Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 19, March 20, 2024
Emergency management is a joint responsibility of the federal
government, the states, and their political subdivisions. "Emergency
management" means all those activities and measures designed or undertaken to
mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, or recover from the effects of a
human-caused, technological, or natural hazard. The purpose of the emergency
management performance grant program is to provide the necessary assistance to
commissions to ensure that a comprehensive emergency system exists for all
hazards.
(1)
Eligibility. Commissions may be eligible for funding under the
state and emergency management performance grant program by meeting the
requirements, conditions, duties and responsibilities for commissions and local
emergency management coordinators established in rules
605-73.
(29C) and
605-74.
(29C). In addition, the commission shall ensure that the coordinator works an
average of 20 hours per week or more toward the emergency management effort.
Commissions formed under subrule 7.5(5) shall ensure that the coordinator works
an average of 40 hours per week toward the emergency management
effort.
(2)
Application for
funding. Commissions may apply for funding under the emergency
management performance grant program by entering into an agreement with the
department and by completing the necessary application and forms, as published
and distributed yearly to each commission by the department.
(3)
Allocation and distribution of
funds.
a. The department shall
allocate funds to eligible commissions within 45 days of receipt of notice from
the federal Department of Homeland Security, Preparedness Directorate, Office
of Grants and Training, that such funds are available. The homeland security
and emergency management department shall use a formula for the allocation of
funds based upon the number of eligible applicants, the part-time or full-time
status of the coordinator, 50 percent equal-share base, and 50 percent
population base. The total allocation of funds for an applicant may not exceed
the lesser of $39,000 or the amount requested by the applicant.
b. The formula shall be applied in the
following manner: The pass-through amount is divided equally between an
equal-share base and a population base.
(1)
The amount of total equal-share base dollars is divided by the total number of
EMPG counties to establish a per-county average. For counties with part-time
coordinators, the per-county average is reduced by 50 percent to determine the
part-time county allocation. The total baseline dollar amount, minus the
cumulative total dollars already allocated to part-time counties, is then
divided by the total number of counties with full-time coordinators to
determine the full-time county allocation.
(2) The population base amount for each
county is determined by adding the populations of all counties together; then
each county's population is divided by that total population to determine a
percentage. The total population base dollars are then multiplied by a county's
percentage to determine that county's share of the population
dollars.
c. Funds will
be reimbursed to commissions on a federal fiscal year, quarterly basis; and
such reimbursement will be based on eligible claims made against the
commission's allocation. In no case will the allocation or reimbursement of
funds be greater than one-half of the total cost of eligible emergency
management related expenses.
(4)
Compliance. The director
may withhold or recover emergency management performance grant funds from any
commission for its failure or its coordinator's failure to meet any of the
following conditions:
a. Appoint a qualified
coordinator.
b. Comply with
continuing education requirements.
c. Adopt a comprehensive emergency plan that
meets current standards.
d.
Determine the mission of its agency.
e. Show continuing progress in fulfilling the
commission's duties and obligations.
f. Conduct commission business according to
the guidelines and rules established in this chapter.
g. Enter into and file a cooperative
agreement with the department by the stipulated filing date.
h. Abide by state and federal regulations
governing the proper disbursement and accountability for federal funds, equal
employment opportunity and merit system standards.
i. Accomplish work specified in one or more
program areas, as agreed upon in the cooperative agreement, or applicable state
or federal rule or statute.
j.
Provide the required matching financial contribution.
k. Expend funds for authorized purposes or in
accordance with applicable laws, regulations, terms and conditions.
l. Respond to, or cooperate with, state
efforts to determine the extent and nature of compliance with the cooperative
agreement.
(5)
Serious nonperformance problems. If a commission cannot
demonstrate achievement of agreed-upon work products, the department is
empowered to withhold reimbursement or to recover funds from the commission.
Corrective action procedures are designed to focus the commission's attention
on nonperformance problems and to bring about compliance with the cooperative
agreement. Corrective action procedures, which could lead to sanction, may be
enacted as soon as the director becomes aware of serious nonperformance or
noncompliance. This realization may arise from staff visits or other contacts
with the local emergency management agency or commission, from indications in
the commission's or coordinator's quarterly report that indicate a significant
shortfall from planned accomplishments, or from the commission's or
coordinator's failure to report. Financial sanctions are to be applied only
after corrective action remedies fail to result in accomplishment of
agreed-upon work product.
(6)
Corrective actions.
a.
Informal corrective action. As a first and basic step to
correcting nonperformance, a designated member of the homeland security and
emergency management department staff will visit, call or write the local
emergency management coordinator to determine the reason for nonperformance and
seek an agreeable resolution.
b.
Formal corrective action. On those occasions when there is
considerable discrepancy between agreed-upon and actual performance and
response to informal corrective action is not sufficient or agreeable, the
department will take the following steps:
(1)
Homeland security and emergency management department staff will review the
scope of work, as agreed to in the cooperative agreement, to determine the
extent of nonperformance. To focus attention on the total nonperformance issue,
all instances of nonperformance will be addressed together in a single
correspondence to the commission.
(2) The director will prepare a letter to the
commission which will contain, at a minimum, the following information:
1. The reasons why the department believes
the commission may be in noncompliance, including the specified provisions in
question.
2. A description of the
efforts made by the department to resolve the matter and the reasons these
efforts were unsuccessful.
3. A
declaration of the commission's commitment to accomplishing the work agreed
upon and specified in the comprehensive cooperative agreement and its
importance to the emergency management capability of the local
jurisdiction.
4. A description of
the exact actions or alternative actions required of the commission to bring
the problem to an agreed resolution.
5. A statement that this letter constitutes
the final no-penalty effort to achieve a resolution and that financial
sanctions provided for in these rules will be undertaken if a satisfactory
response is not received by the division within 30 days.
(7)
Financial
sanctions. If the corrective actions heretofore described fail to
produce a satisfactory resolution to cases of serious nonperformance, the
director may invoke the following financial sanction procedures:
a. Send a Notice of Intention to Withhold
Payment to the chairperson of the commission. This notice shall also contain
notice of a reasonable time and place for a hearing, should the commission
request a hearing before the director.
b. Any request by a commission for a hearing
must be made in writing, to the department, within 15 days of receipt of the
Notice of Intention to Withhold Payment.
c. Any hearing under the Notice of Intention
to Withhold Payment shall be held before the director. However, the director
may designate an administrative law judge to take evidence and certify to the
director the entire record, including findings and recommended
actions.
d. The commission shall be
given full opportunity to present its position orally and in writing.
e. If, after a hearing, the director finds
sufficient evidence that the commission has violated established rules and
regulations or the terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement, the
director may withhold such contributions and payments as may be considered
advisable, until the failure to expend funds in accordance with said rules,
regulations, terms and conditions has been corrected or the director is
satisfied that there will no longer be any such failure.
f. If upon the expiration of the 15 -day
period stated for a hearing, a hearing has not been requested, the director may
issue the findings and take appropriate action as described in paragraph
7.7(7)"e."
g. If
the director finds there is serious nonperformance by the commission or its
coordinator and issues an order to withhold payments to the commission as
described in this rule, the commission shall not receive funds under the
emergency management performance grant program for the remainder of the federal
fiscal year in which the order is issued and one additional year or until such
time that all issues of nonperformance have been agreeably addressed by the
department and the commission.
h.
Any emergency management performance grant program funds withheld or recovered
by the division as a result of this process shall be reallocated at the end of
the federal fiscal year to the remaining participating commissions.
