PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 896, 1235 PRINTER'S NO. 1245
No. 793 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY WENGER, WAUGH AND MADIGAN, APRIL 17, 2001
SENATE AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE AMENDMENTS, JUNE 20, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of December 13, 1999 (P.L.905, No.57), entitled
2 "An act providing for emergency drought relief, for
3 commercial orchard and fruit tree nursery indemnity, for
4 grants for flood damage and for powers and duties of the
5 Department of Agriculture; establishing the Supplemental
6 Individual Assistance Program; providing for payment of the
7 Commonwealth's share to secure individual assistance from the
8 Federal Government; and making appropriations," providing for <--
9 loans and grants to victims of small disasters; and further
10 providing for appropriations.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. The act of December 13, 1999 (P.L.905, No.57), <--
14 known as the Drought, Orchard and Nursery Indemnity and Flood
15 Relief Act, is amended by adding a chapter to read:
16 CHAPTER 9
17 PENNCRISIS FUND
18 Section 901. Legislative findings.
19 The General Assembly finds that many communities in this
20 Commonwealth frequently are subject to natural and manmade
21 disasters which cause significant damage and disruption in the
1 life of the community but which are not of sufficient magnitude
2 to qualify for Federal disaster assistance programs.
3 Nevertheless, these losses are of considerable importance to
4 those directly affected and their communities and to the health
5 and welfare of the citizens of this Commonwealth's many small
6 communities.
7 Section 902. Definitions.
8 The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
9 shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
10 context clearly indicates otherwise:
11 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
12 "Fund." The Small Disaster Assistance Fund created under
13 this chapter.
14 "Small disaster." An event which results in total uninsured
15 losses, for all individuals, businesses and municipalities, of
16 not more than $2,000,000 and which occurred after June 30, 1999,
17 and falls below the current Federal guidelines for Federal
18 disaster assistance but which involves:
19 (1) damage exceeding 40% of the value of a structure and
20 contents of at least five homes or two businesses;
21 (2) loss of life; or
22 (3) total estimated damages of at least $250,000 to
23 public facilities.
24 Section 903. Small Disaster Assistance Fund.
25 (a) Fund created.--There is created within the PENNCrisis
26 program a Small Disaster Assistance Fund to assist the victims
27 of natural and manmade disasters with low-interest loans and
28 grants. Assistance shall not be available to a person that owns
29 property within a 100-year flood plain and that does not have
30 flood insurance. All loan repayments shall be placed in the fund
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1 to be used for the purposes of this act.
2 (b) Coordination and administration of fund.--All field and
3 other activities of the fund shall be coordinated by the agency,
4 including budgetary allocations from the PENNCrisis Fund to the
5 various objects of PENNCrisis and reports to the General
6 Assembly on program performance and needs. Final authority on
7 all individual requests for assistance from the fund shall rest
8 with the administering agencies. Program elements of the fund
9 shall be administered as follows:
10 (1) For residential housing needs, the Pennsylvania
11 Housing Finance Agency.
12 (2) For residential contents and vehicles, the
13 Department of Public Welfare.
14 (3) For business and municipal programs, the Department
15 of Community and Economic Development.
16 (c) Small disaster declarations.--A county emergency
17 management director may petition the agency for a declaration of
18 a small disaster. The agency's determination on the petition
19 shall be deemed a final order, subject to review under 2 Pa.C.S.
20 Ch. 7 Subch. A (relating to judicial review of Commonwealth
21 agency action).
22 Section 904. Low-interest loans to small disaster victims.
23 All loans shall bear interest for the entire term at a rate
24 no greater than the annual cost of living in the year in which
25 the loan is granted. Interest rates shall be reviewed by the
26 administering agency at the beginning of each fiscal year based
27 on guidance from the Office of the Budget and adjusted in
28 accordance with the prior year's cost of living. All loans shall
29 cover only that portion of loss not covered by insurance. Loans
30 to businesses and residential loans shall be extended to
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1 incorporate existing debt on the real property and contents.
