Revision: Feb. 7, 2022, 9:52 a.m.
Rep. Aron, Sull. 7
January 26, 2022
2022-0320h
10/08
Amendment to HB 1665-FN-A-LOCAL
Amend the bill by replacing section 1 with the following:
1 New Section; Homeland Security and Emergency Management; Municipal Road and Bridge Disaster Relief Fund. Amend RSA 21-P by inserting after section 37-c the following new section:
21-P:37-d Municipal Road and Bridge Disaster Relief Fund.
I. A municipal road and bridge disaster relief fund is established in order to provide gap funding to municipalities that have experienced damage to their roads and bridges due to a natural disaster (a) while they wait for federal emergency assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), or (b) while they wait for other funding sources that will be used to rebuild their roads and bridges. This gap funding shall be used for infrastructure repairs in order to facilitate the safe passage and access on municipal roads and bridges. The fund shall be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the department of safety, division of homeland security and emergency management.
II. The municipal road and bridge disaster relief fund shall be used for the purposes described in paragraph I and shall be funded in the following manner:
(a) Municipalities wishing to draw from this fund in the future shall pay into the fund annually in an amount equal to one-half of one percent of its municipal operating budget.
(b) The sum of up to $5,000,000 annually is hereby appropriated by the state to this fund, until the funding reaches $30,000,000. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
(c) Any federal grant money received for purposes of municipal road and bridge disaster relief by the division of homeland security and emergency management may be deposited to this fund.
III. A municipality may draw from the municipal road and bridge disaster relief fund more than once in a calendar year.
IV. A municipality may only draw from the municipal road and bridge disaster relief fund if the amount of the total damage is at least 50 percent of the municipality's annual municipal operating budget and the amount needed for repairs is greater than what is available in the municipality's fund balance.
V. The division of homeland security and emergency management shall administer the expenditures from this fund. The department shall authorize municipal road and bridge disaster relief funds to the affected municipality upon receipt of:
(a) An assessment report prepared by a professional engineer outlining the costs of repairs intended to make the roads and/or bridges damaged by a natural disaster safely passable.
(b) A letter to the commissioner of the department of safety and the director of the division of homeland security and emergency management from the municipality’s governing body and budget committee, if any, requesting the amount needed to repair damage to roads and bridges resulting from a natural disaster.
(c) Demonstration that the roads and/or bridges which were damaged due to natural disaster are of significant and/or critical importance to commerce, or provides access into or out of the municipality.
VI. The director of the division of homeland security and emergency management shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A on procedures for municipal participation, applications, compliance requirements, and withdrawal requests, and for other matters necessary for the administration of this section.
Amend the bill by replacing section 4 with the following:
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
2022-0320h
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a municipal road and bridge disaster relief fund in the division of homeland security and emergency management to be used for infrastructure repairs in order to facilitate the safe passage and access on municipal roads and bridges.