Stafford Act Declarations for COVID-19 FAQ (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
April 22, 2020 |
| Report Number |
R46326 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Elizabeth M. Webster, Erica A. Lee, William L. Painter |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
On March 13, 2020, President Donald J. Trump declared an emergency under Section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.) in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The declaration authorized assistance to all U.S. states, territories, tribes, and the District of Columbia. Specifically, the Stafford Act emergency declaration authorized one form of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance: Public Assistance emergency protective measures (as authorized under Stafford Act Section 502). Subsequently, the President approved major disaster declaration requests under the Stafford Act for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (authorized under Stafford Act Section 401).
This report provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the Stafford Act disaster declarations made for COVID-19, federally available assistance, and sources of funding. The subjects to be covered include:
Stafford Act declarations, including legal authorities, limitations on assistance, and other information related to the declaration request process;
types of assistance available to state, territorial, and tribal governments, private nonprofit organizations, private entities, and individuals and households pursuant to the Stafford Act emergency and major disaster declarations for COVID-19;
the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), the source used to fund FEMA assistance provided pursuant to Stafford Act emergency and major disaster declarations; and
additional references.
This report also includes the following appendices:
Appendix A includes Table A-1, which lists the categories of FEMA assistance authorized pursuant to the major disaster declarations for COVID-19, organized by state and territory.
Appendix B provides an example of different states, territories, and tribes that have received presidential emergency declarations under the Stafford Act for the same incident.
The scope of this report is limited to assistance authorized under the Stafford Act. There are, however, other types of assistance extrinsic to the Stafford Act that are activated by a Stafford declaration. This report does not address these other forms of assistance. The report is not a comprehensive review of all potential forms of federal assistance made available for COVID-19 response and recovery. It does not provide information on the assistance made available pursuant to the President's declaration of emergency under the National Emergencies Act (NEA; 50 U.S.C. §§1601 et seq.) or the declaration by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) of a Public Health Emergency under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA; 42 U.S.C. §247d).
Information included in this report is current as of April 22, 2020.
