Appeals

SENT VIA EMAIL

Alicia Tate-Nadeau                                                        Mike Trochuck

Director                                                                           Vice President of Finance

Illinois Emergency Management Agency                  Trinity Christian College Association

2200 S. Dirksen Parkway                                              6601 W College Drive

Springfield, IL, 62703                                                   Palos Heights, IL 60463

Dear Alicia Tate-Nadeau and Mike Trochuck:

This is in response to a letter from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (Recipient) dated May 9, 2024, which transmitted the referenced second appeal on behalf of Trinity Christian College Association (Applicant). The Applicant is appealing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) denial of $394,554.72 in costs for force account labor, equipment, and materials in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 423(a) of the Stafford Act provides that any decision regarding eligibility for assistance may be appealed within 60 days after the date on which the applicant is notified of the award or denial of assistance. Implementing this provision, Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 206.206(c) (2019), requires that applicants must file appeals within 60 days after receipt of a notice of the action that is being appealed. Recipients must then review and forward appeals within 60 days after receipt of the appeal from the applicant. 

According to the Administrative Record, the Applicant received notice of FEMA’s denial by way of a Determination Memorandum on July 3, 2023, and filed its first appeal with the Recipient on August 24, 2023. However, the Recipient did not transmit the first appeal until December 12, 2023. This was after the 60 calendar-day timeframe required by FEMA’s regulations, making the first appeal untimely. Therefore, this second appeal is denied.