HB 751

            
2020 SESSION


20106847D

HOUSE BILL NO. 751

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and
Natural Resources

on January 29, 2020)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Jones)

A BILL to amend and reenact �� 10.1-603.24 and 10.1-603.25 of
the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund;
loans.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That �� 10.1-603.24 and 10.1-603.25 of the Code of Virginia
are amended and reenacted as follows:

Article 1.3.

Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Community Flood
Preparedness Fund.

� 10.1-603.24. Definitions.

As used in this article, unless the context requires a
different meaning:

"Authority" means the Virginia Resources Authority.

"Cost," as applied to any project financed under the
provisions of this article, means the total of all costs incurred by the local
government as reasonable and necessary for carrying out all works and
undertakings necessary or incident to the accomplishment of any project.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of
Emergency Management Conservation and Recreation.

"Flood prevention or protection project" means
the construction of a hazard mitigation project, acquisition of land, or implementation
of land use controls that reduce or mitigate damage from coastal or riverine
flooding.

"Flood prevention or protection study" means the
conduct of a hydraulic or hydrologic study of a flood plain with historic and
predicted floods, the assessment of flood risk, and the development of
strategies to prevent or mitigate damage from coastal or riverine flooding.

"Fund" means the Virginia Shoreline Resiliency
Community Flood Preparedness Fund created pursuant to � 10.1-603.25.

"Local government" means any county, city, town,
municipal corporation, authority, district, commission, or political
subdivision created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution of
Virginia or laws of the Commonwealth.

"Low-income geographic area" means any locality,
or community within a locality, that has a median household income that is not
greater than 80 percent of the state median household income, or any area in
the Commonwealth designated as a qualified opportunity zone by the U.S.
Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

"Nature-based solution" means an approach that
reduces the impacts of flood and storm events through the use of environmental
processes and natural systems. A nature-based solution may provide additional
benefits beyond flood control, including recreational opportunities and
improved water quality.

� 10.1-603.25. Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund;
loan and grant program.

There shall be set apart a permanent and perpetual fund, to
be known as the A. The Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Fund,
consisting of such is hereby continued in the state treasury as a
special nonreverting fund to be known as the Virginia Community Flood
Preparedness Fund. The Fund shall be established on the books of the
Comptroller. All sums that may be appropriated to the Fund by the General
Assembly, all receipts by the Fund from the repayment of loans made by
it to local governments, all income from the investment of moneys held in the
Fund, and any other sums designated for deposit to the Fund from any source,
public or private, including any federal grants and awards or other forms of
assistance received by the Commonwealth that are eligible for deposit in the
Fund under federal law, shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to
the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be
credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon,
at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall
remain in the Fund. The Fund shall be administered by the Department as
prescribed in this article. The Department shall establish guidelines regarding
the distribution of loans from the Fund and prioritization of such loans.

B. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes
of enhancing flood prevention or protection and coastal resilience as required
by this article. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by
the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request
signed by the Executive Director of the Authority. The Authority shall
manage the Fund and shall establish interest rates and repayment terms of such
loans as provided in this article. The Authority may disburse from the Fund its
reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the management of the Fund.

C. The Fund shall be administered by the Department as
prescribed in this article. The Department, in consultation with the Secretary
of Natural Resources and the Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal
Adaptation and Protection, shall establish guidelines regarding the
distribution and prioritization of loans and grants, including loans and grants
that support flood prevention or protection studies of statewide or regional
significance.

D. Localities shall use moneys from the Fund primarily
for the purpose of creating a low-interest loan program to help residents
and businesses implementing flood prevention and protection projects and
studies in areas that are subject to recurrent flooding as confirmed by a
locality-certified floodplain manager. Moneys in the Fund may be used to
mitigate future flood damage and to assist inland and coastal communities
across the Commonwealth that are subject to recurrent or repetitive flooding.
Priority shall be given to projects that implement community-scale hazard
mitigation activities and use nature-based solutions to reduce flood risk.

E. Any locality is authorized to secure a loan made
through such a low-interest loan program pursuant to this section by
placing a lien up to the value of the loan against any property that benefits
from the loan. Such a lien shall be subordinate to each prior lien on such
property, except prior liens for which the prior lienholder executes a written
subordination agreement, in a form and substance acceptable to the prior
lienholder in its sole and exclusive discretion, that is recorded in the land
records where the property is located.

F. Any locality using moneys in the Fund to provide a loan
for a project in a low-income geographic area is authorized to forgive the
principal of such loan. The total amount of loans forgiven by all localities in
a fiscal year shall not exceed 30 percent of the amount appropriated in such
fiscal year to the Fund by the General Assembly.

2. That any moneys in the Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Fund
as created by Chapter 762 of the Acts of Assembly of 2016 shall remain in the
Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund pursuant to � 10.1-603.25 of the
Code of Virginia as amended and reenacted by this act.