(a) The Administrator shall determine the amount to be paid on a claim (subject to payment by the Department of the Treasury). The amount to be paid is the total of eligible expenses, costs and losses under paragraph (a)(1) of this section which exceeds the amount of payments under paragraph (a)(2) of this section. The Administrator shall establish the reimbursable amount by determining:

(1) The extent to which the fire service incurred additional firefighting costs, over and above its normal operating costs, in connection with the fire which is the subject of the claim, i.e., the “amount of costs”; and

(2) What payments, if any, including taxes or payments in lieu of taxes, the fire service or its parent jurisdiction has received from the United States for the support of fire services on the property on which the fire occurred.

The reimbursable amount is the amount, if any, by which the amount of costs, determined under paragraph (a)(1) of this section exceeds the amount of payments determined under paragraph (a)(2) of this section. Where more than one claim is filed the aggregate reimbursable amount is the amount by which the total amount of costs, determined under paragraph (a)(1) of this section exceed the amount of Federal payments (in the case of a mutual aid agreement—its term or if none is determinable, the Federal fiscal year) determined under paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(b) The Administrator will first determine the costs as contemplated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section. The Administrator will then notify the claimant as to that amount. The claimant must indicate within 30 days its acceptance or rejection of that amount.

(1) If the determination is accepted by the claimant, this will be the final and conclusive determination of the amount of costs by the claimant in conjunction with the fire for which the claims are submitted.

(2) If the claimant rejects this amount, it must notify the Administrator, within 30 days, of its reasons for its rejection. Upon receipt of notification of rejection, the Administrator shall reconsider his determination and notify the claimant of the results of the reconsideration. The amount determined on reconsideration will constitute the costs to be used by the Administrator in determining the reimbursable amount.

(c) Upon receipt of documentation from the claimant on the amount of payments the Federal Government has made for the support of fire services on the property in question, the Administrator will, following such verification or investigation as the Administrator may deem appropriate, calculate the full amount to be reimbursed under the section 11 formula as set forth in §151.12(a). This calculation of the reimbursable amount is based upon the costs determined pursuant to §151.12(b) and the documentation of Federal payments that the claimant submitted.

(d) The Administrator's determination of the reimbursable amount will be sent to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon receipt of the claim and determination made under §151.12 (a), (b), and (c), determine the amount authorized for payment, which shall be the amount actually available for payment from any monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated but subject to reimbursement (from any appropriations which may be available or which may be made available for the purpose) by the Federal department or agency under whose jurisdiction the fire occurred. This shall be a sum no greater, although it may be less, that the reimbursable amount determined by the Administrator, FEMA, with respect to the claim under §151.12 (a), (b) and (c).

(e) Upon receipt of written notification from the claimant of its intention to accept the amount authorized as full settlement of the claim, accompanied by a properly executed document of release, the Administrator will forward the claim, a copy of the Administrator's determination and the claimant's document of release to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment of the claim in the amount authorized.

(f) Subject to the discovery of additional material evidence, the Administrator may reconsider any determination in this section, whether or not made as his final determination.

[49 FR 5929, Feb. 16, 1984, as amended at 49 FR 38119, Sept. 27, 1984]