[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to establishing a fund to provide additional resources for emergencies and disasters; amending RCW 43.79A.040; adding new sections to chapter 38.52 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 48.14 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

(1) There is hereby created an account called the emergency management and hazard mitigation trust fund in the custody of the state treasurer. The account shall consist of amounts deposited into the account by the insurance commissioner as provided in section 2 of this act, other funds appropriated or deposited to the account, and income derived from the investment of moneys in the account. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

(2) The purpose of this account is to provide supplemental moneys:

(a) To focus on predisaster planning and preparedness, proactive and reactive mitigation, and response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters in order to reduce the impact of disasters on the state;

(b) To help to protect lives, property, and the environment from the risk and impact of natural hazards; and

(c) To promote the development of a standardized, trained, and adequately staffed and equipped state-wide emergency management and mitigation system for use by all state and local emergency management agencies.

(3) The account shall be used for risk-based all hazard planning, mitigation, training, public education and awareness programs, and disaster response, relief, and recovery. These moneys are intended to supplement and not supplant existing state and local fiscal resources dedicated to emergency management. Use of the account is intended to revitalize and improve upon the existing emergency management infrastructure throughout the state to effectively mitigate against the effects and cost of any disaster. The account shall be employed:

(a) To provide that all residents of the state are educated before, during, and after a disaster to protect themselves, their families, and their homes, businesses, and other private or public property;

(b) To encourage that structures, whether public or private, be designed, constructed, retrofitted, or refloated away from flood prone areas, in accordance with the most current life, safety, and property protection codes; and

(c) To strengthen state and local government and private sector emergency plans, training, mitigation, and resources for response and recovery from disaster.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 48.14 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The insurance commissioner is hereby authorized to make an annual assessment against each insurer doing business in the state on so much of the estimated business of any such company related to the insurance of real property in the form of an annual identifiable surcharge of five dollars imposed on every homeowner's, mobile homeowner's, tenant home renter's, and condominium unit owner's insurance policy and an annual identifiable surcharge of ten dollars imposed on every commercial fire, commercial multiple peril, and business owner's property insurance policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2000. The commissioner is authorized to reduce either surcharge by fifty percent for each policy that the insurer certifies is covered by flood insurance offered in accordance with the national flood insurance program administered by the federal emergency management agency.

(2) The commissioner is further authorized to establish a waiver program to exempt any policy from the surcharge for one or more years upon certification that significant mitigation measures have been implemented for the insured property that substantially reduce the risk posed by a natural hazard or hazards. This waiver program shall be established by rule in consultation with the emergency management council as provided in section 3(4) of this act.

(3) The commissioner shall, as soon as may be practicable after receipt of such surcharge from the companies, deposit the receipts in the emergency management and hazard mitigation trust fund established in section 1 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Of the annual amount available for disbursement from the emergency management and hazard mitigation trust fund established in section 1 of this act, the director shall provide that:

(a) Fifty percent shall be made available to implement and administer state and local emergency management programs, including training and public awareness, of which twenty-five percent, the state share, shall be used by the department and seventy-five percent, the local share, shall be allocated to local directors. Subject to the availability of sufficient funds in the state share, as determined by the department, the department shall appoint a full-time state hazard mitigation office and such full-time duty state hazard mitigation officers as may be needed to administer the mitigation program for each emergency management region of the state;

(b) Twenty percent shall be allocated to provide for state relief assistance for nonfederally declared disasters or the state share of federally declared disasters; and

(c) Thirty percent shall be made available for grants and loans to state or regional agencies or authorities, local governments, and local private nonprofit organizations to implement programs or projects that will further state and local emergency management objectives, of which fifty percent shall be dedicated to mitigation projects. These projects shall include proactive mitigation to reduce the risk from the impact of disaster, and reactive mitigation to reduce the effects of disasters based on past experience. Projects shall include, but need not be limited to, projects that will promote public education or awareness of disaster mitigation, improving land use planning, and developing or revising building codes that incorporate the latest available information on risk reduction from natural hazards. Programs and projects, other than those determined to be for mitigation, shall include, but need not be limited to, programs and projects that improve preparedness planning, enhancement, and coordination of relief efforts of state-wide private sector organization and improvement of training and operational capabilities of agencies assigned lead or support responsibilities in emergency management, including the state fire marshal's office for coordinating fire services.

(2) The department shall, by rule, establish criteria and procedures for the equitable allocation of funds as provided in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section, and shall establish criteria and procedures for competitive allocation of funds provided in subsection (1)(c) of this section. Not more than five percent of any award made under this section may be used for administrative expenses. The distribution formula provided in this section may be adjusted proportionally when necessary to meet any matching requirements imposed as a condition of receiving federal disaster relief assistance or planning funds.

(3) Whenever the amounts available under subsection (1)(b) of this section are insufficient to meet the estimated amounts needed to respond to and recover from any nonfederally declared disaster or to provide the state share in any federally declared disaster, the governor, in consultation with the director, shall seek additional funds adequate to meet the needs of such disaster, plus an amount equal to an additional fifteen percent of such funds to be utilized exclusively for mitigation. Within thirty days of the close of each fiscal year, any unexpended balance of funds allocated in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1)(b) of this section for nonfederally declared disasters or the state share of federally declared disasters, shall be made available for supplemental mitigation grants in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1)(c) of this section.

(4) The emergency management council created in RCW 38.52.040 shall assist the department with the development of the rules necessary for the administration of the account and the disbursement of any grants, loans, or other funds for programs and projects. The council shall also assist the insurance commissioner with the development of a certification program for mitigation waivers granted pursuant to section 2 of this act.

Sec. 4. RCW 43.79A.040 and 1998 c 268 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the state treasury.

(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust fund shall be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be known as the investment income account.

(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.

(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings credited to the investment income account to the state general fund except under (b) and (c) of this subsection.

(b) The following accounts and funds shall receive their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The Washington advanced college tuition payment program account, the agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment fund, the Washington international exchange scholarship endowment fund, the energy account, the fair fund, the game farm alternative account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the rural rehabilitation account, the stadium and exhibition center account, the youth athletic facility grant account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the sulfur dioxide abatement account, ((~~and~~)) the children's trust fund, and the emergency management and hazard mitigation trust fund. However, the earnings to be distributed shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.

(c) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The advanced right of way revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving account, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.

(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings without the specific affirmative directive of this section.