HF 1378

1st Engrossment - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:50am

A bill for an act
relating to disasters; establishing local disaster assistance program and local
disaster fund; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 12.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [12.222] MINNESOTA DISASTER LOCAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Local disaster assistance program. new text end

new text begin A program is established to
assist state and local governments to respond in a consistent, timely, and adequate manner
when disasters occur that are ineligible for a presidential disaster declaration. The state
director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shall provide
assistance and grants to local governments to respond to local disasters.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Eligibility; requirements. new text end

new text begin To be eligible for assistance under this section,
a political subdivision must make a local declaration of emergency in accordance with
section 12.29 and apply to the state director for assistance on the forms and according
to the procedures and timelines established by the commissioner of public safety. At a
minimum, the application for grants must include an assessment of the damage caused by
the disaster. Within the limits of the funds available under this section, the state director
may award grants to assist a local government in paying for costs directly related to the
disaster, including but not limited to emergency response, clean up, repair, replacement
or restoration of public infrastructure, remediation to ensure public health, and other
costs attributable to the disaster. A grant under this section must not duplicate or replace
assistance that is available from other state or federal government agencies or insurance
coverage. Each grant awarded under this section must be matched by at least ten percent
from local funds.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Local disaster assistance account. new text end

new text begin A local disaster assistance account
is created in the special revenue fund. Money in the account is appropriated to the
commissioner of public safety for grants and assistance to local units of government under
this section. This account must be used for the purposes of assisting local governments
to respond to and recover from disasters that do not qualify for a presidential disaster
declaration. Money in the account does not cancel but is available until expended. An
amount necessary to maintain the account at $6,000,000 is annually appropriated on July 1
from the general fund to the local disaster assistance account.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin LOCAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE ACCOUNT.
new text end

new text begin $6,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2010 to the local
disaster assistance account in the special revenue fund under section 1. This appropriation
is to assist local governments to respond to disasters that do not qualify for assistance as a
presidentially declared disaster.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STATE MATCH.
new text end

new text begin $5,600,000 each year for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 is appropriated from the general
fund to the commissioner of public safety to provide a match for Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) disaster assistance payments under Minnesota Statutes,
section 12.221. If the appropriation for either year is insufficient to cover the match
requirements, the amount necessary to cover the costs during the biennium is appropriated
from the general fund. Beginning in fiscal year 2012, the base appropriation for the FEMA
match is 75 percent of the average annual expenditures for the state FEMA match for
the preceding five years.
new text end