U.S. Department of Homeland Security

 Washington, DC 20472 

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Grant Programs Directorate Information Bulletin

No. 421b

October 30, 2019

MEMORANDUM FOR: All State Administrative Agency Heads 

All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact 

All State Homeland Security Directors 

All State Emergency Management Agency Directors 

All Urban Area Security Initiative Points of Contact

All Tribal Nation Points of Contact

FROM: Bridget Bean

Assistant Administrator

Grant Programs Directorate

SUBJECT: Clarification on the Personnel Reimbursement for Intelligence 

Cooperation and Enhancement of Homeland Security Act of 

2008 (Public Law 110–412 – the PRICE Act)

I. Purpose

This Information Bulletin (IB) explains how direct and contract personnel costs are classified 

under Section 2008 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-296) as amended 

by the Personnel Reimbursement for Intelligence Cooperation and Enhancement of 

Homeland Security Act of 2008 (PRICE Act) (Pub. L. No. 110-412). It reissues and 

supersedes previous Grant Programs Directorate (GPD) IB 421 and IB 421a of the same

subject and title. The only substantive change relates to the personnel cap waiver request 

process for Operation Stonegarden (OPSG) awards starting with Fiscal Year 2019 awards 

and going forward. 

II. Applicability 

This policy applies to all recipients of a grant and any subrecipients under the State 

Homeland Security Program (SHSP), Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), Tribal 

Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP), Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), 

and OPSG.

III. Guidance 

A. Overview

1. Section 2008(b)(2)(A) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended,

states:“Not more than 50 percent of the amount awarded to a grant recipient under 

section 2003 or 2004 [of the Homeland Security Act of 2002] in any fiscal year may 
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be used to pay for personnel, including overtime and backfill costs, in support of the 

permitted uses under [section 2008(a)].”

2. Section 2008(a) states, in part, with respect to permitted uses: “The Administrator 

shall permit the recipient of a grant under section 2003 or 2004 [of the Homeland 

Security Act of 2002] to use grant funds to achieve target capabilities related to 

preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to acts of terrorism, 

consistent with a State homeland security plan and relevant local, tribal, and regional 

homeland security plans ....”

B. Clarification of Personnel Costs 

1. To comply with section 2008(b)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

amended,1recipients are required to track personnel and personnel-related activities 

to ensure compliance with the 50 percent cap on personnel costs. In general, costs 

associated with the following ARE counted against the personnel cap:

a. Contracted personnel costs that support operational activities, including general 

planning, training or exercise activities, or contracted security costs; and

b. Work performed by all non-contractor personnel, including for full-time or parttime staff and overtime of any kind.

2. Work performed under contract for a specific deliverable IS NOT counted against the 

personnel cap. Under this provision, the following are examples of contract 

deliverables that are not counted against the personnel cap:

a. Vendor installation of a radio tower;

b. Vendor training on new equipment purchased;

c. Contractor hired to create an Emergency Operations Plan;

d. Contractor hired to provide deliveries of the ICS 400 course; and 

e. Contractor hired to assist with planning, training, developing, and evaluating an

exercise.

C. Waiver Requests

1. SHSP, UASI, and THSGP Waiver Request Process

a. Upon written request, the 50 percent personnel cap established by section 

2008(b)(2)(A) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, may be waived 

at the discretion of the FEMA Administrator pursuant to section 2008(b)(2)(B).

Post-award SHSP, UASI, and THSGP requests to waive the 50 percent personnel 

cap should be coordinated through the assigned FEMA Program Analyst (PA).

Recipients of a grant that request a waiver of the personnel cap are reminded that 

 

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“(b) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.—

(2) PERSONNEL.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 50 percent of the amount awarded to a grant recipient under 

section 2003 or 2004 in any fiscal year may be used to pay for personnel, including overtime and 

backfill costs, in support of the permitted uses under subsection (a). 

(B) WAIVER.—At the request of the recipient of a grant under section 2003 or 2004, the 

Administrator may grant a waiver of the limitation under subparagraph (A).
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they may not incur any costs in excess of the 50 percent cap prior to the approval 

of the waiver request by the FEMA Administrator.

b. FEMA will prioritize personnel waiver requests that are well justified by threat 

data. FEMA will also continue to prioritize personnel cap waiver requests for 

OPSG. 

