Donated Resources

Appeal Brief Appeal Letter Appeal Analysis

Appeal Brief

Disaster1909-DR-TN
ApplicantCheatham County
Appeal TypeSecond
PA ID#021-99021-00
PW ID#4357
Date Signed2014-02-03T00:00:00

Conclusion:  A number of volunteer sign-in sheets submitted as back-up documentation to the PW and not considered on first appeal substantiated additional public assistance funding credit for donated resources.

Summary Paragraph

From May 1 through May 2, 2010, Tennessee experienced high winds and flooding which resulted in widespread loss of power.  The disaster forced residents to vacate their homes and to require food and basic housing.  The Applicant opened a disaster recovery center and staffed it with volunteers.  The Applicant requested credit toward the calculation of the non-Federal cost share for volunteer labor, donated equipment, and donated materials.  FEMA initially granted Applicant’s request for a $65,416 credit but later de-obligated $57,714 because volunteer hours were not properly documented.  FEMA also indicated that a church organization, not the Applicant, organized the emergency work.  In its first appeal, the Applicant asserted that it was entitled to de-obligated funds and that, although volunteers came from several churches, volunteers from other places also participated.  The FEMA Region IV Regional Administrator partially approved the first appeal, noting that FEMA policy does not preclude faith-based organizations from volunteering their resources. The Regional Administrator validated 3,534 volunteer hours and approved a credit of $45,435.  In its second appeal, the Applicant argues that it should receive an additional credit of $12,279, the amount that was not awarded on first appeal.

Headnotes

  • Stafford Act § 403 authorizes FEMA to “provide assistance essential to meeting immediate threats to life and property resulting from a major disaster.”
  • Under 44 C.F.R. § 13.24(b)(6), third party in-kind contributions counting towards satisfying a cost sharing or matching requirement must be verifiable from the records of grantees and subgrantee or cost-type contractors.
  • According to Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9525.2, Donated Resources, donated resources are eligible to offset the non-federal share of eligible costs if they are documented by a local public official or a person designated by a local public official.  Documentation must include a record of hours worked, the work site, and a description of the work for each volunteer and equivalent information for equipment and materials.
    • FEMA reviewed the sign-in sheets provided on first appeal and second appeal, and they were the same.  FEMA reviewed the back-up documentation submitted with the PW and found eight additional sign-in sheets that were not reviewed on first appeal.  The Applicant properly documented the volunteer hours on those sheets.  Therefore, the volunteer hours substantiated on those forms were eligible to offset the non-federal cost share for public assistance funding.

Authorities Discussed

  • Stafford Act § 403
  • 44 C.F.R. § 13.24(b)(6)
  • Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9525.2, Donated Resources

Appeal Letter

February 3, 2014

James H. Bassham
Director
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
3041 Sidco Drive
Nashville, TN 37204

Re: Second Appeal – Cheatham County, Donated Resources, FEMA-1909-DR-TN, Project Worksheet (PW) 4357

Dear Mr. Bassham:

This is in response to your letter dated July 15, 2013, which transmitted the referenced second appeal on behalf of Cheatham County (Applicant).  The Applicant is appealing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) denial of a $12,279 credit toward public assistance funding for donated resources.

As explained in the enclosed analysis, I have determined that a portion of additional donated resources are eligible to offset the non-federal cost share for public assistance funding based upon review of previously submitted documentation.  Therefore, I am partially approving the appeal in the amount of $4,781.86, as the Applicant provided documentation to support this additional credit.  By copy of this letter, I am requesting the Regional Administrator take appropriate action to implement this determination. 

Please inform the Applicant of my decision.  This determination is the final decision on this matter pursuant to 44 CFR §206.206, Appeals.

