State and Local Disaster Purchasing

GSA's Disaster Purchasing Program allows state and local governments to buy supplies and services directly from all GSA Schedules to facilitate disaster preparation, response, or major disaster recovery. Purchases made in support of recovery must be in response to a Stafford Act Presidential declaration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages the list of declared disasters.

State and local governments can purchase equipment and services to support natural or man-made disasters, including acts of terrorism, or nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack.

40 U.S.C § 502 (c) offers the following definition of state or local government:

"The term, 'State or local government' includes any State, local, regional, or tribal government, or any instrumentality thereof (including any local educational agency or institution of higher education)." Educational Institutions include:

  • Local elementary, middle, and high schools operated by public school boards;
  • Public colleges, community colleges, technical colleges; and
  • Public universities that provide at least a two-year program that offers a degree or offers credit toward such a degree.

The term does not include contractors or grantees of state or local governments. If there is a question related to eligibility, you may submit an eligibility request to GSA. GSA will issue a formal determination on behalf of the requesting entity that clearly outlines access to GSA sources of supply.

Entities that clearly fall under the definition of state and local government do NOT need to request an eligibility determination.

Access to Schedules for non-Federal buyers is authorized under law.

The Department of Homeland Security has determined that all of the products and services available under GSA Schedules should be available under the Disaster Purchasing Program.

Purchases are limited to GSA Schedule contracts and authorized Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) only. Authorized Schedule contractors, contracts, products and services are identified in GSA eLibrary and on GSA Advantage!®, with a Disaster Purchasing icon. Disaster Purchasing Icon

Local officials are responsible for ensuring that the products or services purchased are being used to facilitate disaster preparation, and response or recovery from major disasters.

  • "Preparedness" means actions that involve a combination of planning, resources, training, exercising, and organizing to build, sustain, and improve operational capabilities. Preparedness is the process of identifying the personnel, training, and equipment needed for a wide range of potential incidents, and developing jurisdiction – specific plans for delivering capabilities when needed for an incident.
  • "Response" means immediate actions to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs. Response also includes the execution of emergency plans and actions to support short-term recovery.
  • "Recovery" means the development, coordination, and execution of service- and site-restoration plans; the reconstitution of government operations and services; individual, private-sector, nongovernmental, and public-assistance programs to provide housing and to promote restoration; long-term care and treatment of affected persons; additional measures for social, political, environmental, and economic restoration; evaluation of the incident to identify lessons learned; post incident reporting; and development of initiatives to mitigate the effects of future incidents.

Ordering Procedures

To ensure you receive the best value from Schedule contractors, GSA recommends eligible buying entities [PDF - 179 KB] follow federal Schedule ordering procedures to receive best value (GSAR 552.238-79 (h)). Following federal ordering guidelines is not mandated.

State and local buyers are responsible for following the ordering and competitive procedures outlined by their local procurement regulations. Additionally, when purchasing with Federal grant funds, buyers must follow the regulations and procedures outlined by the granting agency.

Mandatory Order Language - Required for all Orders Place under the Disaster Purchasing Program

Buyers must include the following language on all orders:

"This order is placed under GSA Schedule number "insert number here" under the authority of the GSA Disaster Purchasing program. The products and services purchased will be used in preparation or response to disasters or recovery from major disaster declared by the President, or recovery from terrorism or nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack."

Terms and Conditions

The flow down of GSA terms and conditions is outlined by GSAR Clause 552.238-79(a)(3).

In general, when orders our place by a state or local government, all terms and conditions of the contractor's Schedule flow down to the order level, except the following;

Buyers may add additional terms and conditions or enhancements to Schedule terms and conditions as long as they do not conflict with the base level Schedule terms and conditions.

Order Acceptance:

Participation in the Disaster Purchasing Program is voluntary. Our suite of e-Tools allows buyers to quickly conduct market research, place electronic requests for quotes or proposals, and place orders. Participating partners are identified by the logo Disaster Purchasing Icon in eLibrary and GSA Advantage!®.

Schedule contractors have the option of accepting orders placed by state and local government buyers. They may decline an order, for any reason, within a five-day period after receipt of the order. However, credit card orders must be declined within 24 hours.

State and local governments that want to use the Federal Supply Schedules are responsible for ensuring that only authorized representatives place orders against these Schedules.

More information is available about Schedules, buying procedures, contract features, resources, and tools.

Last Reviewed: 2021-07-06