Application Procedures

Appeal Brief Appeal Letter Appeal Analysis

Appeal Brief

Disaster	4586
Applicant	Debre Hail Saint Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Appeal Type	Second
PA ID#	453-UJX0K-00
PW ID#	RPA
Date Signed	2023-03-13T16:00:00

Summary Paragraph

From February 11 to 21, 2021, severe winter storms caused damage throughout the state of Texas. The President declared a major disaster on February 19, 2021, requiring applicants to submit Requests for Public Assistance (RPA) within 30 days, or not later than March 21, 2021.  FEMA approved three deadline extensions, setting the final date to submit an RPA as June 19, 2021. Debre Hail Saint Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Applicant) submitted an RPA to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (Recipient) on March 17, 2021. In October 2021, the Recipient submitted a written request to FEMA seeking to extend the RPA deadline for the Applicant and multiple other applicants, stating that it had not submitted their RPAs because it was working with the applicants to obtain missing documentation. In November 2021, FEMA declined to grant a further extension to the deadline for the Applicant and 47 other similarly situated applicants. On November 30, 2021, the Recipient submitted the Applicant’s RPA to FEMA, more than five months after the deadline. In a Determination Memorandum dated January 2022, FEMA denied the Applicant’s RPA. The Applicant appealed, stating overseas travel prevented it from gathering complete documentation by the deadline, and the Recipient supported the appeal. The FEMA Region VI Regional Administrator denied the first appeal, finding that neither the Applicant nor the Recipient demonstrated an extenuating circumstance beyond either’s control that prevented the timely submission of the Applicant’s RPA. The Applicant submits a second appeal, reiterating its previous arguments.

Authorities and Second Appeals

• 44 C.F.R. § 206.206(b)-(c), (f).
• PAPPG, at 36-37.
• Jackson Cnty. Water Co., FEMA-4424-DR-OH, at 2-3; Kapaho Kai Water Assoc. RPA, FEMA-4366-DR-HI, at 2-3.

Headnotes

• Recipients are responsible for ensuring that potential applicants are aware of available Public Assistance and for the timely submission documents necessary for the award of grants.  FEMA may extend submission deadlines if the recipient submits a written extension request and provides justification based on extenuating circumstances beyond the recipient’s or applicant’s control.

• Here, the Recipient did not submit the Applicant’s RPA within the regulatory deadline, and neither the Recipient nor the Applicant has demonstrated that extenuating circumstances beyond their control prevented timely submission of the RPA.

Conclusion

FEMA finds that the Recipient did not submit the Applicant’s RPA within the regulatory deadline and that neither the Recipient nor the Applicant has demonstrated that extenuating circumstances beyond either’s control prevented timely submission of the RPA.  Therefore, this appeal is denied.

Appeal Letter

Appeal Analysis

Background

From February 11 to 21, 2021, severe winter storms caused damage throughout the state of Texas.  The President declared a major disaster on February 19, 2021, requiring applicants to submit Requests for Public Assistance (RPAs) within 30 days of that date. FEMA approved three deadline extensions, setting June 19, 2021 as the final date to submit an RPA to FEMA.  Debre Hail Saint Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Applicant) submitted an RPA to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (Recipient) on March 17, 2021. On October 25, 2021, the Recipient sent FEMA a letter requesting a deadline extension for multiple applicants’ RPAs, including the Applicant’s, stating that it was still working with these applicants to obtain missing RPA documentation, including active unique entity identifier numbers from the Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS).[1] 

In November 2021, FEMA declined to grant a further extension to the deadline for the Applicant and 47 other similarly situated applicants.[2] On November 30, 2021, the Recipient submitted the Applicant’s RPA to FEMA, more than five months after the deadline. In a Determination Memorandum signed January 24, 2022, FEMA denied the Applicant’s RPA.[3] 

First Appeal

On March 1, 2022, the Applicant appealed, stating it was unable to provide complete documentation for its RPA by the deadline because the individual in charge of the Applicant’s RPA was travelling overseas and had not realized its documentation was incomplete. The Recipient supported the appeal in a March 28, 2022 letter, reiterating the Applicant’s arguments.

In a first appeal decision dated August 31, 2022, the FEMA Region VI Regional Administrator (RA) denied the appeal, finding that neither the Applicant nor the Recipient demonstrated an extenuating circumstance beyond either’s control that prevented the timely submission of the Applicant’s completed RPA.  FEMA explained that the completed RPA was submitted more than five months late, and the Recipient was aware the request was untimely given its October 25, 2021 letter to FEMA seeking an extension to submit multiple RPAs, including the Applicant’s. FEMA further stated the Recipient is responsible to provide technical advice and assistance to the applicants to submit the information and documents required for the award of grants. FEMA found that the Applicant’s reason provided, that an individual handling the Applicant’s RPA was traveling abroad, did not constitute extenuating circumstances beyond the Applicant’s or the Recipient’s control that would justify an extension of the RPA deadline.

