2009 California Government Code - Section 8685-8687.8 :: Article 4. Allocations To Local Agencies

8685.  From any moneys appropriated for that purpose, and subject to
the conditions specified in this article, the director shall
allocate funds to meet the cost of any one or more projects as
defined in Section 8680.4. Applications by school districts shall be
submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for review and
approval, in accordance with instructions or regulations developed by
the Office of Emergency Services, prior to the allocation of funds
by the director.
   Moneys appropriated for the purposes of this chapter may be used
to provide financial assistance for the following local agency and
state costs:
   (a) Local agency personnel costs, equipment costs, and the cost of
supplies and materials used during disaster response activities,
incurred as a result of a state of emergency proclaimed by the
Governor, excluding the normal hourly wage costs of employees engaged
in emergency work activities.
   (b) To repair, restore, reconstruct, or replace facilities
belonging to local agencies damaged as a result of disasters as
defined in Section 8680.3. Mitigation measures performed pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 8686.4 shall qualify for funding pursuant
to this chapter.
   (c) Matching fund assistance for cost sharing required under
federal disaster assistance programs, as otherwise eligible under
this act.
   (d) Indirect administrative costs and any other assistance deemed
necessary by the director.
   (e) Necessary and required site preparation costs for mobilehomes,
travel trailers, and other manufactured housing units provided and
operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

8685.2.  An allocation may be made to a local agency for a project
when, within 10 days after the actual occurrence of a disaster, the
local agency has proclaimed a local emergency and that proclamation
is acceptable to the director or upon the order of the Governor when
a state of emergency proclamation has been issued, and if the
Legislature has appropriated money for allocation for purposes of
this chapter.

8685.4.  A local agency shall make application to the director for
state financial assistance within 60 days after the date of the
proclamation of a local emergency. The director may extend the time
for this filing only under unusual circumstances. No financial aid
shall be provided until a state agency, upon the request of the
director, has first investigated and reported upon the proposed work,
has estimated the cost of the work, and has filed its report with
the director within 60 days from the date the local agency made
application, unless the director extends the time because of unusual
circumstances. The estimate of cost of the work may include
expenditures made by the local agency for the work prior to the
making of the estimate. If the reporting state agency fails to report
its findings within the 60-day period, and time is not extended by
the director, the director may complete the investigation and recover
a proportionate amount allocated to the state agency for the balance
of the investigation. "Unusual circumstances," as used above, are
unavoidable delays that result from recurrence of a disaster,
prolonged severe weather within a one-year period, or other
conditions beyond the control of the applicant. Delays resulting from
administrative procedures are not unusual circumstances which
warrant extensions of time.

8685.6.  No money shall be allocated for a project until the local
agency has indicated in writing its acceptance of the project
proposal and the cost-sharing related thereto in such form as the
director prescribes. The project proposal shall provide for the
performance of the work by the local agency, or by the state agency
in whose area of responsibility such work falls, if the local agency
and such state agency determine that the work should be performed by
the state agency. The project proposal shall also provide for the
methods of handling the funds allocated and the matching funds
provided by the local agency. It shall also contain such other
provisions as are deemed necessary to assure completion of the work
included in the project and the proper expenditure of funds as
provided herein.

8685.7.  Any work performed by a state agency at the request of a
local agency shall be agreed upon in writing and be subject to the
State Contract Act. Work performed by a local agency shall be subject
to the law governing the performance of that work by the local
agency and applicable state and federal laws or regulations. Neither
the state nor any officer or employee thereof shall have any
responsibility in connection with any work performed by a local
agency.

8685.8.  Under procedures to be prescribed by the director, a local
agency may receive an advance of funds to initiate a project. Such
advances shall be limited to not more than 90 percent of the
estimated state's share of the project, as determined pursuant to
Section 8686.

8685.9.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including
Section 8686, for any eligible project, the state share shall not
exceed 75 percent of total state eligible costs unless the local
agency is located within a city, county, or city and county that has
adopted a local hazard mitigation plan in accordance with the federal
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-390) as part of the safety
element of its general plan adopted pursuant to subdivision (g) of
Section 65302. In that situation, the Legislature may provide for a
state share of local costs that exceeds 75 percent of total state
eligible costs.