2 Section 905. Business and municipal loans.
3 (a) Business loans.--
4 (1) Loans to businesses and municipalities shall be for
5 a term of no more than 15 years, except where the term is
6 extended by hardship suspensions of payments. Business loans
7 shall be secured by a mortgage on real property of the
8 business or other suitable collateral.
9 (2) Business loans may be used to repair or replace all
10 of the following when lost or seriously damaged due to a
11 small disaster:
12 (i) Fixed equipment.
13 (ii) Major moveable equipment.
14 (iii) Furnishings.
15 (iv) Real property.
16 (v) Leasehold improvements.
17 (vi) Inventory, if it can be shown that an insurance
18 policy at a reasonable premium in relation to value was
19 not available to replace the inventory.
20 (3) At the discretion of the Department of Community and
21 Economic Development, individual business loans may be
22 increased up to 150% of eligible repair or replacement costs
23 to assist in business retention and recovery. The sum of all
24 business loans may not exceed more than one-half of all funds
25 available for expenditure in the PENNCrisis fund in any
26 fiscal year.
27 (b) Municipal loans.--Municipal and county loans may be used
28 for repairing or replacing all of the following when lost or
29 seriously damaged due to a small disaster:
30 (1) Buildings.
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1 (2) Major equipment other than vehicles, plows, backhoes
2 and similar gasoline or diesel powered mobile machinery.
3 (3) Office machines.
4 (4) Streets.
5 (5) Water and sewer lines.
6 (6) Recreational facilities.
7 Section 906. Residential loans.
8 (a) General rule.--Residential loans may be made only for
9 the replacement or repair of the structure of a primary
10 residence and must be secured by a mortgage on the real property
11 that is the subject of the loan. Tenants who have been forced
12 from a primary rental residence by a small disaster are eligible
13 for loans to purchase a home approximately equivalent to their
14 prior residence in size but no smaller than 400 square feet per
15 individual of interior living space.
16 (b) Exception.--Repairs to landscaping, ponds, pools and
17 outbuildings are not eligible for PENNCrisis funding, except to
18 respond to serious hazards resulting from small disaster damage.
19 Section 907. Grants to small disaster victims.
20 (a) Residential loans.--Persons, including tenants, who have
21 lost clothing, furniture, appliances, furnaces, hot water
22 heaters or other contents of their primary residences as the
23 result of a small disaster shall be eligible for low-interest
24 loans not to exceed $7,500 per person in multiperson households
25 and not to exceed $15,000 in single person households. The total
26 amount per household shall not exceed $25,000. The interest rate
27 for such loans shall be the current cost of living in the year
28 of the event.
29 (b) Residential grants.--In the event that individual
30 financial circumstances indicate that a person incurring losses
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1 described in subsection (a) does not reasonably have the ability
2 to repay such additional indebtedness, the administering agency
3 may convert some or all of the amounts permitted by subsection
4 (a) to grants.
5 (c) Excess loans.--For documentable losses exceeding the
6 amounts specified in subsection (a), the administering agency
7 may make loans to individuals at an interest rate twice the
8 current cost of living.
9 (d) Contents limitations.--Loans and grants for contents
10 under this section shall not exceed one-third of estimated
11 market value of the residence prior to the small disaster.
12 (e) Exclusions.--Personal items eligible for residential
13 grants and loans shall not include jewelry or other luxury items
14 and sporting equipment.
15 Section 908. Small disaster mitigation loans and grants.
16 (a) General rule.--Municipalities affected by a small
17 disaster may apply for loans and grants to rectify conditions or
18 inadequate public facilities that led directly to the small
19 disaster or contributed substantially to its occurrence or the
20 inability of local officials to bring the damage under control.
21 Subjects of such assistance shall include, but are not limited
22 to, the following:
23 (1) Missing or inadequate storm sewers or other water
24 management structures, including work within stream channels.
25 (2) Inadequate fire hydrants or related water lines.
26 (3) Watershed plans.
27 (4) Engineering studies and designs necessary to effect
28 mitigation improvements.
