Use case
A determination memo starts two clocks and a short list of things your appeal must contain. Ask PAPPAIA a targeted question about yours and get the regulation, PAPPG section and page cited alongside the answer.
Citations checked against current published sources 2026-09-04
"A determination memo came through denying part of our project. When is the appeal actually due, what has to be in it, and is arbitration worth considering?"
Both deadlines run from the date FEMA transmits the determination, not the date you opened it. 60 calendar days for the applicant to submit through the recipient; 120 calendar days for the recipient to forward it with a written recommendation. Miss either and FEMA denies the appeal as untimely — 44 CFR 206.206(b)(1)(ii)(A). PAPPG v5 adds one grace rule: a 60th or 120th day falling on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday is timely if received the next business day (Ch. 2 § G, PDF p. 47).
44 CFR 206.206(b)(1)(i) requires all documented justification supporting your position, the amount in dispute as applicable, and the specific provisions of federal law, regulation or policy with which you believe FEMA's determination was inconsistent. Ask about a passage of your draft and PAPPAIA returns the regulation text, cited, beside it. Second appeals carry the identical content requirement at 206.206(b)(2)(i).
An appeal must cite the provisions applicable to that incident. PAPPG v5.0 Amended governs incidents declared on or after January 6, 2025; v4 governs from June 1, 2020. PAPPAIA searches both editions: set the event date on your chat to the declaration date, and answers are drawn from the edition in force on that date. For a declaration before June 1, 2020, no earlier edition is searchable, so it uses v4 as the closest available guidance and says so in the sources; confirm against the guidance then in force. A v4 disaster should not be argued from a v5 section number.
CBCA arbitration under Stafford Act § 423 requires all three: a major disaster declared on or after January 1, 2016; more than $500,000 in dispute, or more than $100,000 for a rural applicant (population under 200,000 outside an urbanized area); and a first appeal timely submitted by both applicant and recipient that FEMA then denied, or on which FEMA issued no decision within 180 calendar days of receipt — 44 CFR 206.206(b)(3)(i), with the timeliness condition stated at PAPPG v5 Ch. 2 § I, PDF p. 48. It is in lieu of a second appeal, not in addition to one (206.206(b)(3)(ii)).
PAPPG v5 Ch. 2 § E requires the notice to state what assistance was denied and the amount, the provisions of law, regulation or policy supporting the denial, and your appeal rights (PDF p. 46). PAPPAIA gives you that requirement, cited, to read your letter against — you do the comparing.
Both clocks run from March 3, the date FEMA transmitted the determination to you and the recipient — not the date you opened it. You have 60 calendar days to submit through the recipient; the recipient has 120 calendar days to forward it with a written recommendation. Miss either and FEMA denies the appeal as untimely. The appeal must contain all documented justification, the amount in dispute, and the specific provisions FEMA's determination was inconsistent with. At $1.4M you clear the $500,000 arbitration threshold — but arbitration is in lieu of a second appeal, not in addition to it.
Sources
This is targeted retrieval, not an exhaustive read: PAPPAIA pulls the passages of your document most relevant to the question you ask and sets them beside the governing policy. It will not audit a whole determination letter or appeal draft for everything you might have missed — absence is not something retrieval can confirm.
Free while PAPPAIA is in public preview. Answers are grounded in cited policy sources and include exact references for independent verification. General information, not legal or grant-compliance advice.
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