VA HB 214

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Description

Localities; Home Flood Protection Assistance Program. Enables a locality to establish by ordinance a Home Flood Protection Assistance Program to provide financial assistance to households to install temporary home flood exclusion tools at vulnerable entry points. Such financial assistance is limited to $3,000 per household and shall only be granted after a household has (i) completed a stormwater extension program, as defined in the bill, or local floodplain review, including an on-site assessment by the locality; (ii) completed all required or recommended passive or structural flood mitigation measures; and (iii) received verification from the locality that no further feasible passive or structural flood mitigation measures remain. The bill provides that a locality may utilize funds from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund in administering a Program and directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish and maintain uniform product performance verification standards for home flood exclusion tools that will be the only such tools eligible for funds from a Program. The bill also provides that a locality establishing a Program may partner with locality-authorized nonprofit resilience organizations to assist in identifying households eligible for such Program, installing temporary home flood exclusion tools, training households on the proper deployment of such tools, and tracking the performance and effectiveness of such tools.