An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3819 By: Sims of the House
and
Rader of the Senate
An Act relating to rural hazard mitigatio n funding;
enacting the Oklahoma Disaster Mit igation and
Recovery Matching Fund Act; m aking appropriation to
the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Recovery
Matching Fund; stating amount; stat ing purposes;
imposing restrictions related to matching for federal
funds; providing for administration for fund;
creating accounts; providing for subaccounts;
authorizing use of fund s for certain unincorporated
areas; authorizing use of funds for benefit of
certain municipalities; prohibiting certain funds
transfers; prohibiting use of funds for payment of
administrative expenses; prescribing procedures for
certain entities to obtain funds; providing immunity
from certain liability; requiring development of
plans; defining term; identifying certain qualifying
hazards; requiring expenditure summary; providing
matching funds not required to obtain funding;
providing expenditure of funds in furtherance of
essential state government functions; providing for
noncodification; providing for codification;
providing an effective d ate; and declaring an
emergency.
SUBJECT: Rural hazard mitigation funding
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows: ENR. H. B. NO. 3819 Page 2
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma
Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Matching Fund Act".
SECTION 2. There is hereby appropriated to the Oklahoma
Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Matching Fund from any monies not
otherwise appropriated from the General Revenue Fund of the State
Treasury for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the sum of Five
Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) or so much thereof as may be
necessary to perform the duties imposed upon the Oklahoma Department
of Commerce by law.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new sect ion of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2021 of Title 62, unless there
is created a duplication in n umbering, reads as follows:
A. There is hereby established a fund within the State Treasury
to be known as the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Recovery
Matching Fund, to be administered by the Oklahoma Department of
Commerce. The fund shall be a continuing fund not subject t o fiscal
year limitations. Within the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and
Recovery Matching Fund there shall be es tablished separate accounts
as prescribed by Section 4 of this act into which shall be deposited
such funds as may be pro vided by law.
B. One of nine accounts shall be available to each entity
described in subsection A of Secti on 4 of this act.
C. One account shall be divided equally into two subaccounts.
One of the two subaccounts shall be available to each of the
entities described by subsection B of Section 4 of this act for
distribution to any city or town within the respe ctive jurisdiction
of the entity or for the benefit of an unincorporated area.
D. No funds deposited into one account or subaccount shall be
transferred to any other account. N o entity may access any more
than one account per fiscal year and the total expenditure from any
one account for each fiscal year may not exceed the amount of funds
available to each account as may be provided by law.
E. No monies in the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Recovery
Matching Fund shall be used for the payment of administrative
expenses, salaries, or any other continuing obligation of the
Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
ENR. H. B. NO. 3819 Page 3
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2022 of Title 62, unless there
is created a duplication in number ing, reads as follows:
A. A voluntary association of Oklahoma loc al governmental
jurisdictions or another legal entity, including a public trust or a
nonprofit corporation or other entity which performs functions for
the benefit of or which exists for the primary benefit of Oklahoma
local governmental jurisdictions and which is not described in
subsection B of this section, shall be eligible to obtain fu nding
for rural hazard mitigation projects as authorized by Section 5 of
this act.
B. A voluntary assoc iation of Oklahoma local governmental
jurisdictions containing at least one municipalit y with a population
in excess of three hundred fifty thousand (350,000) person s
according to the latest Federal Decennial Census shall be eligible
to obtain funding as authorized by Section 5 of this act.
C. The entities described in subsection A or B of this sect ion
and which are eligible for any funds authorized by Section 5 of this
act may make expenditures on behalf of any city or town using funds
deposited to the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Matching
Fund created by Section 3 of this act.
D. An organization des cribed in subsection A or B of t his
section shall be aut horized to make payment of funds obtained
pursuant to Section 5 of this act directly to a county if the funds
are used for the benefit of an unincorpo rated area located within
the county to which paym ent is made. After the county has provided
a request to an organization described in subsection A or B of this
section for funds to benefit an unincorporated area of the county,
together with a statement that the co unty has conducted a review of
the needs of unincorporated areas located within the county and t hat
the funding requested is consistent with the evaluation of
priorities for funds by t he county, the funds requested may be paid
to the county. Any funds pai d to a county pursuant to the
provisions of this subsection shall be expended by the county
exclusively for the purpose identified in the request and as
required by the provisions of t his act.
E. No county to which funds are paid pursuant to the provisions
of subsection D of this section shall be lia ble to any person or
other legal entity for damages arising out of any condition, act,
omission, or other cause alleged to have arisen as a result of a ENR. H. B. NO. 3819 Page 4
project upon which funds expended pursuant to the authority of
subsection D of this section were paid to the county.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2023 of Title 62, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The governing board of an entity described by subsection A
or B of Section 4 of this act shall develop a plan for the use of
available funds for providing matching amounts as required pursuant
to the terms of applicable federal law to obtain federal funds for
the prevention of damage or to repa ir damages caused by a qualifying
hazard within areas included within its respective jurisdiction.
For purposes of this act, "qualifying hazard" shall include, but
shall not be limited to, potential damage or actual damages caus ed
by any one or more of the following conditions or causes :
1. High winds;
2. Tornadoes;
3. Hail;
4. Rain;
5. Flooding;
6. Freezing rain or ice;
7. Heavy snow;
8. Wildfires;
9. Seismic disturbances; or
10. Other hazardous condition, whether naturally occurring or
resulting from manmade conditions, having the potential to cause or
having actually caused damage to public infrastructure assets and
for which federal funds may be available pursuant to a declaration
of a disaster by the Governor or purs uant to terms of federal la w.
B. Not later than July 31, ea ch entity described by Section 4
of this act shall transmit, in such electronic form as may be
prescribed by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for pur poses of
access to such information on th e website maintained by the ENR. H. B. NO. 3819 Page 5
Department, a summary of each p roject upon which matching funds
received by the entity from the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and
Recovery Matching Fund were expended during the f iscal year ending
on the June 30 date immediately preceding the July 31 reporting
date.
C. No entity which qualifies for funds pursuant to the
provisions of this act shall be required to provide matching funds
or to provide equivalent value in order to o btain available funds o r
funds for planning ex penditures from the Oklahoma Disaster
Mitigation and Recovery Matching Fund.
D. No funds allocated pursuant to the provisions of the
Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Rec overy Matching Fund Act shall be
used for any purpose other than to provide matching funds, available
through the federal government or other sources as authorized by
law, to maximize and leverage such available funding, and the funds
allocated pursuant to the provisions of this act shall not be used
for any direct expenditures on salaries, employee benefits,
acquisition of real or pe rsonal property, other than the availa ble
funding for which the allocated funds may be utilized, or any other
purpose.
SECTION 6. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2024 of Title 62, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The expenditures from the Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and
Recovery Matching Fund and other expenditures governed by this act,
if made in accordance with the requirements of this act, shall be
construed as an expenditure of publ ic funds in furtherance of
governmental functions and for the purpose of conferring general and
uniform benefits resulting from the expenditures upon the residents
and other legal entities located in areas subject to t he
jurisdiction of the entities descri bed in subsection A or B of
Section 4 of this act.
SECTION 7. This act shall become effective July 1, 2022.
SECTION 8. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
ENR. H. B. NO. 3819 Page 6
Passed the House of Representatives the 20th day of May, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 25th day of April, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Se nate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma th is _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________