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Chapter 6 › XI. Mutual Aid

Will FEMA pay for help we got from other agencies or jurisdictions?

FEMA term
Mutual aid; requesting and assisting entities
Short answer

Yes, when you requested it. FEMA pays the requesting entity, which is legally responsible for the work, not the agency that helped. Mutual aid is eligible for emergency protective measures, emergency utility restoration, building code and floodplain work, and grant management.

What FEMA requires

  • The assisting entity’s labor is treated as contract labor: regular time, overtime and certain benefits, at reasonable rates. If both entities are divisions of the same government, budgeted regular time is ineligible.
  • Travel to the declared area is eligible. Preparing to deploy, dispatch outside the receiving state, training, and long-term recovery support are not.
  • Backfill for deployed personnel: overtime only.
  • Equipment is paid under the agreement’s terms or equipment rates.
  • No written agreement? A verbal agreement works, but it must be put in writing and adopted by both entities before funding, consistent with past practice.
  • Some states reimburse assisting entities directly under a statewide agreement; FEMA then funds the state.
  • EMAC work follows EMAC rules, and FEMA does not do a reasonable cost analysis on it.

Documentation

  • Non-EMAC, small projects: services requested and received, total cost, and proof of payment at closeout.
  • Non-EMAC, large projects: the written agreement, services requested and received, dates, entity names, work descriptions and costs, labor, equipment and supply records, and invoices.
  • EMAC: the signed Resource Support Agreement at obligation; R-1 and R-2 reimbursement forms and proof of payment at closeout.

Source: PAPPG Table 16.

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

If you don’t normally pay mutual aid partners, don’t agree to pay them just because FEMA might reimburse it. FEMA checks consistency with past practice.

Govstar summarizes FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide in plain language and links to the official text. Govstar is independent and not affiliated with FEMA. This is general guidance, not legal advice.