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California Disaster Assistance Act

The California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) authorizes the Director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to administer a disaster assistance program that provides financial assistance from the state for costs incurred by local governments as a result of a disaster event. Funding for the repair, restoration, or replacement of public real property damaged or destroyed by a disaster is made available when the Director concurs with a local emergency proclamation requesting state disaster assistance. The program also provides for the reimbursement of local government costs associated with certain emergency activities undertaken in response to a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor. In addition, the program may provide matching fund assistance for cost sharing required under federal public assistance programs in response to a Presidential Major Disaster or Emergency Declaration. The implementing regulations for CDAA can be found in Title 19 of the California Code of Regulations, Chapter 6.

Eligible Applicants

The state Public Assistance Program provides funding to cities, counties, special districts, school districts, community colleges, and certain private nonprofit organizations in the event of a state disaster.

Eligible Costs

In general, the state share is no more than 75 percent of the following eligible costs:

  • Overtime and associated wage additive costs for emergency response personnel;
  • Actual travel and per diem;
  • Supplies, materials, and equipment;
  • Repair, permanent restoration, and replacement costs for public facilities;
  • The cost of basic engineering services when necessary for construction projects;
  • Indirect and administrative costs (10% of total approved state share);
  • Costs for work performed under interagency assistance agreements for which an eligible applicant is legally obligated to pay; and
  • The local cost share required under federal public assistance programs.

Emergency Disaster Proclamation & CDAA Process Fact Sheet

How to request state funding if local resources are insufficient and beyond the control of local services, equipment, and facilities.

Applicants' Briefings Schedule

View the complete list of briefings currently scheduled for various emergency declarations.

Public Assistance Forms, Documents, and Reference Materials

All materials mentioned in the Applicants’ Briefings can be found here.

Mitigation Measures

Section 8686.4 of the Government Code, when the Director determines there are mitigation measures that are cost-effective and substantially reduce the risk of future damage, hardship, loss, or suffering in an area where a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor, the Director may authorize the implementation or replacement of mitigation measures.

Payments

For any questions regarding your Public Assistance (PA), California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA), Coronavirus Assistance (COVID-19), or Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) payments, please direct questions or concerns to the Public Assistance Financial Processing Unit at (916) 845-8110 or RecoveryPayments@caloes.ca.gov.

CDAA Sample Process:

  • Initial Damage Estimates (IDE)
  • State Assessment of IDE
  • Director’s Concurrence or Governor’s Proclamation
  • Applicants’ Briefing
  • Submission of Project Application by Applicant
  • Kick-off Meeting
  • Project Formulation and Cost Estimating
  • Project Review and Validation
  • Obligation of Funds
  • Project Completion
  • Final Claim Process
  • Closeout

State Assistance for Private Nonprofit Organizations

Eligible Private Nonprofits (PNP) or an Intermediary PNP applicants may receive state assistance for extraordinary costs incurred while providing assistance at the request of local agencies during a state disaster event.

After a state disaster has been declared, an eligible PNP applicant may apply for reimbursement for the extraordinary cost of performing an essential community service at the request of an affected local agency. To apply, an eligible PNP must submit a PNP Application (Cal EMA PNP-201 1-APP, 5/2011) within 60 days after the date of a Governor’s Proclamation, include a copy of the ruling letter from US Internal Revenue Service or CA Franchise Tax Board and a copy of the written request from local agency, an Activities Claim Form (Cal EMA PNP-201 1-ACE, 5/2011), submitted within 60 days of the completion of all eligible activities, a Payee Data Record (Dept. Finance, STD. 204, 5/2018), submitted with the Resolution, and a PNP Applicant’s Authorized Agent Resolution (Cal EMA PNP-201 1-AAR, 5/2011) to Cal OES, within 60 days after the date of a Governor’s Proclamation.

PNP Fact Sheets

Required PNP Application Forms

Assistance

For questions regarding the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA), please email DisasterRecovery@caloes.ca.gov.