If an Applicant receives an eligibility Determination Memorandum, the Applicant has the right to appeal the decision through FEMA's appeals process. The Applicant has the right to appeal any decision through FEMA's appeals process.

The Applicant has 60 days from receipt of notification of a Public Assistance eligibility determination to submit the appeal. The Applicant must make the appeal in writing.

For Alternative Procedures projects, the Applicant may submit an appeal only for insurance or corrective actions resulting from reviews such as an audit. Applicants may not submit appeals for additional costs related to the fixed estimate grant.

The Applicant should send the first appeal to the Recipient. The appeal must contain the following information:

• Documented justification for the appeal
• The specific monetary figure in dispute
• Relevant statutes, regulations, and policies with which the Applicant believes FEMA was inconsistent

All documentation and other supporting information must be included with the first appeal. FEMA will not accept additional materials, unless requested by FEMA, after issuing a first appeal decision.

The Applicant should also provide a current email address to receive electronic correspondence. If an acknowledgement email is not received, the Applicant should confirm receipt of the appeal to the Recipient. Then confirm receipt that the Recipient has sent the appeal to FEMA.

Upon receipt of the first appeal, the Recipient has 60 days to review the appeal and forward it, along with a written recommendation, to the appropriate FEMA Regional Administrator. The Recipient has full discretion to support or oppose all or part of the Applicant's position in the appeal.

Once the first appeal is received, the FEMA Regional Administrator has 90 days to issue a first appeal decision or request additional information from the applicant. When a Regional Administrator is considering denying a first appeal in whole or in part, the Regional Administrator must issue to the Applicant a Final Request for Information, noting all information in the administrative record the Regional Administrator is considering in deciding the appeal, and requesting that the applicant provide any additional information to support its appeal. The Final Request for Information will include an Administrative Record Index and the Applicant should review it closely to ensure FEMA has considered all the documentation it believes is relevant. If anything is missing from the Administrative Record Index, the Applicant should submit the documents for consideration as it is the last opportunity to submit new information. If a Request for Information is received, Applicants must respond to FEMA within the stated deadline, which is typically 30 days.  Appeals can be denied if it is filed untimely.

Upon receipt of additional information the FEMA Regional Administrator will have 90 days to issue the first appeal decision to the Applicant and the Recipient. The first appeal decision consists of a letter explaining the Applicant's second appeal rights and an appeal analysis. Applicants should closely review the analysis to understand the basis for the decision.

Keep in mind overall eligibility is reviewed during an appeal and is not exclusive to just the issues presented in the determination memo. If a new eligibility issue is found, FEMA is required to submit a Request for Information and allow the Applicant 60 days to respond.

If an Applicant's first appeal is denied or partially approved, it may submit a second appeal.

Regulations require that the Applicant include all of the following information in a second level appeal:

• Explain why it believes the original determination is inconsistent with law or policy
• Specify the amount in dispute
• Cite authorities with which it believes FEMA's determination and first level appeal decision were inconsistent

Under Federal regulations, the same timelines and procedures for submitting first appeals apply to second appeals. The Applicant must send the second level appeal to the Recipient within 60 days of receiving the first appeal. If an acknowledgement email is not received, the Applicant should confirm that the appeal was received by the Recipient.

The Recipient has 60 days from receipt of the second appeal to review it and forward it with a recommendation to FEMA. The second appeal is submitted through the Regional Administrator to the Assistant Administrator of the Recovery Directorate at FEMA Headquarters. Just as with the first appeal, the Recipient can express support for or disagreement with the Applicant's position in the appeal.

The FEMA Headquarters has 90 days upon receipt of the second level appeal to render a decision or request more information from the Applicant. Applicants and Recipients can check the status of second appeals online at the FEMA Public Assistance Second Appeals Tracker: Public Assistance Second Appeals Tracker.

Second level appeal decisions are FEMA's final administrative decision. All second level appeal decisions are posted in the Public Assistance Appeals Database so Applicants can review previous decisions FEMA has made on similar issues. The appeals database can be found here: Appeals Database.

An Applicant is not able to appeal an individual small project, even if the actual costs for completing the project differ from the estimated amount funded. Instead, the Applicant must submit an appeal to request a Net Small Project Overrun when all projects are completed.

Exceptions where FEMA is able to adjust the approved amount of an individual small project without a Net Small Project Overrun occur when one of the following conditions applies:

• Applicant did not complete the approved Scope of Work
• Applicant requests additional funds related to an eligible change in the Scope of Work
• The project contains inadvertent errors or omissions
• Actual insurance proceeds differ from the amount deducted in the documented project. In these cases, FEMA only adjusts the specific cost items affected

An Applicant must wait until all small projects are finished and then appeal within 60 days. Also, the documentation needs to include overruns and underruns, etc. The reason for this is because some projects will have exceeded the grant amount, but others will have come under the grant amount and FEMA needs this information to reconcile all costs for all small projects. An Applicant may submit a Net Small Project Overrun appeal if:

• Small project does not meet any of the conditions for funding adjustment, and
• Total actual cost of its Small Projects combined exceeds the total amount obligated for all of their Small Projects

In this case, the Applicant must request the additional funding through the Appeals process, within 60 days of completion of its last Small Project.

These appeals follow the same process and timeline discussed previously in this lesson.