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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 222
April 3, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives OLDENBURG, NOVAK, SHANKLAND,
SPIROS, KRUG, GREEN, MURSAU, KURTZ, EDMING, KITCHENS, ANDRACA, BALDEH,
CONLEY, BEHNKE, RETTINGER, PALMERI, SUBECK, JOERS and BILLINGS,
cosponsored by Senators QUINN, COWLES, CABRAL-GUEVARA, TESTIN, JACQUE,
WIMBERGER, JAMES and SPREITZER. Referred to Committee on Local
Government.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to create 323.63 of the statutes; relating to: a pre-disaster flood
resilience grant program.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires the Division of Emergency Management (division) in the
Department of Military Affairs to create and administer a pre-disaster flood
resilience grant program. Under the program, the division may provide assessment
or implementation grants for projects aimed at identifying and improving flood
vulnerabilities and resilience priorities in local governmental units. “Local
governmental unit” is defined in the bill to mean a city, village, town, county, regional
planning commission, or federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this
state. The division may award to a grant applicant up to $300,000 per assessment
grant, and $250,000 per implementation grant. The program grants may cover up
to 75 percent of the total anticipated project cost, and the applicant must detail from
where it will source the remaining funding.
Under the bill, the division may only consider applications for a grant under the
program if one of the following applies: 1) the application is for a project area that
was the site of a presidentially declared disaster for flooding at any time in the 10
years preceding the grant cycle; 2) the application is for a project area that was the
site of a governor-declared state of emergency for flooding at any time in the 10 years
preceding the grant cycle; or 3) the application is for a local governmental unit that
has a division-approved hazard mitigation plan that identifies localized exposure to
flood risk. The division may consult with other state agencies regarding the
administration of the program or the review of grant applicants.
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Under the bill, persons awarded a grant under the pre-disaster flood resilience
grant program must spend all of the program's grant moneys received within two
years of receiving the grant moneys, and within 90 days of project completion must
provide to the division a report regarding a summary of the project's goals, activities
conducted with grant moneys, and data demonstrating project goals to date. No later
than July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the division shall submit a report to the
governor and appropriate standing committees of the legislature that describes
program activities and accomplishments of the preceding year, lists the grant
recipients and grants awarded, and makes a recommendation on program
continuation and funding levels. However, no report is required for any year that the
program is not funded.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 323.63 of the statutes is created to read:
323.63 Pre-disaster flood resilience grant program. (1) DEFINITIONS. In
this section:
(a) “Assessment grant” means a grant awarded under sub. (3).
(b) “Implementation grant” means a grant awarded under sub. (4).
(c) “Local governmental unit” means any city, village, town, county, regional
planning commission, or federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this
state.
(d) “Program” means the pre-disaster flood resilience grant program described
in sub. (2) (a).
(2) CREATION AND ADMINISTRATION. (a) The division shall create and administer
a pre-disaster flood resilience grant program to provide grants to applicants for the
purpose of identifying flood vulnerabilities, identifying options to improve flood
resiliency, and restoring hydrology in order to reduce flood risk and damages in
flood-prone communities.
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(b) The program shall provide grants as described in subs. (3) and (4), and shall
establish an annual grant cycle.
(c) In each fiscal biennium, for each dollar the program awards for an
assessment grant under sub. (3), the program may award no more than 67 percent
of a dollar for an implementation grant under sub. (4).
(3) ASSESSMENT GRANTS. (a) Assessment grants awarded under this subsection
shall support applicants' generation and gathering of information on vulnerabilities
and identification of flood resilience priorities on a watershed, catchment, or stream
reach-scale through one or more of the following activities:
1. Assessments aimed at understanding flood flows and erosion hazards and
vulnerabilities and identifying opportunities to increase flood resilience, including
opportunities to restore wetland, stream, and floodplain hydrology.
2. Development of culvert inventories using the Great Lakes Stream Crossing
Inventory, or using another road-stream crossing inventory method that considers
structural risk factors, aquatic organism passage, and upstream hydrologic
conditions, and that is at least as effective as the Great Lakes Stream Crossing
Inventory.
3. Conducting hydrologic and hydraulic studies that help develop hydrologic
models.
(b) Data generated from activities under par. (a) may not be deemed proprietary
and shall be provided to entities that develop local hazard mitigation plans.
(c) The division may award an assessment grant of up to $300,000 for any
combination of activities enumerated in par. (a). An assessment grant awarded
under this subsection shall be for a maximum of 75 percent of the total anticipated
project cost, and the assessment grant recipient shall secure the remaining funding.
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The remaining funding secured by the assessment grant recipient or local
governmental unit may include the value of in-kind contributions, including goods
and services and administrative costs.