2. NSGP Waiver Request Process

a. Nonprofit organizations that apply for and are awarded NSGP funds for 

contracted security personnel, if allowable under the appropriate NSGP Notice of 

Funding Opportunity (NOFO), must count such costs toward the nonprofit 

organization's 50 percent personnel cap. 

i. Application and Award: If the estimated contract security personnel costs at 

the time of application exceed 50 percent of a nonprofit organization’s total 

funding amount, the application must include a waiver request. FEMA will 

review contracted security costs prior to award and, if approved, will waive

the 50 percent personnel cap as a term and condition of the award. 

ii. Post-Award: If the contracted security personnel costs at the time of award do 

not exceed the 50 percent personnel cap, but a later reprogramming request 

would cause the nonprofit organization to exceed the 50 percent personnel 

cap, the nonprofit organization must submit a waiver request with its 

reprogramming request. See IB 441 for procedures on NSGP reprogramming 

requests.

iii. Justification: FEMA will only approve personnel waiver requests that are well 

justified based on vulnerability assessment results and how the contracted 

security personnel will address and mitigate those vulnerabilities.

3. OPSG Waiver Request Process

a. For OPSG grants awarded in FY 2018 and earlier: Follow same process as SHSP, 

UASI, and THSGP as described in section III.C.1 and as described in the grant 

award’s respective NOFO.

b. New process for OPSG grants awarded in FY 2019 and moving forward: A State 

Administrative Agency (SAA) that receives an OPSG allocation under its 

Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) award may submit a one-time waiver 

request to FEMA to waive the 50 percent personnel cap, up to a maximum of 85

percent, for each initial subrecipient allocation, as listed in the award document. 

The approved waiver will apply to the amount of funding each local or tribal 

subrecipient receives as funding is passed through, depending on each state’s 

management of the program. The guidance in this subsection supersedes the 

guidance in the Preparedness Grants Manual (April 2019) and the FY 2019 HSGP 

NOFO to the extent it governs the process for the SAAs to apply for an initial 

waiver. The SAA shall submit a written waiver request after the award is accepted 

by the SAA and shall be addressed to the Assistant Administrator, Grant 

Programs Directorate.
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i. A request letter shall include the award number, the name of each county 

receiving an OPSG allocation for which the State seeks a personnel cap 

waiver and the amount of each allocation. To assist SAAs in developing the 

request letter, guidance can be requested through their assigned Program 

Analyst.

ii. FEMA will review and consider each SAA request. If approved, FEMA will 

issue an approval letter waiving the 50 percent personnel cap for each initial 

subrecipient allocation which will allow each initial subrecipient to expend up 

to 85 percent of their allocation on personnel costs. The 85 percent waiver 

applies to each initial subrecipient allocation, inclusive of any subsequent

subawards issued by the initial subrecipient. The approval letter shall become 

part of the official grant file and uploaded to ND Grants by FEMA.

iii. The SAA must submit a separate waiver request letter for each fiscal year 

award.

iv. If any subrecipient has a need to expend more than 85 percent of its allocation 

on personnel costs, the SAA must submit a separate waiver request to FEMA 

in accordance with the process described in section III.C.1, above.

v. All OPSG Operational Orders, budgets, and subsequent revisions will undergo 

the normal review process with the United States Border Patrol (USBP) and 

FEMA otherwise prescribed by the applicable NOFO and Preparedness 

Grants Manual. Specifically, a formal OPSG personnel waiver request should: 

• Be on official letterhead, include a written justification, and be signed by the 

local jurisdiction 

• Include a budget and method of calculation of personnel costs both in the 

percentage of the grant award and in total dollar amount, reflecting the change 

in scope or objective to the project 

•Include an approved Operations Order from the USBP Sector office that 

supports the local jurisdiction’s written justification 

• Be coordinated with the USBP Sector, SAA, and the DHS/CBP Office of the 

Border Patrol (OBP).

D. Monitoring and Compliance

GPD will ensure compliance with this policy through its annual financial and 

programmatic monitoring program. FEMA preparedness grant recipients and 

subrecipients that fail to comply with this policy may not receive reimbursement through 

the applicable grant program.

IV. Questions

Questions regarding this IB may be directed to your assigned FEMA PA or the Centralized 

Scheduling and Information Desk (CSID) at askcsid@fema.dhs.gov or (800) 368-6498, 

Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET.

V. Review Date

This IB will be reviewed within five years from date of issuance.