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This report covers the responses House Appropriations SC on Infrastructure, Resiliency, & Investments received for their RFI for charge 1, regarding to disaster-related legislation. The RFI for this charge can be found here and a list of the responses can be found here.

 

The HillCo report below is a summary of information intended to give you an overview and highlight of the various topics included in the responses. This report does not cover the entirety of each response, but aims to provide an overview of the testimony submitted.

 

Department of State Health Services (pages 2-6)

  • SB 500 Section 15, implementation of screening newborns for X-ALD; $7.9 million allocated
  • Initial appropriations in 2017 for $1.2 million and received grants from the CDC and the Association of Public Health Laboratories totaling $735,000
  • Began lab screening for X-ALD on August 5, 2019; test now incorporated into the program
  • SB 500 Section 16, emergency generator for DSHS Austin laboratory; $12 million allocated
  • Since April 2020, in an Interagency Cooperation Contract with TFC to obtain an emergency generator solution; includes additional Austin laboratory building repair projects
  • Conducting an assessment for current and future needs of the lab; estimated completion date August 31, 2020
  • SB 500 Section 17, trauma capacity and response infrastructure; $17 million allocated
  • $2 million allocated to the Regional Advisory Council; contracts with 22 RACs were executed January 2020 and must be expended by June 2021 and data collection is ongoing
  • $6 million allocated for hospitals affected by Hurricane Harvey; distribution of funds will occur in October 2020 as a part of the UCC process
  • $6 million allocated to hospitals in pursuit of Level 1 Trauma Designations in RGV; Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg solely met the requirements
    • Worked with DHR to field and train a Level I survey team; DHR increased its trauma designation from a Level III to Level II
    • Will continue technical assistance as DHR works towards Level I designation
  • Remaining $3 million will be used to fund 85 rural trauma-designated facilities not directly affected by Hurricane Harvey and distribution will occur as a part of the UCC process in October 2020

 

Texas General Land Office (pages 7-11)

  • GLO responsible for administering federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation Funds
  • Will soon administer CDBG-DR funding appropriated for the 2018 South Texas floods, 2019 Tropical Storm Imelda, and 2019 Lower RGV floods; recently submitted their State Action Plans
  • Overviews previous appropriations and CDBG-MIT grant programs
  • 2018 South Texas Floods total CDBG-DR allocation is $72.91 million; total 2019 Disasters CDBG-DR allocation is $212.74 million
  • SB 500; GLO is responsible for disaster recovery activities such as removing vessels and providing matching funds for projects planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
    • Estimated federal/non-federal costs: Orange County $1.54 billion/$837 million, Jefferson County $573 million/$308 million, Brazoria County $462 million/$249 million
    • Texas has not experienced a disaster since the 86th legislature that resulted in the need to mobilize the GLO for short-term disaster recovery operations
  • Supporting the Texas Water Development Board and Texas Division of Emergency Management’s flood project and flood planning activities
    • Although not directly responsible for aspects outlined in SB 7 or SB 8
  • Responsible for aspects of SB 289, relating to helping local governments develop and implement local housing plans; have not received a local housing recovery plan for review/certification
    • Developed a Local Housing Plan Certification Evaluator tool with HRRC; need to gather universal understand and buy-in before tool is implemented

 

Texas Water Development Board (pages 12-27)

  • Overviews provisions and requirements in SB 8 and highlights the implementation of the regional and state flood planning process
  • Implementing SB 8 with flexibilities to allow the process to serve as a broad framework; intended to create cooperation between local and state efforts into regional flood plans
  • Overviews provisions and requirements in SB 500; provided funding to purchase lidar data and to develop Base Level Engineering
    • End of FY 20, mapping for 15% of the 208 HUC –8 watersheds had been completed; highlights BLE status map statewide
  • Flood planning guidance principles are contained in proposed rules in 31 TAC Chapters 361 and 362; were adopted by TWDB in May 2020
    • Overviews how TWDB designated the 15 flood planning region boundaries
  • Board will designate initial membership of 12 interest groups per region October 1, 2020

 

Greater Houston Partnership (pages 28-29)

  • GHP’s 12-county region has experienced four 500-year floods since 2015
  • Look forward to forthcoming flood mitigation investments by the state
  • Provided input on the creation of SB 7 and the accompanying $2 billion contained in SB 500; just the first step in long-term commitment
  • Highlights the appropriations of the $2 billion Flood Infrastructure funds in SB 500
  • Committee should evaluate the ROI on appropriations through these bills
  • Should consider additional appropriations that would enable ongoing federal partnerships and the drawdown of available funds for critical flood and coastal protection/restoration projects

 

Texas Living Waters Project (pages 30-33)

  • Should provide additional appropriations for the Flood Infrastructure Fund and the Texas Infrastructure Resilience Fund including translation services, public notices, and training
  • Has been “enormous” participation by eligible entities in the FIF shows the need for financing for flood infrastructure projects
  • Should amend Water Code §15.534 to allow nontraditional entities such as nonprofit organizations to be eligible to receive grants and loans under the Flood Intended Use Plan
  • Less than 10% of FIF project applications received prioritization points for nonstructural projects under the FIUP in FY 20
  • TWDB should provide additional incentives for nonstructural projects including nature-based projects in the FIUP for SFY 21; would mean amendments to Water Code §15.537, T.A.C. §363.405
    • Would be similar to SWIFT funding set aside for certain conservation projects
  • Further incentives could include TWDB providing a higher percentage of grants for green projects in categories 2-4 and additional prioritization points for nonstructural projects
  • Legislature could request TWDB report on how FIF is being used to fund nonstructural, nature-based projects and TWDB could add a category for nonstructural projects