AUGUSTA — Ten area entities received funds this fall through a Federal Emergency Management Agency COVID-19 aid assistance program.
Governor Janet Mills committed $35 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to assist local and tribal governments, and other entities that qualify for FEMA assistance, with incurred COVID-19 expenses.
The $35 million, specifically, is intended to provide the 25% match against FEMA’s Public Assistance Program Major Disaster Declaration for COVID-19 for eligible expenses incurred on or after March 1, 2020, that FEMA has approved by December 1, 2020.
FEMA determined applicant eligibility based on the requirements of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
Eligible expenses may include: management, control and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety; emergency medical care; medical sheltering (e.g., when existing facilities are reasonably forecasted to become overloaded soon and cannot accommodate needs); purchase and distribution of food, water, ice, medicine, and other consumable supplies, to include personal protective equipment and hazardous material suits; movement of supplies and persons; security and law enforcement; communications of general health and safety information to the public; reimbursement for tribe, territory and/or local government employee overtime costs.