

Boston, MA 02109-4595

(617) 223-9450

Region 2

New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands

Federal Emergency Management Agency

26 Federal Plaza, Room 1337

New York, NY 10278-0002

(212) 225-7209

Region 3

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,

Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

Federal Emergency Management Agency

One Independence Mall, 6

Floor

615 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106-4404

(215) 931-5608

Region 4

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi,

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Federal Emergency Management Agency

3003 Chamblee-Tucker Road

Atlanta, GA 30341

(770) 220-5200

Region 5

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,

Wisconsin

Federal Emergency Management Agency

536 South Clark Street, 6

Floor

Chicago, IL 60605

(312) 408-5501

Region 6

Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,

Texas

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Regional Center

800 N. Loop 288

Denton, TX 76201-3698

(817) 898-5104

Region 7

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

Federal Emergency Management Agency

2322 Grand Blvd, Suite 900

Kansas City, MO 64108-2670

(816) 283-7061

Region 8

Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,

Utah, Wyoming

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Denver Federal Center

Building 710, Box 25267

Denver, CO 80225-0267

(303) 235-4812

Region 9

American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam,

Hawaii, Nevada, Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia,

Republic of the Marshall Islands

Federal Emergency Management Agency

1111 Broadway

Suite 1200

Oakland, CA 94607-4052

(510) 627-7100

Region 10

Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Regional Center

130 228th Street, S.W.

Bothell, WA 98021-9796

(206) 487-4604