Fire Weather Paperwork

1. Fire Weather Paperwork “The job’s not finished ‘til the paperwork is done”

2. 2006 had lots of reimbursables...

3. Paperwork--A Necessary Evil • In order for NOAA to get reimbursed from the different fire agencies, NWS must do the following: • Review the fire weather packet from the IMETs making sure it contains all the necessary information to ask for reimbursement. • Send a copy of the reviewed packet to the agency that received the IMET services (Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, etc.). • Once the approved packet is returned from the reimbursing agency, prepare a billing letter to send to the Finance Office for billing. • This billing is handled through the Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) System – operated by Treasury Dept. • When the billing has been processed, the funds are collected and applied to the charges.

4. Paperwork--continued • Because this process is very important and the collections sometimes amount to a large dollar amount, we try to make this process run as smooth and as quickly as possible. • In FY-2006, there were obligations in the amount of $1.3M. Of that, Western Region collected $804.3K. See details on next page. • Everyone plays an important part in this collection and we need you to complete your part of the job as soon as possible. • Following are the individual steps for reimbursement.

6. “Step 1” - Fire Weather Paperwork • IMET prepares the Fire Weather (FW) Packet as soon as possible after return from the IMET dispatch. • The packet consists of: • Signed Reimbursable Expenses Report Form • Resource Order • Copy of Certified T&As for IMET and WFO staff who worked overtime to support the dispatch. • Fire Time Report – OF288 (or Red Dog) • Pay Cap Waiver, if applicable • Travel voucher, including receipts (ATM receipt plus government travel card fee-which is usually written in) • Additional receipts and justification • IMET reviews the packet for completeness and makes a copy of the packet to keep at the office and then sends the original to the Regional Headquarters, attn: Fire Weather Program Manager.

7. “Step 2” - Review by FW Program Mgr • Reviews the IMET packet to make certain it has been properly prepared and all of the information has been included. • Reimbursable Expense Report should be completed and signed by IMET and MIC. • In the first part of the form make sure Agency Served is marked and the Agency Unit/Division Finance Officer has a name, phone number, and address. • Make sure that the information on the Resource Order matches the Reimbursable Expense Report. This includes Incident Order No., Agency Jurisdiction, etc. • Compare the certified T&As in the packet against the Reimbursable Expense Report. See sections (1) on-site overtime and (2) related office overtime. • Make sure the Fire Time Report and/or the Pay Cap Waiver(s) are signed and included in the packet. • If any of the forms are missing contact the office to send the information or return packet to the office so they can include the missing forms. .

8. “Step 3” - Review by Regional Budget Staff • Reviews the Fire Weather IMET packet to make sure that all of the required paperwork is there and correct, thus allowing reimbursement from the federal agencies. The review includes the following. • Validates the Certified T&As against the overtime for both the on-site IMET and the office related overtime to insure its correctness (Sections A&B) • Reviews the M&IE per diem shown on the reimbursable expense report against the travel voucher and receipts(Section C). • ATM receipt plus government travel card fee. • ¾ Per diem on the to and from days or travel days • That meals provided have been deducted from the per diem. • Reviews Other Directly Related Costs (Section E) against the travel voucher. This includes items such as POV miles or car rental, supplies needed, etc. • Additional receipts and justification

9. Let’s Review the Reimbursable Form First Section Completed at the Incident

10. Forecast Office Section Next Section A IMET ADMIN LEAVE CHARGES (if earned): B. ON-SITE OVERTIME (including travel time to and from incident): C. M&IE PER-DIEM FOR PERFORMING ON-SITE ASSISTANCE:

11. Last Section D. RELATED OFFICE OVERTIME (insert additional lines as needed): E. OTHER DIRECTLY RELATED COSTS (lodging costs as needed, tolls, rentals, POV, equipment repair/replacement, general supplies etc): (ATTACH JUSTIFICATION) ______________________________ _____________________________ ______________ IMET SignatureMIC SignatureDate

12. Resource Order Emergency Fire Time Reports • When an IMET is dispatched to an incident, a Resource Order is generated by the requesting agency. • This form contains information such as the Incident Order Number, Incident Phone Number, Agency with Jurisdiction and Location of Incident/Project. • It is necessary for the IMET to leave a copy of the Resource Order with the WFO ASA as it contains information needed to complete the Travel Order and Voucher. • Reimbursement cannot be made without a Resource Order! • Employees at an incident, including IMETS, record their hours of work on an Emergency Firefighter Time Report (FTR), also known as a “pink sheet” or “red dog”. • The FTR contains information such as the employee’s name, social security number, address, incident name, incident accounting code, and hours worked (example on next page). • IMETs must sign and verify the accuracy of their time reports before leaving fire camp. • If the IMET is on an assignment at the end of a pay period, a copy of the FTR should be faxed to the WFO timekeeper from the fire. If this is not possible, the timekeeper can enter 80 hours worked for the employee and later file a corrected T&A once the FTR is received. • The FTR is filed with the certified timesheet(s) as supporting documentation for hours worked, and a copy of both included in the reimbursable packet.

