On September 29, 2026, FEMA published a Federal Register notice contractors can use this week. 91 FR 61430 (Docket ID FEMA-2026-0001) states that $1,093,800 is the threshold for any Small Project subgrant under section 422 of the Stafford Act for major disasters and emergencies declared on or after October 1, 2025. The adjustment is a 2.9 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the twelve months that ended in August 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics information released September 11, 2025.
That figure is a project-size line. It is not a bid advertisement and not a change to the federal cost share. Educational desk note from RebuildAlert, operated by Record of Sale, LLC. Not FEMA guidance, not legal advice, not a bid board. Questions: publisher@noticenearby.com (email only).
Three different meanings of “large”
The section 422 line. For a disaster declared on or after October 1, 2025, the notice sets the simplified-procedures threshold at $1,093,800. FEMA’s per capita indicator and project thresholds table lists the same figure as the fiscal year 2026 large-project threshold. Work below that line is a small project. Work at or above it is a large project. The usual Public Assistance distinction is that small projects are funded from the estimate and are not later adjusted to actual cost, while large projects are adjusted to actual eligible cost. Confirm that in current FEMA policy before you tell an applicant which track they are on. This note is not that policy.
OpenFEMA’s projectSize field. Public Assistance Funded Projects Details v2 publishes projectSize as Small or Large. That label is FEMA’s size class on the row. RebuildAlert does not calculate it. The threshold follows the declaration date, not the week the dollars moved. An October 2026 obligation on a disaster declared in 2017 is still sized under that older year’s line. Do not re-sort every fresh row against $1,093,800.
The public teaser on this site. “Large obligations, last 14 days” means nationwide Category A–G worksheets whose first obligation date is inside 14 days and whose federal share obligated is $100,000 or more. It does not filter on OpenFEMA’s Small or Large label. A small project can clear $100,000 of federal share. A real obligated worksheet can sit under $100,000 and never appear in that strip.
FEMA’s threshold table lists $1,062,900 as the fiscal year 2025 large-project threshold. The new notice does not relabel disasters declared before October 1, 2025.
Rows in the feed this week
Figures below are OpenFEMA fields as published, not a bid tab. Applicant names come from Public Assistance Applicants v1, joined on applicantId and disasterNumber.
Small, and under the teaser
Disaster 4898, Project Worksheet 360, “City Wide Sewer Utilities,” is Category F in Sumner County, Tennessee. Incident type is Winter Storm. Declaration date is February 6, 2026, so the $1,093,800 line applies. OpenFEMA shows:
- Project amount $121,273.55
- Federal share obligated $90,955.17 (75 percent of that project amount)
- Project size Small
- First and last obligation dates October 2, 2026
- Status Eligible
The applicant is the City of White House. Project amount and the size label agree: this is a small project. Federal share is under $100,000, so the worksheet is outside the public teaser even though it was first obligated this week. A utility contractor watching Sumner County still has a buyer, a category, and a facility title. The category picker is the short read on Category F. The row is still not a solicitation.
Large, and over the teaser
Disaster 4899, Project Worksheet 1046, “Districtwide Fiber Restoration,” is also Category F, also a winter storm declared February 6, 2026, and a different disaster number. The state is Mississippi and the county field is Statewide. OpenFEMA shows a project amount of $3,701,750.68, federal share obligated of $2,776,313.01 (75 percent of the project amount), project size Large, and a first obligation date of September 25, 2026. The applicant is Tippah Electric Power Association.
The project amount is above $1,093,800 and the label says Large. The federal share also clears $100,000. Neither fact is a notice to proceed. A large-project label often means the federal dollar will move again when actual costs are reconciled. That is a reason to ask how the applicant plans to procure. It is not your contract value. The federal share calculator only splits a number you type. It does not look up this worksheet or decide small versus large.
A same-week row that is not 75 percent
Disaster 4332, Project Worksheet 7532, “PWE - Upper Braes WWTP - Admin/Operations Bldg.,” is Category F in Harris County, Texas. OpenFEMA shows a project amount of $1,582,019.75, federal share obligated of $50,000, project size Large, and a first obligation date of September 29, 2026. The applicant is the City of Houston. The declaration date is August 25, 2017, so the new $1,093,800 line did not size this worksheet. The federal share is not 75 percent of the project amount. A first-obligation date in the same week as the notice does not make the disaster new.
What you can use, and what you cannot
Fair uses, if you stay inside them:
- Copy project amount and projectSize. Federal share is the reservation. Project amount is the figure next to the size test. White House and Tippah happen to be a clean 75 percent split. Houston is why you do not invent that split from the federal share alone.
- Apply $1,093,800 only when the declaration is on or after October 1, 2025. The February 6, 2026 winter-storm disasters qualify. The 2017 Houston hurricane does not.
- Read Small as paperwork, not as a tiny job. The White House title is citywide sewer utilities. Small points to simplified procedures. It does not mean the work is done, bid, or unworthy of a letter.
- Read Large as documentation, not as a federal solicitation. Tippah’s fiber worksheet is on the actual-cost track in the usual PA distinction. The applicant still procures. SAM.gov is the wrong waiting room.
The size label will not give you a bid date, plan holders, or the contractor’s price. Eligible project amount, federal share, and a local bid tab are three numbers. It also will not match the homepage. The teaser is a $100,000 federal-share sample of first obligations. A watch is how you also see rows under that cut, including White House at $90,955.
Category Z can be marked Large in OpenFEMA. RebuildAlert does not ingest Category Z, Individual Assistance, or NFIP claims. And a moving last obligation date, with the first date unchanged, is often an adjustment on a worksheet that was already sized. Declaration date versus obligation date covers timing. This note is the size label beside those dates.
Five lines, then the letter
Before you write, put these on the card:
- Disaster number, declaration date, and incident type
- Project amount and the OpenFEMA projectSize label
- Federal share, copied rather than turned into a contract
- Category and the facility words in the title
- Applicant name, and the mailing address only if you are writing
If the declaration is on or after October 1, 2025, note whether the project amount sits under or over $1,093,800 and whether that agrees with the label. If the declaration is older, name the threshold you are using or say you do not know. Do not claim FEMA sent you. RebuildAlert is not affiliated with FEMA or DHS. The federal government does not vouch for analyses after data leave OpenFEMA.
The daily digest carries project, category, federal share, county, disaster, first obligation date, and the applicant mailing address when OpenFEMA has one. It does not carry a small-versus-large verdict. A worksheet page shows the OpenFEMA size label when the feed includes it, next to the project amount. You still read the declaration date.
A county watch is how the next Sumner County worksheet reaches the same desk as White House, including rows under the teaser. The county watch ROI tool compares assumed desk time with Starter and Pro. It is not a forecast. Pricing is one state or nationwide. The tools stay free.
Record of Sale, LLC operates RebuildAlert. Contact remains publisher@noticenearby.com — email only. The September 29 notice does not make an obligated worksheet an award. It states the simplified-procedures threshold for disasters declared on or after October 1, 2025. Read projectSize with the declaration date, use the applicant as the buyer, and wait for their procurement.