29 (b) Limitation.--Small disaster mitigation assistance may be
30 used only for municipally owned or controlled improvements.
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1 Firefighting apparatus and other emergency services equipment
2 and vehicles, including trucks, tankers and other vehicles, are
3 not eligible for mitigation assistance.
4 (c) Chronic flooding.--The coordinating agency may consult
5 with the Department of Environmental Protection to identify
6 areas of chronic flooding that result in frequent damage to
7 communities but which do not rise to the level of a small
8 disaster. The coordinating agency, in conjunction with the
9 Department of Environmental Protection, may use up to 25% of the
10 PENNCrisis Fund annual revenue, exclusive of carryover reserves,
11 to provide grants and loans to municipalities to correct such
12 conditions. Assistance shall follow the formula set forth in
13 subsection (e).
14 (d) Hazard mitigation.--Hazard mitigation loans and grants
15 shall be subject to the following:
16 (1) Grants for hazard mitigation work shall be no more
17 than $5,000,000 per event.
18 (2) Low-interest loans shall be available for the
19 balance of project work not covered by a mitigation grant.
20 (3) Hazard mitigation loans shall bear interest at a
21 rate fixed at the current year's cost of living and shall be
22 for a term of 20 years.
23 (e) Formula.--Grants and loans shall be awarded on the
24 following formula:
25 (1) Municipalities with median per capita personal
26 income greater than 20% above the State median per capita
27 personal income for the preceding year shall be eligible for
28 a mitigation grant of 50% of total project costs.
29 (2) Municipalities with median per capita personal
30 income of between 20% less than and 20% greater than the
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1 State median per capita personal income for the preceding
2 year shall be eligible for a mitigation grant of 60% of total
3 project cost.
4 (3) Municipalities with median per capita personal
5 income more than 20% less than the State median per capita
6 personal income for the preceding year shall be eligible for
7 a mitigation grant of 70% of total project cost.
8 Section 909. The PENNCrisis Fund.
9 There is established under the jurisdiction of the agency a
10 fund to be called the PENNCrisis Fund.
11 (1) Beginning with surplus revenues received during the
12 2001-2002 fiscal year, revenue for the PENNCrisis Fund shall
13 be generated by reserving 20% of each year's surplus revenues
14 to the Commonwealth generated by all taxes and fees deposited
15 into the General Fund.
16 (2) In a fiscal year, neither the balance nor the
17 revenues of the PENNCrisis Fund shall exceed $100,000,000;
18 and the sum available for expenditure shall not exceed
19 $50,000,000.
20 (3) Revenue shall be placed into a dedicated fund
21 reserved for the programs authorized under the PENNCrisis
22 Fund. Deposits into the fund shall not lapse but be carried
23 forward from year to year. Up to one-half of funds on reserve
24 and to be earned by the end of any fiscal year may be used to
25 pay the Commonwealth's matching share for any major disaster
26 declared eligible for Federal assistance by the President of
27 the United States. The need for Federal matching funds for
28 any specific major disaster event may not encumber PENNCrisis
29 revenues in years beyond the year of the major event.
30 Section 910. Training, administration and operations.
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1 (a) Specialized staff.--The agency and each administering
2 agency under section 903 shall recruit, train and develop staff
3 specializing in small disaster assistance in their respective
4 program areas. The staff sections shall be deployed by each
5 administering agency in response to a declared small disaster,
6 as directed by the agency. These personnel shall also be
7 available to the agency at the direction of the Governor to
8 respond to any major disaster in this Commonwealth.
9 (b) Funding for staff.--The agency and each administering
10 agency shall receive $1,000,000 annually, or as much thereof as
11 is necessary, from the PENNCrisis Fund to create a permanently
12 staffed small disaster response team. When each agency's small
13 disaster response team is deployed on assignment, the
14 coordinating agency shall reimburse the agency from the
15 PENNCrisis Fund for standard and necessary travel and living
16 costs for each team deployed to the small disaster. Expenditures
17 under this category shall not exceed 10% of the revenue received
18 by the PENNCrisis Fund in a fiscal year.
