Proper Debris Management II

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Basic Eligibility Requirements

The minimum requirements for debris removal work to be eligible did not change. The work must be:

• • A result of the declared disaster;
• • Located within the designated area; and
• • The legal responsibility of an eligible applicant. 7

In addition to these minimum eligibility requirements, debris removal eligibility also requires the work to:

• • Eliminate immediate threats to lives, public health and safety;
• • Eliminate immediate threats of significant damage to improved public or private property; 8
• • Ensure economic recovery to the benefit of the community at large; or
• • Mitigate risk to life by removing substantially damaged structures and associated structures and appurtenances as needed to convert property acquired using Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds for uses compatible with open space, recreation or wetlands management practices. Such removal must be completed within two years of the declaration date unless extended by the FEMA Assistant Administrator for the Disaster Assistance Directorate. 9

DRT Issue 4012 pointed out that debris removal from improved public property and public right-of-ways (ROWs) is eligible. It also noted that debris removal from Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) federal-aid roads, unless approved by FEMA on a case-by-case basis, and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) navigable waterways, is not eligible. Now, according to the FEMA PAPPG FP 104- 009/2, debris removal from FHWA roads is eligible as is removal from navigable waterways of debris that obstructs the passage of vessels if the applicant has legal responsibility for the navigable waterway maintenance. Debris removal is eligible to a maximum depth of two feet below the low-tide draft of the largest vessel that navigates the waterway. 10

Debris removal from non-navigable waterways, flood control works and...

“Debris removal from non-navigable waterways, flood control works and natural waterways is eligible if the debris poses an immediate threat …”