Federal Emergency Management Agency
Agencies responding to disasters under appropriate authority may be able to recover some costs and expenses associated with their mobilized resources and response. Agencies need to provide justification and documentation when submitting claims or seeking reimbursement or emergency funds from a governing body or the emergency fund governed by the legislature.
Use FEMA’s forms to standardize all required documentation.
To expedite the reimbursement process, procurement professionals should familiarize themselves with information related to eligible costs and reimbursement processes, which require documentation and justification for acquiring of goods and services. It is important to understand that costs are “reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost.” (OMB Circular A-87)
Services, equipment and supplies purchased to perform the mission must be governed by formally adopted procurement rules, regulations, and codes.
Generally, agencies can claim items of equipment and supplies that cost under $5,000 with accurate documentation. Agencies must adjust the eligible acquisition cost for items of equipment worth more than $5,000 and any residual unused supplies exceeding $5,000 once the disaster work is completed.
Contracted services necessary to perform emergency work may qualify for reimbursement upon proper justification and documentation.
Mission-Related Costs Must Be:
- Actual costs.
- Compliant with federal, state, and local procurement requirements.
- Calculated using current unit cost structures or other commonly accepted methods, such as:
a. Historic documentation for similar work.
b. Average costs for similar work in the area.
c. Published unit costs from national cost estimating databases.
d. FEMA cost codes.
e. FEMA equipment rates.
Ineligible Costs:
- Administrative costs associated with pre-deployment and post-deployment functions.
- Replacement costs of items replaced before to deployment.
- Costs for alcohol, tobacco, toiletries, etc.
- Costs incurred by an entity that self-deployed without an approved mission.
Documentation Requirements:
- Itemized invoices and/or receipts for all items including, but not limited to, clear descriptions of items purchased (e.g., serial numbers, or other identifying information), costs, dates, vendors, and invoice/receipt numbers.
- Documentation indicating that either state or federal procurement regulations, whichever are applicable, were followed or a legally acceptable explanation as to why applicable state or federal procurement regulations were not followed, including, but not limited to, copies of request for proposals (RFPs), summaries or responses to RFPs, price quotes and bid tabulations, and copies of government credit card statements, and completed purchase orders.
- Accurately completed rental equipment summary records.
- Copies of all agreements or contracts.
- Clear descriptions of work performed and dates of work performed for contracted work.