Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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public health and safety staff primarily dedicated to responding to COVID-19. Finally, to the extent that a greater proportion of public health and safety staff time is needed to respond to COVID-19 in disproportionately impacted communities, the "primarily dedicated" approach recognizes this increased need. Public Comment: Eligible Types of COVID-19 Response: Some public commenters also sought further clarification on how to identify eligible types of "COVID-19 response." For example, commenters requested clarification on delineating COVID-19 response from general public health response and defining COVID-19 response for public safety employees. Treasury Response: Treasury is clarifying that "responding to" COVID-19 entails work needed to respond to the public health or negative economic impacts of the pandemic, apart from the typical pre -pandemic job duties or workload of an employee in a comparable role, if one existed. For example, responding to COVID-19 for a public safety worker may entail working in an emergency operations center to coordinate pandemic -related supply distribution, responding to an increased volume of 911 calls, or implementing COVID-19 prevention and mitigation protocols in a carceral setting. Public Comment: Eligible Employees: Some commenters requested clarification on the types of eligible employees or expansion of eligible employees to include additional types of staff, including in behavioral health; administrative, management, or financial management positions; social services; morgue staff; and nonprofit staff supporting projects to undertake eligible uses of funds under SLFRF. Treasury Response: Treasury provided further guidance on eligible types of employees following the interim final rule, which expressly included social services and morgue staff, and incorporates that guidance into the final rule. In addition, Treasury is clarifying that public health 176