8686.  (a) For any eligible project, the state share shall amount to
no more than 75 percent of total state eligible costs.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the state share shall be up
to 100 percent of total state eligible costs connected with the
following events:
   (1) The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake.
   (2) The October 20, 1991, East Bay fire.
   (3) The fires that occurred in southern California from October 1,
1993, to November 30, 1993, inclusive.
   (4) The January 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake.
   (5) Storms that occurred in California during the periods
commencing January 3, 1995, and February 13, 1995, as specified in
agreements between this state and the United States for federal
financial assistance.
   (6) The storms that occurred in California in December of 1996 and
early January of 1997, as specified in agreements between this state
and the United States for federal financial assistance.
   (7) The winter storms and flooding that occurred from February 1,
1998, to April 30, 1998, inclusive, as specified in agreements
between this state and the United States for federal financial
assistance.
   (8) The wildfires that occurred in southern California commencing
October 21, 2003, as specified in agreements between this state and
the United States for federal financial assistance.
   (9) The December 22, 2003, San Simeon earthquake, as specified in
agreements between this state and the United States for federal
financial assistance.
   (10) The severe storms, flooding, debris flows, and mudslides that
occurred during December 27, 2004, to January 11, 2005, inclusive,
in southern California, as specified in agreements between this state
and the United States for federal financial assistance.
   (11) The severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mud and debris
flows that occurred in southern California during the period from
February 16 to February 23, 2005, inclusive, as specified in
agreements between this state and the United States for federal
financial assistance.
   (12) The severe storms, flooding, mudslides, and landslides that
occurred in northern California during the period from December 17,
2005, to January 3, 2006, inclusive, as specified in agreements
between this state and the United States for federal financial
assistance.
   (13) The severe storms and flooding that occurred in northern and
central California during the period from March 29, 2006, to April
16, 2006, inclusive, as specified in agreements between this state
and the United States for federal financial assistance.
   (c) For any federally declared disaster subsequent to January 1,
1995, that the Legislature has designated in subdivision (b), the
state shall assume the increased share specified in subdivision (b)
in those cases where the Federal Emergency Management Agency or
another applicable federal agency has approved the federal share of
costs.
   (d) The state shall make no allocation for any project application
resulting in a state share of less than two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) under this section.

8686.1.  (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 8686, the
state share shall be up to 100 percent of total state eligible costs
connected with the Middle River levee break in San Joaquin County
that occurred in June 2004.
   (b) For the disaster that the Legislature has designated in
subdivision (a), the state shall assume the increased share specified
in subdivision (a) if the Federal Emergency Management Agency or
another applicable federal agency has approved the federal share of
costs.
   (c) The state shall make no allocation for any project application
resulting in a state share of less than two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) under this section.

8686.2.  When the United States or any agency thereof is to provide
disaster relief funds for any portion of the cost of a project, the
amount so provided shall be deducted from the cost of the project in
determining the amount to be allocated by the state and the amount to
be contributed by the local agency under Section 8686. It shall not
be required that the disaster relief funds to be provided from
federal sources shall be paid into the State Treasury, but the
director shall, if state funds are available, authorize the work to
be commenced when the director has received assurance, adequate in
his or her opinion, that the federal disaster relief matching funds
will be made available for expenditure for the work, or for payment
to the state for performance thereof.

8686.3.  Local agencies shall undertake to recover maximum federal
participation in funding projects. No funds allocated under this
chapter shall be used to supplant federal funds otherwise available
in the absence of state financial relief. State contributions for
such projects as determined by Section 8686 will be reduced by an
amount equal to the amount local agencies would have recovered from
federal disaster relief sources if they had applied for that funding
and had executed the eligible projects in conformity with federal
requirements. When a local agency applies for federal disaster relief
funds, the director shall inform the agency of available state
funds.

8686.4.  (a) Whenever the local agency and the director determine
for projects that the general public and state interest will be
better served by replacing a damaged or destroyed facility with a
facility that will more adequately serve the present and future
public needs than would be accomplished merely by repairing or
restoring the damaged or destroyed facility, the director shall
authorize the replacement, including, in the case of a public
building, an increase in the square footage of the building replaced,
but the cost of the betterment of the facility, to the extent that
it exceeds the cost of repairing or restoring the damaged or
destroyed facility, shall be borne and contributed by the local
agency, and the excess cost shall be excluded in determining the
amount to be allocated by the state. The state contribution shall not
exceed the net cost of restoring each facility on the basis of the
design of the facility as it existed immediately prior to the
disaster in conformity with current codes, specifications, and
standards.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), when the director determines
there are mitigation measures that are cost effective and that
substantially reduce the risk of future damage, hardship, loss, or
suffering in any area where a state of emergency has been proclaimed
by the Governor, the director may authorize the implementation of
those measures.

