DE SB 310

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Description

This Act creates a Disaster Recovery Fund (the "Fund") to provide disaster recovery assistance to Delaware residents and local governments affected by disasters. The Fund is intended to provide means for program creation following an extreme event with regard to short-term recovery needs, the provision of interim housing assistance, support for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of occupied damaged or destroyed homes, assistance in addressing gaps in insurance coverage, prioritization of health and safety issues to ensure that housing remains habitable, and support for long-term recovery initiatives. The Fund will be administered in accordance with guidelines set by the Recovery Advisory Council, or "RAC," which is established by the Act. The Fund will consist of any appropriations, grants, gifts, contributions, or revenues received by the Fund from any source. It will be divided into at least 2 components, including: (1) the DEMA Recovery and Resilience Program, which previously existed as Executive Order #44, or the Delaware Resilience Fund, and which will receive funding to focus on recovery initiatives, and (2) the DSHA Housing Recovery Program, which will receive funding to address housing recovery needs. The RAC shall establish prescribed impetuses that trigger the use of funds for mitigation and preparedness projects, including establishing a dollar amount threshold for the fund beyond which funds can be spent on mitigation and preparedness, and establishing a minimum time period of at least one year beyond which, if the Fund is not utilized for its primary objectives, funds can be spent on mitigation and preparedness. Eligible uses would include funding for disaster risk reduction, hazard mitigation projects, or community resilience initiatives or use as a "match" for costs associated with federal mitigation or preparedness grant dollars for initiatives in mitigation and preparedness. The RAC will convene biannually, upon activation request, when post-disaster assistance requests exceed the available balance of the Fund, or in accordance with its bylaws. The RAC consists of the Director of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency or designee; the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority or designee; the State Hazard Mitigation Officer or designee; the Directors of the Emergency Management Agencies for Sussex County, Kent County, and New Castle County or their designees; the Disaster Coordinator of the Department of Health and Social Services or designee; and the following members, appointed by the Governor: representatives from the Delaware League of Local Government and the Delaware Community Foundation; a member of local government from an affected or impacted community; a member with expertise in disability services, independent living, or access and functional needs, and any additional cabinet secretary or subject matter expert. The Fund may be activated when a disaster occurs and affects an amount of housing, residents, or property predetermined within DEMA or DSHA programmatic guidelines, if damage occurs that exceeds the capacity of the affected locality and assistance is requested from the corresponding county, if the support required for recovery exceeds the capacity of the corresponding county and the county makes a request to the Fund's program managers, or if the Governor declares a state of emergency or requests fund activation.