The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as Amended (Stafford Act), Title 42 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) § 5121 et seq., authorizes the President to provide Federal assistance when the magnitude of an incident or threatened incident exceeds the affected State, Territorial, Indian Tribal, and local government capabilities to respond or recover.

The purpose of the Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program is to support communities’ recovery from major disasters by providing them with grant assistance for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure. Local governments, states, tribes, territories and certain private nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply.

Public Assistance is FEMA's largest grant program. Since 2017, FEMA gave over five billion dollars through PA grants to help communities clear debris and rebuild roads, schools, libraries, and other public facilities.