April 5th, 2019
by Gabriel Maser

On March 21, 2019, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a final rule revising the factors it uses to determine whether to recommend provision of individual assistance (IA) awards during a major disaster.

When a catastrophe occurs in a state, the state’s governor may request a presidential declaration of a major disaster. Such a request must be based on a finding that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that federal assistance is necessary. A major disaster declaration will identify the types of assistance that are authorized under the declaration, including IA and the programs under the IA umbrella. IA programs include temporary housing, home repair/replacement assistance, crises counseling, disaster case management, disaster legal services and disaster unemployment assistance.

FEMA is revising the current IA award determination factors to provide additional clarity regarding the considerations that FEMA has evaluated in recent years and adding new factors intended to help FEMA more accurately and consistently determine whether the impact of an event is beyond state and local government capabilities. Specifically, the rule revises the factors considered from concentration of damages, trauma, special populations, voluntary agency assistance, insurance, and average amount of individual assistance by state to state fiscal capability and resource availability, uninsured home and personal property losses, disaster-impacted population profile, impact to community infrastructure, casualties, and disaster-related unemployment.

The rule clarifies that no single data point or factor will be determinative of the FEMA’s recommendation and that the final factors do not limit the president’s discretion. The final rule is available here.

About the Author
Gabriel Maser
Gabriel Maser is the vice president of federal relations in the Government Relations department of the International Code Council. He manages and directs the Code Council’s federal policy and legislative priorities agenda, and maintains and enhances ICC’s advocacy presence in Washington, D.C. Maser served as a regional director for market expansion and policy at Renovate America. Previously, he worked as the director of federal-state relations for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; a legislative assistant for a member of Congress; and an associate at Baker Botts L.L.P. Maser has a bachelor’s degree in biology from McGill University and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a licensed lawyer in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts.