Disaster Recovery - FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA)

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as Amended (Stafford Act), Title 42 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) § 5121 et seq., authorizes the President to provide Federal assistance when the magnitude of an incident or threatened incident exceeds the affected State, Territorial, Indian Tribal, and local government capabilities to respond or recover.

The purpose of the Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program is to support communities' recovery from major disasters by providing them with grant assistance for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure. Local governments, states, tribes, territories and certain private nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply.

St. Johns County Grants Department

Working closely with FEMA and Florida Division of Emergency Management (FL-DEM), County staff has recovered more than $25M in Federal and State reimbursements for damages to public infrastructure incurred during Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.

Following a Presidential Declared Emergency, County staff conducts damage assessments on all County property and facilities to determine if damage has occurred and if so works with Federal and State agencies to recover damage expenses. Examples of public infrastructure are utilities and lift stations, parks and recreation facilities including beach walkovers, dugouts, pavilions... etc. Additionally, the County receives FEMA remuneration for debris removal activities following a catastrophic event and labor expenses incurred as a result of increased County staffing levels to include Fire-Rescue and Law Enforcement.

Dependent on the extent of damages, recovery operations may take years to complete. St Johns County Grants Department will continue working closely with FEMA and FL-DEM to insure the County is maximizes Federal and State reimbursement in accordance with Federal laws.

As part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we are required to provide the public an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed action as it relates to the Emergency Beach Berms for Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. For this particular project, we are posting the EA/FONSI on both the county website and the FEMA HQ website.