Second Appeal

The Applicant submitted a second appeal on October 24, 2022, primarily reiterating its previous arguments but additionally stating that the individual in charge of its RPA did not have Internet access while overseas. In a November 4, 2022 letter, the Recipient forwarded the appeal to FEMA, supporting the Applicant’s request.

 

Discussion

If an applicant wishes to seek Public Assistance (PA) funding, it must first submit an RPA to FEMA through the recipient.[4] Recipients must submit an applicant’s completed RPA to the FEMA RA within 30 days after designation of the area where the damage occurred.[5] FEMA may extend this deadline if the recipient submits a request in writing with justification based on extenuating circumstances beyond the recipient’s or the applicant’s control.[6] The recipient is responsible for providing technical advice and assistance to all eligible applicants, ensuring all potential applicants are aware of available PA, submitting documents necessary for the award of grants.[7] 

Here, the Applicant submitted an RPA to the Recipient on March 17, 2021, prior to the original 30-day RPA deadline and three months before expiration of the final extended deadline. However, the Recipient did not submit the Applicant’s RPA to FEMA until more than five months after the final RPA deadline. Notably, the Recipient did not request an extension of the June 19, 2021 deadline until October 25, 2021. The Recipient stated it had been working with this Applicant, among others, to obtain missing documentation, but, by that time, four months had passed since the final RPA deadline expired and FEMA had already extended the RPA deadline three times. Although the Recipient stated that it was working with many applicants that were unfamiliar with the PA Program and that had experienced a significant amount of employee turnover due to COVID 19, these reasons do not constitute extenuating circumstances beyond its control that would justify an extension of the RPA deadline.[8] The Recipient had a responsibility to timely submit the RPA, and waiting to obtain the missing documentation, whether or not it was required, does not constitute an extenuating circumstance beyond the Recipient’s control that would justify submitting the RPA more than five months after the RPA deadline. Similarly, the circumstance of the Applicant’s individual in charge of its RPA traveling overseas without Internet access does not constitute an extenuating circumstance beyond the Applicant’s control. 

 

Conclusion

FEMA finds that the Recipient did not submit the Applicant’s RPA within the regulatory deadline and that neither the Recipient nor the Applicant demonstrated that extenuating circumstances beyond either’s control prevented timely submission of the RPA. Therefore, this appeal is denied.

 

[1] Letter from Unit Chief, Tex. Div. of Emergency Mgmt. (TDEM or Recipient), to Reg’l Adm’r, FEMA Region VI, at 1 (Oct. 25, 2021).  In the letter, TDEM stated that multiple applicants, who submitted their RPAs to the Recipient prior to the deadline, had been working with the Recipient to obtain the required documentation.  TDEM stated many of the applicants were unfamiliar with the Public Assistance (PA) Program and had experienced a significant amount of employee turnover due to COVID-19.

[2] Letter from Dir., Recovery Div., FEMA, to Chief, TDEM. at 1 (Nov. 18, 2021).  In the letter, FEMA stated 48 of the late Request for Public Assistance (RPA) applicants had some form of issue related to the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS).  Because they had not been able to provide their DUNS information within 120 days of the RPA deadline of June 19, 2021, FEMA denied their late RPA requests, including that of Debre Hail Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

[3] FEMA Determination Memorandum, Debre Hail Saint Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church, FEMA-4586-DR-TX (Jan, 24, 2022).  FEMA found that the Applicant was ineligible because FEMA was unable to confirm its status as a Private Nonprofit organization.  FEMA stated the Applicant was required to provide its active unique identifier number, DUNS number, and show it had an active registration on SAM.gov.  See Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, FP 104-009-2, at 131 (Apr. 1, 2018) (“The RPA must indicate the Applicant’s active [DUNS] number”). However, the FEMA policy applicable to this appeal, which applies to incidents declared on or after June 1, 2020, does not contain any references to DUNS numbers. Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, FP 104-009-2 (June 1, 2020) [hereinafter PAPPG].

 

[4] PAPPG, at 36.

[5] Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (44 C.F.R.) § 206.202(c) (2020).

[6] Id. at § 206.202(f)(2); PAPPG, at 36.

[7] 44 C.F.R. § 206.202(b).

[8] See FEMA Second Appeal Analysis, Jackson Cty. Water Co., FEMA-4424-DR-OH, at 2-3 (July 12, 2021) (finding high workload and lack of oversight did not justify failure to submit Applicant’s completed RPA with required documentation within deadline); FEMA Second Appeal Analysis, Kapoho Kai Water Assoc. RPA, FEMA-4366-DR-HI, at 2-3 (Nov. 6, 2020) (finding the hardships the Applicant encountered due to the continuing effects of the disaster did not constitute extenuating circumstances beyond the Applicant’s or the Recipient’s control to warrant an extension of the regulatory RPA deadline).