13. Resource Order

14. Emergency Fire Time Reports • Employees at an incident, including IMETS, record their hours of work on an Emergency Firefighter Time Report (FTR), also known as a “pink sheet” or “reddog”. • The FTR contains information such as the employee’s name, social security number, address, incident name, incident accounting code, and hours worked (example on next page). • IMETs must sign and verify the accuracy of their time reports before leaving fire camp. • If the IMET is on an assignment at the end of a pay period, a copy of the FTR should be faxed to the WFO timekeeper from the fire. If this is not possible, the timekeeper can enter 80 hours worked for the employee and later file a corrected T&A once the FTR is received. • The FTR is filed with the certified timesheet(s) as supporting documentation for hours worked, and a copy of both included in the reimbursable packet.

16. Exceeding the Pay Cap • IMETs can exceed the Bi-Weekly Pay Cap (and often do) as defined as the bi-weekly salary of a GS15 Step10. • Refer to the OPM website for the biweekly premium pay caps for FY2010: http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/10GSCap.asp • If you forget to code for exceeding the Pay Cap and the pay cap is exceeded, the employee will receive notice on their next Earnings and Leave Statement, which will have a note on the bottom stating the following: “OVR EARN LIMIT”, including the hours and dollar amount they were not paid due to the pay cap. • A GS-12 will likely exceed the biweekly pay cap after 60 hours of overtime. • No federal employee can exceed the Annual Pay Cap of a GS15 Step 10 in your location (i.e. COLA counts). • You (via your pay stub), your MIC and ASA should all keep track of your salary during a busy dispatch year.

18. Per Diem • If IMET stays at camp where food is provided, per diem is $5/day to cover incidentals. • Travel Days – usually the IMETs receive ¾ per day per diem on their travel days (usually the first and last days of their fire assignment). • If the IMET stays in a hotel, use the per diem rates listed in the Federal Travel Regulations for that location.

19. “Step 4” – Preparation of Billing Letter & Spreadsheet by Regional Budget Staff • Prepares billing letter to the Agency Served, such as US Forest Service, BLM, BIA, NPS, etc. • The letter includes the amount and the name of the incident(s) involved. • Reviews the M&IE per diem shown on the reimbursable expense report against the travel voucher and receipts(Section C). • ATM receipt plus government travel card fee. • ¾ Per diem on the to and from days • That meals provided have been deducted from the per diem. • Reviews Other Directly Related Costs (Section E) against the travel voucher. This includes items such as POV miles or car rental, supplies needed, etc. • Additional receipts and justification • Prepares spreadsheet to be sent to the Fire Agency so they can provide the required information needed for NOAA to bill the Fire Agency.

20. SAMPLE LETTER TO BILL FOREST SERVICE MEMORANDUM FOR: Catherine M. Harper – OFA233 FROM: Karen St.Clair – W/WR5 SUBJECT: FY 2010 BILLING OF REIMBURSABLE ACCOUNT 47M7K40EMRANDMEMOUM FOR: Catherine M. Harper – OFA233 FROM: Please initiate immediate billing for the above-referenced reimbursable account as indicated below. USDA Forest Service Incident Business 101B Sun Avenue NW Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109 Attention: Elizabeth Martin Phone: 505-563-7937 Amount: $7,648.00 See attached sheet for the cost breakdown for Forest Service fire incidents. All of the billing paperwork has been coordinated with the appropriate Forest Service office and they have provided the required Forest Service accounting (or charge) codes for reimbursement. If you require any additional information, please contact me at 801-524-5602. Note to Forest Service: This memo and attached expense reports are furnished for your information only. Do not initiate payment until your agency receives a confirmation of the IPAC billing. cc: W/WR1 – Roger Lamoni Forest Service – Elizabeth Martin W/OS1 – Orlando Epps

21. SAMPLE BILLING FIRE WEATHER SPREADSHEET SENT TO AGENCY

22. SAMPLE BILLING FIRE WEATHER SPREADSHEET RECEIVED FROM AGENCY

23. “Step 5” – Send Billing Letter & Spreadsheet to NOAA Finance • Once the billing information has been received from the Agency Served, such as the Forest Service, BLM, BIA, etc. then the billing packet can be prepared. • The billing packet consists of the signed billing letter and the spreadsheet with the agency billing information. • Next, the signed letter is scanned in and attached to an email, along with the spreadsheet. • Once NOAA has collected from the agency, we receive a return email with the IPAC number for the billing. • To make things easier to track, we assign a billing number to both the letter and spreadsheet, such as 1st Billing. • Periodically, we run the RA500D “Reimbursable Project Status Billing Report” to check the obligations against the collections.