After a natural disaster, communities need help to cover their costs for debris removal, lifesaving emergency protective measures and restoring public infrastructure. FEMA also encourages protecting these damaged facilities from future events by providing funding for mitigation measures during the recovery process.
Eligibility for Public Assistance Grant Funding
FEMA’s Public Assistance program provides supplemental grants to state, tribal and local governments, and certain private non-profit organizations to help communities quickly respond to and recover from major disasters including Hurricane Nicole. The counties of Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Martin, Nassau, Palm Beach, St. Johns, St. Lucie and Volusia were approved December 13, 2022, for FEMA Public Assistance, Categories A-G, which provides for emergency work and replacement of disaster-damaged facilities as well as hazard mitigation projects.
The four basic components of eligibility are applicant, facility, work and cost.
- An applicant must be a state, territory, tribe, local government or private nonprofit organization.
- A facility must be a building, public works system, equipment or natural feature.
- Work is categorized as either "emergency" or "permanent" and must be required as a result of the declared incident, located within the designated disaster area, and is the legal responsibility of the applicant.
- Cost is the funding tied directly to eligible work, and must be adequately documented, authorized, necessary and reasonable. Eligible costs include labor, equipment, materials, contract work, as well as direct and indirect administrative costs.
View the full eligibility details and requirements.
Getting Started--GRANTS PORTAL
Applicants, recipients and sub-recipients login: grantee.fema.gov.
Process of Public Assistance provides an overview of the process from when the disaster is declared to closeout of
the grant.
Audits, Arbitration and Appeals is an overview of the appeals and audit process, including the searchable database of FEMA responses to applicant appeals for assistance.
Community Disaster Loan Program provides funding for local governments to operate their essential community services after substantial revenue loss caused by a disaster.
How to Apply video tutorials
Grants Portal overview covers dashboard basics, navigation and resources from the FEMA Grants Manager. View the full collection of videos and tutorials on FEMA's PA Grants Portal YouTube channel.
Public Assistance Policies - Official guidance, policies, news advisories and related publications that govern the program include
Public Assistance Program & Policy Guide (PAPPG) FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide version 4 applicable to emergencies and major disasters declared on or after June 1, 2020.
Public Assistance Program Delivery Guide (fema.gov) (Draft document published September 2022).
For the latest information on Hurricane Nicole visit fema.gov/disaster/4680.
For Hurricane Ian recovery visit floridadisaster.org/info fema.gov/disaster/4673. Follow FEMA on Twitter at FEMA Region 4 (@femaregion4) / Twitter and at facebook.com/fema.
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