Mission Assignments

A mission assignment (MA) is a work order issued by FEMA to another Federal agency in anticipation of, or in response to, a Presidential declaration of an emergency or major disaster. Mission assignments are authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act). More information about MAs is available at https://www.fema.gov/partnerships/mission-assignments. The Stafford Act, as amended, directs FEMA to publish regularly updated mission assignment data on its website. Please read this entire page, as it contains important notes for understanding how to use this dataset correctly.

This updated version provides a history of FEMA mission assignment activity for incidents or disaster declarations occurring on or after October 1, 2012. It expands on the previous version by adding pre-declaration (“surge”) MA activity, subject to a two-week delay. It also adds several new data points (“fields”), renames others, and removes those deemed no longer relevant. Together, these changes provide a more holistic view of MA activity in response to incidents and declarations occurring in fiscal year 2013 and later.

FEMA tracks mission assignment activity in relation to overarching incidents (such as Hurricane Ian, Tropical Storm Lee, or the Calf Canyon Fire), as well as to the emergency or major disaster declarations that may result in one or more impacted states, tribes, or territories. Surge activity is identified by code ‘7220’ in the Declaration Number and ‘SU’ in the Declaration Type.

Each row (“record”) in this dataset represents a mission assignment “action,” which is either the creation of a new mission assignment, or the amendment of an existing assignment. These actions are uniquely identified by a combination of MA Number with MA Amendment Number (which is zero for a new MA and increases by one for each MA amendment). Action ID also serves as a unique record number for each MA action.

The details of a mission assignment often change over time as needs for support evolve. Mission assignments are amended for certain changes, such as periods of performance, points of contact, costs, and/or cost share percentages. However, mission assignments involving changes to the statement of work or funding source (surge account, emergency declaration, or major disaster declaration) are re-issued as new mission assignments; they are not amended. When this happens, funding from the preceding mission assignment generally is de-obligated from the initial funding source and re-obligated under the new mission assignment, along with any cost adjustments if needed. To understand all actions associated with a particular mission assignment, group the records in this dataset by MA Number. (Note: This will not group re-issued mission assignments with their predecessors.)

Because certain characteristics can change over the life of a mission assignment, the most recent amendment generally contains the most up-to-date information for that mission assignment, except for costs (explained next).

Obligation amounts do not reflect actual costs incurred; they reflect the anticipated amount of money needed to fund the work described. Obligation amounts are based on best estimates, which include cushions designed to ensure adequate resources are available to address the stated needs. As better estimates become available, obligation amounts are adjusted via mission assignment amendments.

To determine all estimated costs associated with a particular mission assignment, group the records in this dataset by MA Number and sum the obligation amounts for each action by MA Number. Over time, this sum will approach and eventually should match actual mission assignment costs, once billing and reimbursement activity is complete.

Cost shares are treated differently and are not as easily summed. FEMA has created a set of MA-specific fields to use in summary reporting. The MA POP start date, MA POP end date, MA state/tribe/territory cost share percentage, MA federal cost share percentage, and MA Priority in each MA action show the correct values for the MA Number as a whole, based on the most recent MA amendment. Similarly, the MA state/tribe/territory cost share amount and MA federal cost share amount show the correct amounts for each MA action, calculated using the percentages from the most recent MA amendment.

Conversely, the POP start date, POP end date, state/tribe/territory cost share percentage, federal cost share percentage, and priority show the values that were correct at the time of each MA action. Further, the state/tribe territory cost share amount and federal cost share amount show the amounts that were correct at the time of each MA action.

For these reasons, the MA state/tribe/territory cost share amount and MA federal cost share amount values can be summed by MA Number, whereas the state/tribe/territory cost share amount and federal cost share amount values cannot. All cost shares are calculated by multiplying the applicable cost share percentage by the obligation amount.

In rare instances, mission assignments for disasters declared prior to October 1, 2012 may not yet be fiscally closed. Those mission assignments are not reflected in this dataset, nor are any mission assignment actions taken on or after October 1, 2012 that relate to those disaster declarations.

Due to administrative changes over time, Agency names for certain MA actions may contain text such as "DO NOT USE" or "AMENDMENT." These agency names should be ignored in favor of the plain language names also associated with those same Agency IDs in other MA records.

This dataset is not intended to be used for any official federal financial reporting and should not be considered an official federal report.

Citation: The Agency’s preferred citation for datasets (API usage or file downloads) can be found on the OpenFEMA Terms and Conditions page, Citing Data section: https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/terms-conditions.

If you have media inquiries about this dataset, please email the FEMA Press Office at FEMA-Press-Office@fema.dhs.gov. For inquiries about FEMA's data and Open Government program, please email the OpenFEMA team at OpenFEMA@fema.dhs.gov.