19 (c) Authority to approve expenditures.--In response to any
20 small disaster, the agency shall have final authority to approve
21 expenditures of PENNCrisis funds for any additional purposes it
22 deems necessary to small disaster recovery unless the uses are
23 not specifically prohibited by this chapter.
24 Section 911. Insurance coverage.
25 All loan recipients shall maintain adequate property
26 insurance coverage for the full value of the subject property
27 for the term of the disaster assistance loan and shall include
28 flood insurance coverage if the property is located within a
29 100-year flood plain.
30 Section 2. Section 5102 of the act, amended June 22, 2000
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1 (P.L.475, No.65), is amended to read:
2 SECTION 1. SECTION 5102(A), (B) AND (C) OF THE ACT OF <--
3 DECEMBER 13, 1999 (P.L.905, NO.57), KNOWN AS THE DROUGHT,
4 ORCHARD AND NURSERY INDEMNITY AND FLOOD RELIEF ACT, AMENDED JUNE
5 22, 2000 (P.L.475, NO.65), ARE AMENDED TO READ:
6 Section 5102. Appropriations.
7 (a) Drought relief.--
8 (1) The sum of $60,000,000, or as much thereof as may be
9 necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of
10 Agriculture to carry out the provisions of Chapter 3.
11 (2) Any funds not [needed] encumbered for the purposes
12 of Chapter 3 shall lapse to the General Fund on December 31,
13 2000.
14 (3) Any funds encumbered but not allocated under Chapter
15 3 shall be transferred to the department for use under
16 subsection (b).
17 (b) Crop insurance.--
18 (1) The sum of $5,600,000, or as much as may be
19 necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of
20 Agriculture to provide payment for crop insurance in an
21 amount up to 10% of the cost of the insurance premiums and
22 the total amount of all related fees for producers of
23 agricultural commodities [during calendar] in years [2000 and
24 2001] in which funds are appropriated or made available to
25 the department. If sufficient funds are not available to
26 provide for up to 10% of the cost of the insurance premiums
27 and the total amount of all related fees, the [Department of
28 Agriculture] department shall prorate the available funds
29 among all the producers of agricultural commodities who
30 applied[. Any unused funds] for and received Federal crop
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1 insurance for that crop year.
2 (2) Money under this subsection and subsection (a)(3) is
3 continuously appropriated to the department, and the
4 appropriation shall not lapse [into the General Fund on June
5 30, 2001] at the end of any fiscal year.
6 (c) Orchard and nursery indemnity.--The sum of $2,000,000,
7 or as much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated
8 to the Department of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of
9 Chapter 5. Any funds not needed for the purposes of Chapter 5
10 shall lapse to the General Fund on June 30, [2001] 2002.
11 * * * <--
12 (d) Public assistance and hazard mitigation.--The sum of <--
13 $10,000,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby
14 appropriated to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for
15 the match required for Federal disaster funds for the August and
16 September 1999 disasters for public assistance and hazard
17 mitigation to be allocated by the Office of the Budget among
18 these disasters and programs. This appropriation shall be a
19 continuing appropriation.
20 (e) Supplemental Individual Assistance Program.--The sum of
21 $5,000,000 is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for
22 allocation by the Governor for payment of the Commonwealth's
23 share necessary to secure individual and family assistance from
24 the Federal Government under the provisions of The Robert T.
25 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public
26 Law 93-288, 88 Stat. 143) and for payment of Supplemental
27 Individual Assistance Program grants authorized pursuant to
28 Chapter 7. This subsection shall be construed in a manner which
29 secures the maximum available Federal funding for individual and
30 family assistance. Any unused funds not needed for purposes of
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1 this appropriation shall lapse to the General Fund on June 30,
2 2000.
3 (f) Other Federal funding.--Nothing in this act shall
4 supplant or replace any funds otherwise available from the
5 Federal Government.
6 Section 3 2. This act shall take effect immediately. <--
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