Superseded 7/1/2023 53-2a-603. State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 53-2a-603
Agent of the state: means any representative of a state agency, local agency, or non-profit entity that agrees to provide support to a requesting intrastate or interstate government entity that has declared an emergency or disaster and has requested assistance through the division. See Utah Code 53-2a-602
Declared disaster: means one or more events:
(i)
within the state;
(ii)
that occur within a limited period of time;
(iii)
that involve:
(A)
a significant number of persons being at risk of bodily harm, sickness, or death; or
(B)
a significant portion of real property at risk of loss;
(iv)
that are sudden in nature and generally occur less frequently than every three years; and
(v)
that results in:
(A)
the president of the United States declaring an emergency or major disaster in the state;
(B)
the governor declaring a state of emergency under 2; or
(C)
the chief executive officer of a local government declaring a local emergency under 2. See Utah Code 53-2a-602
Disaster: means an event that:
(a)
causes, or threatens to cause, loss of life, human suffering, public or private property damage, or economic or social disruption resulting from attack, internal disturbance, natural phenomena, or technological hazard; and
(b)
requires resources that are beyond the scope of local agencies in routine responses to emergencies and accidents and may be of a magnitude or involve unusual circumstances that require response by government, not-for-profit, or private entities. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
Disaster recovery account: means the State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account created in Section 53-2a-603. See Utah Code 53-2a-602
procurement and distribution of food, water, or ice;
(K)
procurement and deployment of generators;
(L)
rescue or recovery;
(M)
emergency protective measures; or
(N)
services similar to those described in Subsections (2)(d)(i)(A) through (M), as defined by the division by rule, that are generally required in response to a declared disaster. See Utah Code 53-2a-602
Expenses: means actual labor costs of government and volunteer personnel, and materials. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
Local government: means :
(i)
a county;
(ii)
a city or town; or
(iii)
a special district or special service district that:
(A)
operates a water system;
(B)
provides transportation service;
(C)
provides, operates, and maintains correctional and rehabilitative facilities and programs for municipal, state, and other detainees and prisoners;
(D)
provides consolidated 911 and emergency dispatch service;
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
State of emergency: means a condition in any part of this state that requires state government emergency assistance to supplement the local efforts of the affected political subdivision to save lives and to protect property, public health, welfare, or safety in the event of a disaster, or to avoid or reduce the threat of a disaster. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
(a)
There is created a restricted account in the General Fund known as the “State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account.”
(b)
The disaster recovery account consists of:
(i)
money deposited into the disaster recovery account in accordance with Section 63J-1-314;
(ii)
money appropriated to the disaster recovery account by the Legislature; and
(iii)
any other public or private money received by the division that is:
(A)
given to the division for purposes consistent with this section; and
(B)
deposited into the disaster recovery account at the request of:
(I)
the division; or
(II)
the person or entity giving the money.
(c)
The Division of Finance shall deposit interest or other earnings derived from investment of account money into the General Fund.
(2)
Money in the disaster recovery account may only be expended or committed to be expended as follows:
(a)
(i)
subject to Section 53-2a-606, in any fiscal year the division may expend or commit to expend an amount that does not exceed $500,000, in accordance with Section 53-2a-604, to fund costs to the state of emergency disaster services in response to a declared disaster;
(ii)
subject to Section 53-2a-606, in any fiscal year the division may expend or commit to expend an amount that exceeds $500,000, but does not exceed $3,000,000, in accordance with Section 53-2a-604, to fund costs to the state of emergency disaster services in response to a declared disaster if the division:
(A)
before making the expenditure or commitment to expend, obtains approval for the expenditure or commitment to expend from the governor;
(B)
subject to Subsection (5), provides written notice of the expenditure or commitment to expend to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president of the Senate, the Division of Finance, the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, the Legislative Management Committee, and the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst no later than 72 hours after making the expenditure or commitment to expend; and
(C)
makes the report required by Subsection 53-2a-606(2);
(iii)
subject to Section 53-2a-606, in any fiscal year the division may expend or commit to expend an amount that exceeds $3,000,000, but does not exceed $5,000,000, in accordance with Section 53-2a-604, to fund costs to the state of emergency disaster services in response to a declared disaster if, before making the expenditure or commitment to expend, the division:
(A)
obtains approval for the expenditure or commitment to expend from the governor; and
(B)
submits the expenditure or commitment to expend to the Executive Appropriations Committee in accordance with Subsection 53-2a-606(3);
(iv)
in any fiscal year the division may expend or commit to expend an amount that does not exceed $500,000 to fund expenses incurred by the National Guard if:
(A)
in accordance with Section 39A-3-103, the governor orders into active service the National Guard in response to a declared disaster; and
(B)
the money is not used for expenses that qualify for payment as emergency disaster services; and
(v)
in any fiscal year, the division may expend an amount that does not exceed $750,000 to fund expenses incurred to develop or enhance emergency management capabilities if:
(A)
the money is used for personnel, equipment, supplies, contracts, training, exercises, or other expenses deemed reasonable and necessary to:
(I)
promote and strengthen the state’s level of resiliency through mitigation, preparedness, response, or recovery activities; or
(II)
meet federal grant matching requirements; and
(B)
the disaster recovery account has a balance of funds available to be utilized while maintaining a minimum balance of $5,000,000;
(b)
money not described in Subsections (2)(a)(i), (ii), and (iii) may be expended or committed to be expended to fund costs to the state directly related to a declared disaster that are not costs related to:
(i)
emergency disaster services;
(ii)
emergency preparedness; or
(iii)
notwithstanding whether a county participates in the Wildland Fire Suppression Fund created in Section 65A-8-204, any fire suppression or presuppression costs that may be paid for from the Wildland Fire Suppression Fund if the county participates in the Wildland Fire Suppression Fund;
(c)
to fund:
(i)
the Local Government Emergency Response Loan Fund created in Section 53-2a-607; and
(ii)
the Response, Recovery, and Post-disaster Mitigation Restricted Account created in Section 53-2a-1302;
(d)
the division may provide advanced funding from the disaster recovery account to recognized agents of the state when:
(i)
Utah has agreed, through the division, to enact the Emergency Management Assistance Compact with another member state that has requested assistance during a declared disaster;
(ii)
Utah agrees to provide resources to the requesting member state;
(iii)
the agent of the state who represents the requested resource has no other funding source available at the time of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact request; and
(iv)
the disaster recovery account has a balance of funds available to be utilized while maintaining a minimum balance of $5,000,000; and
(e)
to fund up to $500,000 for the governor’s emergency appropriations described in Subsection 63J-1-217(4).
(3)
All funding provided in advance to an agent of the state and subsequently reimbursed shall be credited to the account.
Except as provided in Subsections (1) and (2), the money in the disaster recovery account may not be diverted, appropriated, expended, or committed to be expended for a purpose that is not listed in this section.
(b)
Notwithstanding Section 63J-1-410, the Legislature may not appropriate money from the disaster recovery account to eliminate or otherwise reduce an operating deficit if the money appropriated from the disaster recovery account is expended or committed to be expended for a purpose other than one listed in this section.
(c)
The Legislature may not amend the purposes for which money in the disaster recovery account may be expended or committed to be expended except by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house.
(6)
The division:
(a)
shall provide the notice required by Subsection (2)(a)(ii) using the best available method under the circumstances as determined by the division; and
(b)
may provide the notice required by Subsection (2)(a)(ii) in electronic format.
