Texas Register
(29 TexReg 1761).
The amendments establish the standards and procedures by which the Office
will allocate and distribute 2004 fiscal years' funds under the disaster relief
fund, urgent need fund, colonia fund, small towns environment fund and fiscal
year 2003 funds under the housing infrastructure fund. The two new sections
establish the standards and procedures by which the Office will allocate and
distribute funds under the microenterprise fund and the small business fund.
The amendments are being adopted to make changes to the application and selection
criteria for the program fund categories and to establish application and
selection criteria for the two new sections.
Section 255.5, at subsection (a) is adopted with the addition of the word
"unencumbered" placed before the word reserve in the second to last sentence.
The sentence will now read as follows: "In other words, the community may
only apply to the Office for funding of those activities for which local funds
are not available, i.e., the entity has less than six months of unencumbered
reserve funds available in its balance as evidenced by the last available
audit as required by state statute, or assistance from other sources is not
available." This change is made to describe the actual intended requirement
for the availability of local funds. The change described here is the only
change to the proposed text for §255.5.
No written comments were received on the amendments to §§255.1,
255.5, 255.6, 255.9, 255.10, 255.11, or for the two §§255.12 and
255.13.
The amendments and new sections are adopted under §487.052
of the Government Code, which provides the Office of Rural Community Affairs
with the authority to adopt rules implementing its statutory responsibilities.
The Texas Administrative Code, Title 10, Part 6, Chapter 255, is affected
by the adoption of the amendments to §§255.1, 255.5, 255.6, 255.9,
255.10, 255.11 and the adoption of new §§255.12 and 255.13.
§255.5.Disaster Relief Fund.
(a)
General provisions. Assistance under this fund is available
to units of general local government for eligible activities under the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974, Title I, as amended, for the alleviation
of a disaster situation. To receive assistance under this program category,
the situation to be addressed with TCDP funds must be both unanticipated and
beyond the control of the local government. For example, the collapse of a
municipal water distribution system due to lack of regular maintenance does
not qualify. If the same situation was caused by a tornado or flood, the community
could apply for disaster relief funds. An applicant may not apply for funding
to construct public facilities that did not exist prior to the occurrence
of the disaster. Starting with the 2004 TCDP program year, TCDP disaster relief
funds will not be provided under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program unless the Office receives satisfactory evidence
that any property to be purchased was not constructed or purchased by the
current owner after the property site location was officially mapped and included
in a designated flood plain area. Additionally, in disaster relief situations,
the TCDP dollars are to be viewed as gap financing or funds of last resort.
In other words, the community may only apply to the Office for funding of
those activities for which local funds are not available, i.e., the entity
has less than six months of unencumbered reserve funds available in its balance
as evidenced by the last available audit as required by state statute, or
assistance from other sources is not available. Assistance under the disaster
relief fund is provided only if one of the following has occurred:
(1)
The governor has requested a presidential declaration of
a major disaster; or
(2)
The governor has declared a state of disaster or emergency.
(b)
Funding cycle. Funds for disaster relief projects will
be awarded throughout the program year in response to disaster situations.
The application for assistance must be submitted no later than 12 months from
the date of the presidential declaration of a major disaster or governor's
declaration of a state of disaster or emergency.
(c)
Selection procedures. As soon as an area qualifies for
disaster relief assistance, the Office works with the local government, the
governor's office, and the Emergency Management Division of the Texas Department
of Public Safety to determine where TCDP funds can best be utilized. The Office
then works with the unit of local government selected for funding to negotiate
a contract. A unit of general local government cannot receive a disaster relief
grant and an urgent need grant to address problems caused by the same natural
disaster situation. In no instance will a unit of general local government
receive more than one disaster relief grant to address a single occurrence
of a natural disaster.
(d)
Disaster recovery initiative funds. Disaster recovery initiative
funds are available to eligible counties, cities, and Indian tribes to address
damages from severe rain storms and flooding. Any damages sustained in the
eligible county areas that were sustained from storm or flood conditions that
occurred before or after the dates designated in disaster recovery initiative
notices for funding are not eligible for assistance. Disaster recovery initiative
funds may supplement, but not replace, resources received from other Federal
or State agencies to address the damages from the storm and flood conditions.
