The Federal Emergency Management Agency has obligated more than $62.4 million to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency to help reimburse eligible expenses the agency has incurred as a result of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant funds, awarded by FEMA’s Public Assistance Grant Program, were made available September 2 and are authorized under a major disaster declaration approved by President Trump on April 4 for the entire state. FEMA’s funding of $62,490,887 represents the federal portion of a total project cost of $83,321,183 million.
The Public Assistance Program provides grants at a 75/25 percent cost share to state and local governments, tribal nations and certain non-profit entities to assist with eligible costs associated with responding to and recovering from disasters. The federal government pays 75 percent of the eligible costs; the remaining 25 percent is paid by the grant recipient.
The $62.4 million for NEMA reimburses eligible costs the state has incurred that are associated with buying essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies and equipment from mid-March through May 2020, as well as COVID-19 testing and diagnosis. The supplies include N95 masks, goggles, medical gowns, gloves, surgical masks, head covers, face shields, disinfectants and respirators.
The federal disaster declaration also authorizes Direct Federal Assistance to help governmental entities and tribal nations with certain COVID-related actions that the states, localities and tribes themselves cannot undertake at this time for some reason, such as the inability to use their own personnel to perform a function or an inability to contract with someone else to do the work.
Throughout FEMA Region VII, which encompasses the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, more than $854.3 million in total FEMA funding has been obligated since mid-March to help states, localities, tribal nations and eligible, private nonprofit organizations with eligible COVID-19 expenses.