8686.8.  If the director determines that a local agency is
financially unable to meet the matching requirements set forth in
Section 8686, or unable to provide funds for replacement of a
facility pursuant to Section 8686.4, the director may, if that loan
would not result in a violation of Section 18 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution and out of any state money made available for
purposes of this chapter, lend funds, for the completion of a
project or projects. The local agency shall be required by the
director to make its contribution by means of deferred payments. The
deferred payments shall be made in the amounts and at the times
provided by the agreement executed in connection with the
application, but in any event providing full repayment within 10
years, and shall include a charge to be fixed by the director in an
amount estimated by him or her to equal the revenue that the state
would have derived by investing the total amounts loaned at the
interest rate prevailing for legal state investments as of the date
of the loan.

8687.  Deferred payments made by a local agency pursuant to Section
8686.8 shall be made by the agency:
   (a) Out of the current revenues of the local agency.
   (b) If the current revenues of a city, county, or city and county,
prove insufficient to enable the agency to meet the payments, the
director may order the State Controller to withhold from the local
agency funds that the local agency would be entitled from the state,
including, as to street and highway projects as defined by Sections
590 and 592 of the Vehicle Code, from the Motor Vehicle License Fee
Fund to the extent necessary to meet the deficiency.
   Those sums shall be credited to the funds in the State Treasury
from which the loans were made.

8687.2.  Notwithstanding Section 8686, whenever the director
determines that a local agency to which funds are proposed to be
allocated for a public facilities project is financially unable to
meet the matching requirements set forth in Section 8686 due to
exhaustion of its financial resources because of disaster
expenditures, the provisions of Section 8686 may be suspended, and
the director may allocate funds to pay all of the cost of the project
or that portion of the cost which the director determines is
necessary to accomplish the project, taking into consideration the
financial ability of the local agency to meet the matching
requirements of Section 8686 and the public benefit of the proposed
work, less any money provided by the United States or any agency
thereof for any portion of the cost of the project.

8687.4.  Whenever the director determines that a local agency which
would otherwise be eligible for funds under the formula of Section
8686 is unable to finance a project due to exhaustion of its
financial resources because of disaster expenditures, the director
may allocate funds to pay such portion of the cost of the project as
the director determines is necessary to accomplish the projects.

8687.6.  If the local agency, under Section 8687.4, is a county, the
amount contributed by the county shall not be reduced to less than
an amount of money equal to the amount allocated to the county for
the fiscal year prior to the disaster proclamation pursuant to
Section 2110.5 of the Streets and Highways Code.

8687.7.  (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Community" means a geographic area impacted by an emergency
proclaimed by the Governor that includes the jurisdiction of one or
more local agencies.
   (2) "Community recovery partners" means local, state, and federal
agencies, private nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental agencies,
faith-based organizations, and other private entities.
   (b) The office may establish a model process that would be made
available to assist a community in recovering from an emergency
proclaimed by the Governor. The model process may include the
following:
   (1) The role of the office in the community recovery process.
   (2) Procedures for the office to have representation onsite as
soon as practicable after the Governor proclaims a state of
emergency.
   (3) The role of the office to facilitate the use of temporary
services, including, but not limited to, direct assistance to
individuals, families, and businesses, crisis counseling, disaster
unemployment assistance, food and clothing vouchers, communications
systems, replacement of personal identification documents, provision
of potable water, housing, farm service assistance, tax relief,
insurance, and legal services.
   (4) The role of the office to facilitate the establishment of
temporary structures, including local assistance centers, showers and
bathroom facilities, and temporary administrative offices.
   (5) Measures to encourage the participation of nongovernmental
organizations in the community recovery process to supplement
recovery activities undertaken by federal or local agencies.
   (6) The office may refer the model process to the standardized
Emergency Management System (SEMS) Advisory Board, or any other
advisory board it deems appropriate, for review and modifications.
   (7) It is the intent of the Legislature that the model process
assists and complements local procedures. The model process should
allow the office to offer additional assistance when that assistance
is needed but not available through local agencies.

8687.8.  If the local agency, under Section 8687.4, is a county, the
director, in determining whether the county's financial resources
are exhausted, shall ascertain whether the county has levied, during
the then current year (the year of the disaster), the maximum
property tax for highway purposes authorized by Section 1550 of the
Streets and Highways Code in the road district in which the work is
proposed, and if such tax is being levied at less than the maximum
rate authorized by Section 1550, the amount to be allocated by the
director under this section shall be reduced by an amount equivalent
to the difference between the revenue derived from the property tax
being levied for highway purposes in such road district and the
revenue which would have been derived from such tax at the maximum
rate authorized by Section 1550. In determining if a county has
levied sufficient taxes, amounts to be received from other taxes
levied by that county and used for road purposes shall be included.