(d) An assessment grant application shall include the following information:
1. Written documentation from the local governmental unit's main
decision-authorizing body indicating that the body has authorized the local
governmental unit's participation in the grant project.
2. Written documentation from the local governmental unit's body responsible
for expending the local governmental unit's funds indicating the body of the local
governmental unit's commitment or intention to expend funds or provide in-kind
contributions for the grant project.
3. Information detailing all sources of funding for the project that will not be
covered by the grant award under this subsection.
(4) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. (a) Implementation grants awarded under this
subsection shall be used for implementation of hydrologic restoration projects that
have been either identified or designed through an activity specified under sub. (3)
(a), or through a comparable assessment process, as determined by the division.
Implementation grants awarded under this subsection shall support the regulatory
coordination, engineering and design, construction, or post-construction monitoring
of an applicant's hydrologic restoration project that reconnects streams and
floodplains, reestablishes healthy channel form and condition, mitigates erosion
hazards, removes or reduces wetland drainage, restores or improves natural flow
and movement of water or sediment, or reestablishes vegetation to support site
stability and help manage flow and infiltration.
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(b) The maximum amount of an implementation grant award under this
subsection shall be $250,000. An implementation grant awarded under this
subsection shall be for a maximum of 75 percent of the total anticipated project cost,
and the implementation grant recipient shall secure the remaining funding. The
remaining funding secured by the assessment grant recipient or local governmental
unit may include the value of in-kind contributions, including goods and services
and administrative costs.
(c) An implementation grant application shall include the following
information:
1. Written documentation from the local governmental unit's main
decision-authorizing body indicating that the body has authorized the local
governmental unit's participation in the grant project.
2. Written documentation from the local governmental unit's body responsible
for expending the local governmental unit's funds indicating the body of the local
governmental unit's commitment or intention to expend funds or provide in-kind
contributions for the grant project.
3. Information detailing all sources of funding for the project that will not be
covered by the grant award under this subsection.
(5) ELIGIBILITY. (a) The following persons are eligible to apply for a grant under
this section:
1. One or more local governmental units.
2. A nonprofit organization applying on behalf of one or more local
governmental units.
3. A private consulting organization applying on behalf of one or more local
governmental units.
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(b) The division may consider an application for a grant under this section only
if one of the following applies:
1. The application includes in its project area an area that has been the site of
a presidentially declared disaster for flooding at any time in the 10 years preceding
the applicable grant cycle.
2. The application includes in its project area an area that has previously been
the site of a governor-issued state of emergency for flooding at any time in the 10
years preceding the applicable grant cycle.
3. The application is for a local governmental unit that has a division-approved
hazard mitigation plan that identifies localized exposure to flood risk.
(6) GRANT RECIPIENT REQUIREMENTS. (a) 1. A grant recipient shall spend all of
the grant money received from the program under this section on the project
described in the grant application within 2 years of receiving the grant money.
2. Notwithstanding subd. 1., the division may extend the time by which a grant
recipient shall spend all of the grant money received from the program under this
section to match a timeline requirement of a federal grant.
(b) A grant recipient shall provide to the division a report within 90 days of
completion of the grant project, or 2 years after receiving the grant money, whichever
occurs first. The report shall summarize project goals, activities conducted with the
grant, and data and other observations demonstrating progress-to-date toward
project goals.
(7) POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The division shall develop methods for evaluating
grant applications and shall consider all of the following in evaluating a grant
application:
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1. The extent to which the project area has been subject to, or is upstream from
areas that have been subject to, repetitive flooding and erosion damage.
2. The extent to which the project demonstrates a cost-effective basis for the
proposed actions.
3. The extent to which the project has a clear plan for demonstrating
measurable results.
4. For assessment grant applications, the extent to which the project will
generate data useful for updates to hazard mitigation plans, land and water resource
management plans, or other local watershed plans or priorities.
5. Other criteria that help prioritize projects with the most beneficial impacts,
as developed by the division.
(b) The division shall establish by policy grant application requirements,
including requirements relating to project narratives, scopes of work, budgeting
information, supporting documentation, and project timelines.
(c) The division may consult with other state agencies on the administration
of the program or the review of grant applications.
(d) The division shall make publicly available on the division's website each
report received under sub. (6) (b).
(e) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., no later than July 1, 2024, and annually
thereafter, the division shall submit a report to the governor and the appropriate
standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3). The report shall describe
program activities and accomplishments of the preceding fiscal year, list the grant
recipients and grants awarded, and make a recommendation on program
continuation and funding levels.
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2. A report under subd. 1. is not required in any year in which there are no
moneys appropriated to the department for the grant programs under this section
for the preceding fiscal year and all moneys that have been appropriated to the
department for the grant programs under this section in any previous fiscal year
have been expended and have previously been the subject of a report under subd. 1.
(END)
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