HB 1466-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

22Feb2024... 0528h

2024 SESSION

24-2563

11/08

HOUSE BILL 1466-FN

AN ACT relative to providing disaster relief funding to municipalities after a natural disaster.

SPONSORS: Rep. Aron, Sull. 4; Rep. Drye, Sull. 7; Rep. Weyler, Rock. 14; Rep. Buco, Carr. 1; Rep. Cloutier, Sull. 6; Rep. Heath, Hills. 41; Rep. Creighton, Hills. 30; Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2; Rep. Terry, Belk. 7; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Sen. Watters, Dist 4

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

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ANALYSIS

This bill authorizes disaster relief aid for municipalities that suffer certain damage in natural disasters.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

22Feb2024... 0528h 24-2563

11/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

AN ACT relative to providing disaster relief funding to municipalities after a natural disaster.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  Purpose.  The purpose of the emergency response and recovery fund is to provide immediate liquidity for towns suffering a disaster to allow time for the town to go through the steps necessary to petition for state or federal emergency funds.  It is the intent that this grant would be reimbursable from state or federal or disaster relief programs.

2  Emergency Management Powers; Governor; Disaster Declaration.  Amend RSA 4:47, III to read as follows:

III.  The power to make, amend, suspend, and rescind necessary orders, rules, and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subdivision in the event of a disaster beyond local control; provided that civil liberties shall on no account be suspended, nor shall the United States Constitution or the New Hampshire Constitution be suspended.  The governor may declare a disaster in the event of a natural disaster or severe weather event in one or more municipalities.

3  New Section; Homeland Security and Emergency Management; Municipal Road and Bridge Disaster Relief Funding.  Amend RSA 21-P by inserting after section 37-d the following new section:

21-P:37-e  Disaster Relief Procedures.  

A municipality may request infrastructural disaster relief more than once in a calendar year, but shall not receive more than $100,000 in grant money in a calendar year.  Requests shall be filed with the joint legislative fiscal committee within 45 days after the governor's declaration.  Moneys shall be distributed from the New Hampshire disaster relief fund established in RSA 21-P:46-a.  The joint legislative fiscal committee may decide to appropriate a lesser amount to the request based on available funding.

4  Emergency Response and Recovery Fund; Disaster.  Amend RSA 21-P:46 to read as follows:

21-P:46  New Hampshire Emergency Response and Recovery Fund.  There is hereby established a New Hampshire emergency response and recovery fund.  The fund shall provide a source for the matching funds required as a commitment to secure federal emergency management agency relief assistance grants for costs incurred in disasters declared by the president of the United States.  The fund shall also provide a source for emergency funds to be dispersed to municipalities that have incurred damage from natural disasters.  The fund shall be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the department of safety.

5  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.

LBA

24-2563

Revised 3/5/24

Amended 2/29/24

HB 1466-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2024-0528h)

AN ACT relative to providing disaster relief funding to municipalities after a natural disaster.

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

METHODOLOGY:

This bill:

• Authorizes the Governor to declare a disaster in the event of a natural disaster or severe weather event in one or more municipalities.
• Within 45 days of a declaration, authorizes any municipality to request, directly to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, infrastructural disaster relief aid of up to $100,000 in any calendar year.
• States that any aid approved would be disbursed from the NH Disaster Relief Fund in RSA 21-P:46-a, however, the bill amends RSA 21-P:46, relative to the New Hampshire Emergency Response and Recovery Fund to allow for such use.
  • RSA 21-P:46, NH Emergency Response and Recovery Fund – Current Balance = $0
  • RSA 21-P:46-a, NH Disaster Relief Fund – Current Balance = $45,292
• Provides neither an appropriation, nor mechanism for new funding to be accessed.

To the extent this bill provides no new funding, the number of requests approved cannot be predicted, this bill’s fiscal impact relative to relief aid cannot be estimated. To administer the provisions of this bill, the Department of Safety states it would need one (1) supervisor III position for a total cost of $91,000 in FY 2025, $90,000 in FY 2026, and $93,000 in FY 2027 (assuming a start date of July 1, 2024). It should be noted this bill provides neither authorization nor funding for new personnel.

The Department has provided the following information from the most recent presidentially declared or sought after disasters.

Once an incident occurs, the State of New Hampshire completes the initial damage assessments (IDAs), and a determination is then made to request joint preliminary damage assessments (PDAs), which are cited in 44 CFR 206.33. Accurate and comprehensive PDAs are critical to enabling efficient response and recovery.  The number of communities involved in each incident could each request up to $100,000 in funding under this bill. The Department states the goal of the PDA is to validate enough damages to document that the localized impacts are significant and financially exceeds the per capita indicators.  It is important to note that not every local government or private nonprofit participates during the PDAs. Entities with the highest amount of known damages from the IDAs are prioritized. Documentation is received to support that work has either been completed or that work remains to be completed. Work to be completed is calculated utilizing cost estimates and typically is at a value less than market value and is not inclusive of all costs that a municipality has incurred due to the incident. In summary, the Department states financials gathered during the PDAs should be merely used as an assumption to the true scale and magnitude of damages.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Safety