These funds cannot be used for activities that were reimbursable by or for
which funds were made available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
the Small Business Administration, the National Resource Conservation Service,
or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(e)
Eligible applicants for disaster recovery initiative funds.
Eligible applicants for these funds are nonentitlement and entitlement counties,
incorporated cities, or eligible Indian tribes located in one of the counties
named in disaster recovery initiative notices for funding that are preceded
by Presidential Disaster Declarations for counties in Texas that sustained
damages from severe storms and flooding.
(f)
Eligible disaster recovery initiative activities. Since
the eligible activities may vary in each disaster recovery initiative notice
for funding, eligible applicants are informed of the eligible activities in
each application guide for disaster recovery initiative assistance.
(g)
Disaster recovery initiative funding cycle. An application
for these funds can be submitted on an as-needed basis. An eligible applicant
can only submit one application for these funds. Based on the disaster recovery
initiative selection criteria, applications selected to receive funding may
not necessarily be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
(h)
Disaster recovery initiative selection criteria. The following
describes the evaluation criteria used by the Office to select disaster recovery
initiative grantees.
(1)
Priority for the use of these funds will be given to applications
where all or some of the application activities meet the national program
objective of principally benefitting low and moderate income persons. To meet
this national program objective at least 51% of the beneficiaries for an application
activity must be low and moderate income persons.
(2)
Priority for these funds will be given to eligible applicants
that have not already received a TCDP disaster relief grant for activities
associated with the occurrence of this disaster.
(3)
For any application that includes construction or acquisition
activities, the Office will consider the applicant's status as a nonparticipating,
noncompliant community under the National Flood Insurance Program when prioritizing
the selection of the applicants that will receive disaster recovery initiative
funds.
This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been
reviewed by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's
legal authority.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on April 14, 2004.
TRD-200402493
Robt. J. "Sam" Tessen, MS
Executive Director
Office of Rural Community Affairs
Effective date: May 4, 2004
Proposal publication date: February 27, 2004
For further information, please call: (512) 936-6710
10 TAC §255.7
The Office of Rural Community Affairs (Office) adopts amendments
to §255.7, concerning the allocation of Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) non-entitlement area funds under the Texas Community Development Program
(TCDP) without changes to the proposed text as published in the December 26,
2003, issue of the
Texas Register
(28 TexReg
11451).
The amendments establish the standards and procedures by which the Office
and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) will allocate and distribute
funds under the Texas Capital Fund and establish the standards and procedures
for a new program under the Texas Capital Fund called the Downtown Revitalization
Program. The amendments are being adopted to make changes to the Texas Capital
Fund application and selection criteria and to describe the application and
selection criteria for the Downtown Revitalization Program.
The amendments make changes to the application and selection criteria for
the Texas Capital Fund and the Downtown Revitalization Program.
Comments were received from four persons attending a public hearing covering
the proposed amendments and the comments from these four persons were favorable
toward the proposed amendments and the creation of the Downtown Revitalization
Program. One of these persons suggested using census tract information instead
of county level information for Downtown Revitalization Program selection
criteria. The suggestion was reviewed by TDA Staff and supports using county
level information because county information is more readily available and
because the program targets downtown business areas that traditionally have
a low population density relative to the more populated areas of a community.
Written comments were received from one person citing concerns about the requirement
that the downtown revitalization address the elimination of slum and blight
and the emphasis on community distress factors. These provisions for the Downtown
Revitalization Program address federal requirements for CDBG funds that cannot
be ignored by the Office of Rural Community Affairs or the Texas Department
of Agriculture.
The amendments are adopted under §487.052 of the Government
Code, which provides the Office of Rural Community Affairs with the authority
to adopt rules implementing its statutory responsibilities.
The Texas Administrative Code, Title 10, Part 6, Chapter 255, is affected
by the adoption of the amendments to §255.7.
This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on April 14, 2004.
TRD-200402492
J. Randel Hill
General Counsel
Office of Rural Community Affairs
Effective date: May 4, 2004
Proposal publication date: December 26, 2003
For further information, please call: (512) 936-6710