Sec. 16.454. HURRICANE HARVEY ACCOUNT. (a) The Hurricane Harvey account is an account in the resiliency fund.

(b) The board may use the account only to provide moneys to the Texas Division of Emergency Management for the division to provide financing for projects related to Hurricane Harvey. Financing under this section includes making a:

(1) grant to an eligible political subdivision to provide nonfederal matching funds to enable the subdivision to participate in a federal program for the participation in or development of:

(A) a hazard mitigation project, under guidelines issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Texas Division of Emergency Management or the successor in function to those entities;

(B) a public assistance project, under guidelines issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Texas Division of Emergency Management or the successor in function to those entities; or

(C) assistance under guidelines issued by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the United States Economic Development Administration, or the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the successor in function to those entities; and

(2) loan to an eligible political subdivision at or below market interest rates for the political subdivision's planning or design costs, permitting costs, construction costs, or other costs associated with state or federal regulatory activities with respect to a flood project.

(c) A grant or loan awarded under this section may not provide more than 75 percent of the portion of the cost of the project that is paid with money other than money from a federal program.

(d) In collaboration with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the board shall establish a point system for prioritizing flood projects other than public assistance grants for which money from the Hurricane Harvey account is sought. The system must include a standard for the board to apply in determining whether a flood project qualifies for funding at the time the application for funding is filed with the board.

(e) The Texas Division of Emergency Management shall give the highest consideration in awarding points to a flood project that will have a substantial effect, including a flood project that:

(1) is recommended or approved by the director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management or the successor in function to that entity; and

(2) meets an emergency need in a county where the governor has declared a state of disaster.

(f) After review and recommendation by the executive administrator and with input from the director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management or the successor in function to that entity, the Texas Division of Emergency Management may approve an application for financial assistance under this section only if the Texas Division of Emergency Management finds that:

(1) the application and assistance applied for meet the requirements of this subchapter and Texas Division of Emergency Management rules;

(2) the application demonstrates a sufficient level of cooperation among applicable political subdivisions and includes all of the political subdivisions substantially affected by the flood project; and

(3) the taxes or other revenue, or both the taxes and other revenue, pledged by the applicant, if applicable, will be sufficient to meet all the obligations assumed by the applicant.

(g) Principal and interest payments on loans made under Subsection (b)(2) may be deferred for not more than 10 years or until construction of the flood project is completed, whichever is the shorter period.

(h) Money from the account may be awarded to several eligible political subdivisions for a single flood project.

(i) An eligible political subdivision that receives a grant for a flood project also may receive a loan from the account.

(j) This section expires September 1, 2031. The remaining balance of the account on that date is transferred to the flood plan implementation account.

Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 947 (S.B. 7), Sec. 3.01, eff. June 13, 2019.