The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) authorizes economic adjustment assistance to address and offset necessary expenses for responding to economic injuries caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19). Economic injury causes bi-directional harm, meaning a financial injury to an individual affects their ability to pay fees and taxes that fund services and diminished governmental services affect the individual’s safety and well-being.

ARPA allows for grant funds to be used for partial or full replacement of monies lost or not realized by communities due to the phenomenon of COVID-19 economic injury. These funds will be awarded through several federal agencies and managed in accordance with existing agency laws, regulations, and policies. Navigating the complexities of each agency’s program can be difficult for local units of government, tribal entities, and even states and territories.

Tidal Basin’s Approach

Tidal Basin has assembled a team of highly competent specialists who lead the field in disaster and emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. This experience easily translates into the ability to work with the varied federal awarding agencies responsible for implementing the ARPA funding. COVID-19 has created unique challenges globally. Equally clear is the need for state and local units of government to take targeted, effective, and sustained action to recover from those challenges and mitigate similar injuries in the future.

Mitigation Programs

Reductions in hazard risks to people and property are the cornerstone of many federal assistance programs. Tidal Basin has expertise in the development, implementation, and management of complex hazard mitigation measures designed to bring about the minimization of loss of life and damages to public and private property. In most cases, hazard mitigation grants are awarded using a cost-share formula, with the majority share being federal and the remaining portion the responsibility of non-federal contributors.

Recipients of ARPA may use a federally approved process to “global match” non-ARPA hazard mitigation grants. COVID-19 has weakened many governmental revenue streams and when faced with a disaster, local leaders are left scrambling for funds to aid in disaster recovery and fulfill federal cost-sharing requirements. The use of global match allows states, territories, tribes, and local communities to creatively implement recovery and hazard mitigation solutions without stressing their operating or contingency budgets.

Integrating federal resources is not always an easy task. Program rules vary among federal agencies, and there can be tension and uncertainty among federal, state, and local partners. Additionally, the administrative burdens mandated by differing federal grants can create roadblocks due to conflicting interpretations of rules, redundancies in documentation, and actual incompatibilities.

Tidal Basin understands the global match environment and engages partners to overcome typical “pitfalls” through effective dialogue, the use of correct technical language with each different partner (this is critical), and careful oversight of the calculations being used to credit and debit global match accounts.

ARPA Program Priorities

  • Respond to or mitigate the public health emergency with respect to the COVID-19 emergency or its negative economic impacts.
  • Provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to the public health emergency.
  • Make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
  • Respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Download our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Global Match PDF.

Please contact us for additional information and guidance.