§ 5189a — Appeals Of Assistance Decisions

(a) Any decision regarding eligibility for, from, or amount of assistance under this subchapter may be appealed within 60 days after the date on which the applicant for such assistance is notified of the award or denial of award of such assistance. (b) A decision regarding an appeal under subsection (a) shall be rendered within 90 days after the date on which the Federal official designated to administer such appeals receives notice of such appeal. (c) The President shall issue rules which provide for the fair and impartial consideration of appeals under this section. (1) Notwithstanding this section, an applicant for assistance under this subchapter may request arbitration to dispute the eligibility for assistance or repayment of assistance provided for a dispute of more than $500,000 for any disaster that occurred after January 1, 2016. Such arbitration shall be conducted by the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and the decision of such Board shall be binding. (2) The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals shall consider from the applicant all original and additional documentation, testimony, or other such evidence supporting the applicant’s position at any time during arbitration. (3) For an applicant for assistance in a rural area under this subchapter, the assistance amount eligible for arbitration pursuant to this subsection shall be $100,000. (4) For the purposes of this subsection, the term “rural area” means an area with a population of less than 200,000 outside an urbanized area. (5) To participate in arbitration under this subsection, an applicant— (A) shall submit the dispute to the arbitration process established under the authority granted under section 601 of Public Law 111–5; and (B) may submit a request for arbitration after the completion of the first appeal under subsection (a) at any time before the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a final agency determination or 180 days after the Administrator’s receipt of the appeal if the Administrator has not provided the applicant with a final determination on the appeal. The applicant’s request shall contain documentation from the administrative record for the first appeal and may contain additional documentation supporting the applicant’s position.