Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act, is now law. Below is a summary of how this legislation, as well as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), can assist public natural gas utilities through this challenging time. There is also a separate section about information to share with your customers, who may be in need of aid.

DISCLAIMER: APGA is providing this material purely as a reference to its members. Any decisions either by the utility and/or its customers should be discussed with certified legal or accounting professionals.

Information for Public Natural Gas Utilities

Employer Rights

• Issues rules relevant to the administration of the FFCRA’s paid leave requirements.
• Provides direction for the administration of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA), which requires that certain employers provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave to employees who need to take leave from work for certain specified reasons related to COVID-19. These reasons may include the following:
  • the employee or someone the employee is caring for is subject to a government quarantine order or has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine;
  • the employee is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking medical attention; or,
  • the employee is caring for his or her son or daughter whose school or place of care is closed or whose child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
  • Provides direction for the effective administration of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA), which requires that certain employers provide up to 10 weeks of paid, and 2 weeks unpaid, emergency family and medical leave to eligible employees if the employee is caring for his or her son or daughter whose school or place of care is closed or whose child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
• FFCRA reimburses American private employers that have fewer than 500 employees with tax credits for the cost of providing employees with paid leave taken for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The law enables employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.
• Local governments and public utilities are not entitled to the refundable tax credits that are available to private employers. In the past, when employer tax credit programs have been created, tax-exempt employers, such as counties, municipalities, and school districts, were allowed to claim a credit against social security tax for wages paid to employees. This social security tax relief has not yet been extended through the FFCRA. However, public employers are not exempted from the provisions relieving employers of the obligation to pay FICA/Medicare for FFCRA wages. Therefore, local governments need not pay FICA or Medicare for wages paid to employees on leave granted pursuant to the FFCRA.

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Fact Sheets

Employee Paid Leave Rights

Webpage

PDF

Employee Paid Leave Rights

Webpage

PDF

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers

Families First
Coronavirus
Response Act

COVID-19 and
the Fair Labor
Standards Act

COVID-19 and
the Family and
Medical Leave
Act

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Posters

Employee Rights

Federal Employee Rights

Frequently Asked Questions

Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-1: Temporary Non-Enforcement Period Applicable to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

View Bulletin

Information for Public Utility Customers

Protection from Scams and Cybercrimes

• Emphasize the words "Stimulus Check" or "Stimulus Payment." The official term is economic impact payment.
• Ask to sign over economic impact payment check to them.
• Ask by phone, email, text, or social media for verification of personal and/or banking information saying that the information is needed to receive or speed up economic impact payment.
• Suggest tax refund or economic impact payment can be received faster by working on the taxpayer's behalf. This scam could be conducted by social media or even in person.
• Mail a bogus check, perhaps in an odd amount, then tell to call a number or verify information online in order to cash it.

Agency Resources and Information

U.S. Department
of Energy

U.S. Department
of Homeland
Security

U.S. Department
of Labor

Paycheck Protection Program

• Provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll).
• No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.
• Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.
• Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees—including nonprofits, veterans organizations, tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors— are eligible. Businesses with more than 500 employees are eligible in certain industries.

Paycheck Protection Program Resources

Overview

Lender
Information

Borrower
Information

Borrower
Application

U.S. Chamber
of Commerce
Information

Economic Impact Payment

Tax Relief

Employee Retention Credit

1. The employer's business is fully or partially suspended by government order due to COVID-19 during the calendar quarter.
2. The employer's gross receipts are below 50% of the comparable quarter in 2019. Once the employer's gross receipts go above 80% of a comparable quarter in 2019, they no longer qualify after the end of that quarter. These measures are calculated each calendar quarter.

Small Business Administration Loans

Assist the Government’s Response

• To sell medical supplies or equipment, please submit a price quote under the COVID-19 PPE and Medical Supplies Request for Quotation. Full details can be found in the solicitation (Notice ID 70FA2020R00000011). 
  • This solicitation requires registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) in order to be considered for award, pursuant to applicable regulations and guidelines. Registration information can be found at www.sam.gov.  Registration must be “ACTIVE” at the time of award.
• If wanting to donate medical supplies or equipment, please provide details.

• If wanting to produce a product related to the COVID response – email nbeoc@max.gov.
• If interested in doing business with FEMA and supporting the response to COVID- 19 with non-medical goods and/or services, please submit inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Procurement Action Innovative Response Team (PAIR) team at DHSIndustryLiaison@hq.dhs.gov.

For additional information please visit FEMA’s website: https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus/.

Support for Department of Justice Facilities

For the most up-to-date information, please see www.coronavirus.gov.

The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) has made some critical standards available free of charge to aid in the fight against COVID-19. These standards include coverage for the installation of natural gas appliances and equipment including venting, combustion air requirements, clearances, etc.

• 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)
• UPC - COVID-19 Transmission Prevention Guidance
• Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC)
• UMC - COVID-19 Transmission Prevention Guidance

Note - The UPC and UMC are adopted in mainly western states and jurisdictions.

API Pandemic Planning Guide: https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/EHS/Process-Safety/API-PandemicGuide-2016.pdf

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Webpage on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response: Read here

• NFPA 1600^®, Standard on Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management, is the recognized National Preparedness Standard^®, offering vital information on conducting risk assessments, business impact analysis, capabilities, needs assessments, and developing emergency and recovery plans for myriad events including pandemic.
• NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code, is an indispensable resource for healthcare decision-makers, offering essential safety information and requirements for emergency planning, isolation spaces, infection control, IT and data infrastructure, and many other relevant topics. 
• NFPA 1999, Standard on Protective Clothing and Ensembles for Emergency Medical Operations, provides requirements for the clothing and certain respiratory devices used not only by on-scene first responders but also by first receiver health care workers at facilities where treatment will be rendered.
• NFPA 1581, Standard on Fire Department Infection Control Program, provides the minimum requirements for infection control programs to help identify and limit the potential of an infectious exposure to fire department members as well as other first responders during the performance of their assigned duties and within the responder working and living environment.
• You can also find more information on this subject in this recently posted blog Organizational Planning Tips for Pandemic Preparedness from NFPA.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC): For authoritative information and resources on COVID-19, including situation reports, guidance, and more, visit U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) website and CISA.gov/coronavirus.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has developed this consensus study report with recommendations for a phased approach for the equitable allocation of a COVID-19 vaccine: www.nap.edu/vaccineallocation

Coronavirus Rumor Control: The purpose of this FEMA page is to help the public distinguish between rumors and facts regarding the response to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Rumors can easily circulate within communities during a crisis. https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus-rumor-control

CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html and their infographics for employers: Link

FBI Guidance on Defending Against Video-Teleconference (VTC) Hijacking The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released an article on defending against video-teleconferencing (VTC) hijacking (referred to as “Zoom-bombing” when attacks are to the Zoom VTC platform).  https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2020/04/02/fbi-releases-guidance-defending-against-vtc-hijacking-and-zoom

OSHA Guidance – Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19:  https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf

National Institute of Health's Protecting Yourself from COVID-19 in the Workplace Training Materials: tools.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/covid19worker

NIOSH Guidance on Coronavirus in Workplaces: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/2019_ncov.html

National Safety Council (NSC) echoes recommendations from OSHA and CDC, which include:

• Practice proper infection control and sterilization measures
• Frequently wash hands with soap and water; if soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick
• Stay home when you are sick, and see a doctor immediately to be evaluated for COVID-19
• If a worker becomes infected, insist that he or she fully recovers before returning to work.

APGA has complied a list of the health department's coronavirus websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the individual state pages, here are two sites with compiled details from the 50 states:

State Department of Health Coronavirus Websites