public-service · FEMA IHP eligibility rule
Where FEMA's IHP Eligibility Rule Lives in the CFR
Locates 44 CFR § 206.113's two numbered condition lists and how to identify which amendment you are reading.
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Updated: Sources: 2
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What matters now
- The IHP eligibility rule sits in 44 CFR Part 206, Subpart D, section 206.113.
- Section 206.113 splits into two lists: eligibility conditions (a)(1)-(9) and ineligibility conditions (b)(1)-(10).
- The section's amendment history shows its most recent update as 89 FR 4120, published January 22, 2024.
- FEMA's public assistance page cites a March 22, 2024 update but no CFR or Stafford Act citation.
The federal regulation that sets the conditions for FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) is 44 CFR Part 206, Subpart D, at § 206.113. That section is built as two numbered lists — “Conditions of eligibility.” at (a)(1)-(9) and “Conditions of ineligibility.” at (b)(1)-(10) — inside a subpart whose governing sentence reads: “In general, FEMA may provide assistance to individuals and households who qualify for such assistance under the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5174, and this subpart.” (eCFR, Part 206 Subpart D) The section carries its own citation history for tracking amendments, and it is a separate question from a plain-language FEMA page that describes an update using a date but no regulatory citation at all.
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- The eligibility rule for IHP assistance sits within 44 CFR Part 206, Subpart D, at § 206.113.
- Section 206.113 is organized as two numbered lists: “Conditions of eligibility.” at (a)(1)-(9) and “Conditions of ineligibility.” at (b)(1)-(10).
- The section’s own bracketed amendment history ends “as amended at 89 FR 4120, Jan. 22, 2024,” which is the marker for confirming you are reading the current version.
- FEMA’s separate plain-language assistance page states “On March 22, 2024, FEMA implemented significant updates to disaster assistance,” without citing any CFR part, Stafford Act section, or Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG) version.
Where the eligibility rule sits
FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program eligibility rule is not scattered across FEMA’s website or its policy manuals — it is codified. The governing text at 44 CFR Part 206, Subpart D states: “In general, FEMA may provide assistance to individuals and households who qualify for such assistance under the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5174, and this subpart.” (eCFR, Part 206 Subpart D)
That subpart is where § 206.113, the specific section that lays out eligibility and ineligibility conditions, is located.
The section’s own two-list structure
Section 206.113 does not present its conditions as prose or as a single mixed list. It is split into two separately headed, separately numbered lists. The eCFR text of the subpart shows the two governing headers verbatim: “Conditions of eligibility.” and “Conditions of ineligibility.” (eCFR, Part 206 Subpart D) The eligibility list runs from paragraph (a)(1) through (a)(9), and the ineligibility list runs from paragraph (b)(1) through (b)(10). Knowing that this two-list structure exists — and where each list starts and ends — is what lets a reader locate the specific numbered condition they need inside the regulation itself, rather than searching FEMA’s general-audience pages for it.
Confirming the current amendment
Federal regulations are amended over time, and eCFR preserves a citation trail so readers can confirm they are looking at the current, in-force text rather than a superseded one. For this subpart, that trail reads: “[67 FR 61452, Sept. 30, 2002; 67 FR 62896, Oct. 9, 2002, as amended at 89 FR 4120, Jan. 22, 2024]” (eCFR, Part 206 Subpart D)
The final entry in that bracketed history — 89 FR 4120, published January 22, 2024 — is the most recent Federal Register amendment reflected in the current eCFR text. Anyone verifying which version of the eligibility conditions applies should check for this citation string and confirm it matches what they are reading.
FEMA’s separate plain-language update
Separately from the CFR text, FEMA’s own assistance page for the public states: “On March 22, 2024, FEMA implemented significant updates to disaster assistance.” (FEMA, Individual Assistance) That sentence names a date, but it does not cite 44 CFR Part 206, does not cite the Stafford Act, and does not name a version of the Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG). The two pages describe their respective updates using entirely different reference systems — a Federal Register citation on one side, and an unsourced calendar date on the other.
What this article does not answer
This article identifies where the eligibility rule is written and how that rule’s own text tracks its amendments; it does not determine whether any individual qualifies for IHP assistance, since that depends on a case-specific record that FEMA holds, not on the regulatory text alone. It does not describe the current version or contents of FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG), because that PDF could not be fetched for review. It does not restate, summarize, or list the substance of the nine eligibility conditions at (a)(1)-(9) or the ten ineligibility conditions at (b)(1)-(10) — only that these two numbered lists exist and where they sit in the section. It does not describe or predict the outcome of an appeal of an individual eligibility determination, since an appeal’s outcome depends on a case-specific record this article does not have access to. And it does not evaluate whether any other source — an app, a guide, or a news article — accurately reflects the March 2024 update FEMA’s page describes.