The recipient has up to 120 calendar days following the award period of performance’s expiration to submit all financial, progress and other reports required by FEMA.[255] Additionally, unless FEMA authorizes an extension, the recipient must liquidate all financial obligations incurred under the federal award no later than 120 calendar days after the end date of the award period of performance.[256] All administrative actions for which the recipient is claiming costs must be completed during the award period of performance, except the actual submission of the required reports. Any payment made beyond the closeout and liquidation end date, for eligible costs incurred during the period of performance, is considered an improper payment. If the recipient needs additional time to liquidate eligible costs incurred during the period of performance, they may request a closeout and liquidation extension.
The recipient must complete the following activities to close out the award:
- Ensure all subawards have been closed out.
- Reconcile/adjust subaward costs, ensuring that non-federal share costs are documented, and that all costs submitted are eligible according to the FEMA-approved scope of work.
- Receive and process cost adjustments or return unobligated assistance to FEMA via SMARTLINK or PARS. FEMA makes the final payment to the recipient.
- Notify FEMA that the award is ready for final closeout.
By the end of the closeout and liquidation period, the recipient must submit the following to FEMA:
- A closeout letter signed by the governor’s authorized representative, tribal authorized representative or an executive authorized signature authority to FEMA with supporting documentation, including:
- A statement that the scopes of work have been completed as approved.
- SF-425 (for PARS, the final SF-425 is also submitted via PARS).
- SF-270, Request for Advance or Reimbursement, if applicable, or request for de-obligation of unused assistance, if applicable.
- SF-428, if applicable.
- SF-429, “Real Property Status Report,” if applicable.
- A statement that no inventions were made, nor patents applied for in the implementation of the award.
- Other documents required by applicable laws and regulations, the HMA Guide or NOFO, terms and conditions of the award, or other FEMA guidance.
An inventory of all construction projects that used funds from this program must be reported with the final progress report.
The closeout submission will not be considered an official submission without the signed statement from the governor’s authorized representative, tribal authorized representative or an executive authorized signature authority,
C.4.1. Administrative Closeout
If a recipient is unable to meet the standard closeout requirements (e.g., unable to fulfill non-federal cost share match requirements), the governor’s authorized representative, tribal authorized representative or an executive authorized signature authority must request an administrative closeout in writing to the FEMA regional administrator. The letter must identify the reason for the recipient’s request.
FEMA may initiate an administrative closeout because of the recipient’s failure to perform in accordance with the terms of the award or submit required final reports within one year of the period of performance end date. After all reasonable efforts to secure the final reports (both financial and program) are exhausted, FEMA will initiate an administrative closeout.[257] If FEMA needs to administratively close an award, it may negatively impact a recipient’s ability to obtain future funding. This mechanism can also require FEMA to make cash or cost adjustments and ineligible cost determinations based on the information it has, which may result in identifying a debt owed to the agency by the recipient.
The administrative closeout process permits FEMA to close an award using available financial and programmatic information in lieu of final reports. FEMA will initiate an administrative closeout when a recipient is not responsive to reasonable efforts the agency makes to collect required reports needed to complete the standard process. FEMA initiates an administrative closeout through formal correspondence that provides notice of how the agency intends to proceed. If the recipient submits all required documents prior to the completion of the administrative closeout process, FEMA may use those documents to conduct a standard closeout.
FEMA’s decision to enforce an administrative closeout may result in additional enforcement actions, including disallowance of costs or enhanced oversight of other current awards to the same recipient. FEMA must report the recipient or subrecipient’s material failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the award with the OMB-designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS).[258] Failure to comply with such reporting requirements may be considered in FEMA’s oversight of other current and future awards to the same recipient, including in the agency’s pre-award review of a recipient’s risk for non-compliance.[259] FEMA staff may impose remedies for non-compliance for the recipient’s other awards.[260] Remedies can include but are not limited to placing special conditions on future awards, enhanced monitoring, or both.
C.4.2. Recipient Records Retention
The recipient must maintain the complete federal award closeout records file for at least three years from the submission date of its final expenditure report.[261] The records retention period may be longer because of an audit or litigation, equipment or real property being used beyond the period of performance, or other circumstances.[262] FEMA recommends that recipients remind subrecipients of the three-year records retention requirement and communicate the submission date of the final expenditure reports to the agency.
FEMA retains the right to disallow costs and recover assistance based on a later audit or other review after closeout. FEMA must make any cost disallowance determination and notify the pass-through entity within the records retention period.
C.4.3. Update of Repetitive Loss Database
FEMA will update the NFIP Repetitive Loss Database as project activities are completed. For acquisition and demolition or relocation projects, recipients must provide an update when there is no longer an insurable structure on the property. For elevation, reconstruction, floodproofing and localized flood risk reduction projects, recipients must provide an update when the approved activity is complete or otherwise effective.
The NFIP defines a repetitive loss structure as any insurable building for which the NFIP paid two or more claims of more than $1,000 within any rolling 10-year period since 1978. At least two of the claims must be more than 10 calendar days apart but within 10 years of each other. The NFIP may or may not currently insure a repetitive loss structure. [263]
The NFIP definition of a repetitive loss structure described in this section is different from the FMA definition following the passage of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.[264] Refer to Part 10.D for more information.