Sincerely,

/s/

Deborah Ingram
Assistant Administrator
Recovery Directorate

Enclosure

cc:  Major P. May
      Regional Administrator
      FEMA Region IV

Appeal Analysis

Background

From May 1 through May 2, 2010, Tennessee experienced high winds and flooding which resulted in a widespread loss of power.  Residents were forced to vacate their homes and many of those residents required food and basic housing.  Cheatham County (Applicant) opened a disaster recovery center and staffed the center with volunteers who unloaded, stacked and organized donations for efficient distribution.  The Applicant requested a credit towards the calculation for the non-Federal cost share for volunteer labor, donated equipment, and donated materials.  On January 21, 2011, FEMA obligated Project Worksheet (PW) 4357 for $65,416 for donated resources based on a total of 5,493 volunteer hours.  On February 14, 2012, FEMA conducted an inspection and found that the Applicant did not properly document the costs associated with the original obligation.  As a result, FEMA de-obligated the difference between the actual documented costs and the costs approved in the original PW.  Of the $65,416, FEMA found that the Applicant properly documented the volunteer hours corresponding to only $7,701.77 and found this amount to be eligible to offset the non-Federal cost share. FEMA stated that additional deductions were taken because FEMA concluded that a church organization, not the Applicant, organized the emergency work but deductions for this reason were not noted in the project worksheet. 

First Appeal

In a first appeal letter submitted September 18, 2012, the Applicant challenged the de-obligated amount, $57,714, which correlates to 4,846 volunteer hours and asserted that a single church was never in charge of the disaster recovery center.  The Applicant indicated that volunteers came from churches and other community organizations and attached volunteer sign-in sheets.

The FEMA Region IV Regional Administrator (RA) partially granted the first appeal on May 9, 2013. The RA determined that Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9525.2, Donated Resources does not preclude faith-based organizations from volunteering their resources and reviewed seventy-three pages of volunteer sign-in sheets.  The RA counted the hours of volunteers who entered arrival and departure times for each day that they volunteered and validated 3,534 hours of the 4,846 hours claimed by the Applicant.  Based on an hourly rate of $12.82 (standard hourly rate of $11.91 plus 7.65 percent as fringe benefits), the RA approved a credit of $45,435 for eligible volunteer hours.

Second Appeal

The Applicant argues in a second appeal letter dated May 30, 2013, that it is entitled to a credit for the entire amount indicated in the original version of the PW and requests $12,279, the difference between the amounts obligated in the original PW and obligated after the first appeal.  The Applicant attached volunteer sign-in sheets and again noted that the disaster recovery center had volunteers from churches and the general community. 

Discussion

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) Section 403 authorizes FEMA to “provide assistance essential to meeting immediate threats to life and property resulting from a major disaster” and establishes a cost share for federal assistance.   Implementing such authority, Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §13.24 (b)(6), Records, provides that third party in-kind contributions counting towards satisfying a cost sharing or matching requirement must be verifiable from the records of grantees and subgrantee or cost-type contractors.  According to Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9525.2, Donated Resources, donated resources are eligible to offset the non-Federal share of eligible costs if they meet the following criteria:

  • Donated resources must be documented by a local public official or a person designated by a local public official.  Documentation must include: a record of hours worked, the work site, and a description of the work for each volunteer and equivalent information for equipment and materials;
  • Donated resources must apply to emergency work that has been organized by an eligible applicant and is eligible under the PA program; and
  • Donated resources must be documented on one or more Project Worksheets.

In its second appeal, the Applicant argues that it should receive the offset funding that it did not receive through the first appeal in the amount of $12,279.  The Applicant provided the same volunteer sign-in sheets with its second appeal that it provided with the first appeal.  The Region reviewed and obligated a funding credit based on those volunteer sheets in the first appeal.  In FEMA’s review of the second appeal, FEMA reviewed the back-up documentation that the Applicant submitted with its initial request for the funding credit.  In that review, FEMA discovered eight additional sign-in sheets that the Region did not review or consider on first appeal.  Based on a review of the entries that included both start and end times, FEMA determined that the Applicant properly documented 373 volunteer hours on the additional sign-in sheets.  The hourly rate for calculating the eligible cost associated with the volunteer hours is $12.82 ($11.91, which is the hourly rate set by the state, plus an additional fringe benefit of 7.65%).  The additional validated 373 hours amount to $4,781.86 in additional funding eligible to offset the non-Federal share.   

Conclusion

In order for volunteer hours to be credited toward the calculation of the non-Federal share for public assistance funding, labor costs associated with volunteer hours must be properly documented and the documentation must include a record of hours worked.  Based upon review of documentation attached to the original PW and submitted with the first appeal, the total volunteer hours properly documented are 3907 hours.  While the Applicant is requesting an additional $12,279 to offset the non-Federal share, only funding associated with properly documented hours that FEMA has not already approved (373 hours) is eligible for that purpose.

 


 
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