LINCROFT, N.J. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency receives money from two different and distinct sources to help communities pay for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

FEMA’s primary source of funding is the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which was established by the Stafford Act. The DRF is regularly replenished to ensure that money for disaster relief and recovery is always available.

The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, also known as the Sandy Disaster Relief Act, budgeted $60 billion for relief and recovery efforts. Out of those funds, $5.4 billion was allocated directly to FEMA, and a total of $57.2 billion went to nine areas, including FEMA:

• $9.7 billion to the National Flood Insurance Program.
• $3.9 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• $19.8 billion for transportation, housing and urban development through the Federal Highway Administration (not connected to either the Department of Transportation or HUD).
• $5.4 billion to the Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Authority Emergency Relief for assistance and recovery for the four major New Jersey-New York transit overseers: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of NY-NJ, NJ Transit and NYC DOT ferries.
• $6.5 billion to the Department of Homeland Security.
• $4 billion for energy and water (restoring navigation channels, beaches; assisting with dredging, sustainability and flood control efforts).
• $1.35 billion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
• $1.166 billion to Interior and Environment to repair damaged Department of the Interior facilities and restore wetlands.

The remaining money has been allocated as follows:

• $725 million for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (provides health services, case management, domestic violence services, child welfare/youth services and funding for the reconstruction and repair of health and child care facilities, damaged Head Start facilities, and damaged Social Security Administration buildings and equipment.)
• $651 million for financial services (includes additional funding for the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program and $7 million for the repair of damaged federal buildings)
• $513.25 million for commerce, justice and science. Most of this money will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help improve severe weather forecasting.
• $287 million to the Department of the Interior to repair national parks, lands and facilities.
• $235 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs to repair the Manhattan VA hospital and other VA facilities damaged by Sandy.
• $218 million for agriculture (emergency conservation and restoration efforts)
• $161 million to the Small Business Administration. This will provide immediate funding for the Disaster Loan Program to repair and rebuild disaster-damaged private property for homeowners, renters, and businesses, as well as grants to assist affected small businesses.
• $100 million to the Department of Health and Human Services (Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund for disaster response and recovery efforts. Includes funding for the Social Services Block Grants program, repairs to Head Start facilities, and replacement of equipment at the National Institute of Health)
• $88.335 million to the Department of Defense to repair military bases, armories and other installations.
• $32 million to Amtrak to repair damaged infrastructure only. None of this money will go to Administration-requested offsets for operating revenue losses or towards construction of a long-planned Hudson River tunnel.
• $24.2 million to the National Guard for repairs to various buildings.
• $14.6 million to the Federal Aviation Administration to repair control towers, navigation and power systems.
• $6 million to the Department of Agriculture to replenish food banks and soup kitchens via the Commodity Assistance Program