STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2837 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BRESLIN, HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Home- land Security and Military Affairs AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the resilient New York revolving loan program; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the resilient New York revolving loan fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 29-l 2 to read as follows: 3 § 29-l. Resilient New York revolving loan program. 1. The division, 4 in conjunction with the comptroller, shall establish and administer the 5 resilient New York revolving loan program as provided in this section. 6 2. (a) The resilient New York revolving loan program shall provide low 7 or no-interest loans to municipalities and not-for-profit organizations 8 for hazard mitigation and resilience projects, including but not limited 9 to, building resilient infrastructures and communities, flood mitigation 10 assistance, flood risk reduction projects such as levees, closures, pump 11 stations and non-structural projects like elevation and wet/dry flood 12 proofing or any adaption or mitigation projects included pursuant to 13 section 54-1523 of the environmental conservation law. 14 (b) Loans may also be granted to individual property owners to provide 15 the financing for natural hazard mitigation projects such as wind retro- 16 fits, flood mitigation elevation and wet or dry flood-proofing projects, 17 fire mitigation retrofit projects, and earthquake retrofit mitigation 18 projects. These loans may be attached to property taxes, allowing for 19 the property to be sold so long as the new owner agrees to assume the 20 debt obligation. 21 (c) Loans provided under this section may be used to satisfy the non- 22 federal match for federal mitigation grants. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04446-01-3
S. 2837 2 1 3. (a) The division shall, taking into consideration requirements from 2 the STORM Act, establish application procedures and eligibility criteria 3 for loans from the resilient New York revolving loan fund established 4 pursuant to section ninety-nine-qq of the state finance law. The eligi- 5 bility criteria shall require that municipalities, not-for-profit organ- 6 izations, and individual property owner applicants demonstrate: 7 (1) A need for a loan to address hazard mitigation; and 8 (2) The ability to repay the loan, if required, at a later date. 9 (b) Loans provided pursuant to this section shall be for a fixed peri- 10 od. 11 (c) The loan program shall also provide graduated forgivability avail- 12 able to eligible individual property owner recipients that shall, at a 13 minimum: 14 (1) Provide full loan forgiveness for eligible households with income 15 between eighty percent and fifty percent of the area median income for 16 the area in which the property to which the loan applies, is located. 17 (2) Provide fifty percent loan forgiveness for eligible households 18 with income equal to eighty percent to one hundred percent of the area 19 median income for the area in which the property to which the loan 20 applies, is located. 21 (3) Provide additional forgivability percentages for households with 22 incomes not within those addressed in this paragraph may be applied by 23 the division based on: 24 i. the number of eligible individual recipients participating in the 25 program authorized under this section; 26 ii. the availability of funding; and 27 iii. any other factor that the division finds reasonable and neces- 28 sary. 29 4. Such program shall be in addition to any funds provided by the 30 federal government and expended or provided through the division for 31 disaster recovery and relief. 32 5. (a) The commissioner shall submit to FEMA an application for 33 capitalization grant funding, together with all required proposals and 34 information required pursuant to the STORM Act or regulations promulgat- 35 ed thereto. 36 (b) Upon approval of such application, the division shall enter into 37 an agreement with FEMA to deposit the capitalization grant funding into 38 the resilient New York revolving loan fund. 39 6. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have 40 the following meanings: 41 (a) "Capitalization grant" means funds provided by FEMA to the depart- 42 ment for the establishment of the resilient New York revolving loan fund 43 in accordance with the provisions of section 5135(f) of the STORM Act. 44 (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the division of homeland 45 security and emergency services. 46 (c) "Division" means the division of homeland security and emergency 47 services. 48 (d) "FEMA" means the federal emergency management administration. 49 (e) "STORM Act" means the federal "Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongo- 50 ing Risk Management Act", 42 U.S.C. section 5135 et seq., enacted by 51 public law 116-284, and approved on January first, two thousand twenty- 52 one. 53 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-qq to 54 read as follows: 55 § 99-qq. Resilient New York revolving loan fund. 1. There is hereby 56 established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the
S. 2837 3 1 commissioner of the division of homeland security and emergency services 2 a special fund to be known as the "resilient New York revolving loan 3 fund" to be administered in accordance with this section and section 4 twenty-nine-l of the executive law. 5 2. The fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for its purpose, 6 all moneys transferred to such fund pursuant to law, all money received 7 from FEMA under the STORM Act, any repayments of principal and interest 8 from the resilient New York revolving loan program administered pursuant 9 to section twenty-nine-l of the executive law, and all other moneys 10 required by this section or any other law to be paid into or credited to 11 this fund. 12 3. Moneys in such fund shall be kept separate from and shall not be 13 commingled with any other moneys in the custody of the comptroller or 14 the commissioner of taxation and finance. Any moneys of the fund not 15 required for immediate use may, at the discretion of the comptroller, in 16 consultation with the director of the budget, be invested by the comp- 17 troller in obligations of the United States or the state, or in obli- 18 gations the principal and interest on which are guaranteed by the United 19 States or by the state. Any income earned by the investment of such 20 moneys shall be added to and become a part of and shall be used for the 21 purposes of such fund. 22 4. Money expended from such fund shall be used to supplement and not 23 supplant or replace any other available recovery or relief funds, 24 including federal or state funding, which would otherwise have been 25 expended for reimbursement or appropriated to local governments for 26 natural hazard mitigation or resilience projects. 27 5. The monies of the fund shall be paid out, without appropriation, on 28 the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers certified or 29 approved by the commissioner of the division of homeland security and 30 emergency services as provided in section twenty-nine-l of the executive 31 law. The comptroller shall, in consultation with the commissioner of the 32 division of homeland security and emergency services, prescribe by regu- 33 lation the manner in which moneys of the fund shall be distributed to 34 eligible applicants. 35 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.