Under 44 C.F.R. § 206.204(d), applicants must complete projects within applicable time limits. FEMA has discretion to grant time extensions, but work must be completed to receive funding. The Applicant failed to complete any work by the approved project completion date and did not provided justification necessitating an extension of the project completion date. RRP 9525.13 provides that alternate project requests must be submitted within 12 months of the applicant’s Kickoff Meeting. Despite the Applicant stating it has no record of a Kickoff Meeting, the request comes over six years after the project completion date and thirteen years after the project start date. Pursuant to 44 C.F.R. § 206.203(d)(2), funds for alternate projects cannot be used for any operating expense. RRP 9525.13 considers the purchase of supplies, furniture, and equipment costing less than $5,000.00 per unit to be an operating expense. The requested costs are less than $5,000.00 per unit and, therefore, ineligible for an alternate project.

The Applicant’s request for an alternate project exceeds the timeframe to request an alternate project, and the Applicant has not provided justification for granting an extension to the expired project completion date. Further, the requested costs for inmate personal items are less than $5,000.00 per unit, making them operating expenses, which are ineligible for an alternate project.

44 C.F.R. § 206.203(d)(2), 206.204(a), (c)-(d). PA Guide, FEMA 322, at 84, 115. RRP 9525.13, Alternate Projects, at 2-3. City of Roseau, at 2 St. Bernard Parish, at 5.