8680.4.

 “Project” means the repair or restoration, or both, other than normal maintenance, or the replacement of, real property of a local agency, including, but not limited to, buildings, levees, flood control works, channels, irrigation works, city streets, county roads, bridges, and other public works, that are damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster. “Project” also includes those activities and expenses allowed under subdivisions (a), (c), and (d) of Section 8685. Except as provided in Section 8686.3, the completion of all or part of a project prior to application for funds pursuant to this chapter shall not disqualify the project or any part thereof.

8680.5.

 “Project application” means the written application made by a local agency to the director for state financial assistance, which shall include: (a) in the case of a public facilities project, all damage to public real property which resulted from a natural disaster within the total jurisdiction of the local agency making application; or (b) in the case of a street and highway project, all damage to streets and highways which resulted from a natural disaster within the total jurisdiction of the local agency making application; or (c) other activities and expenses as allowed in Section 8685.

8680.8.

 “State agency” means the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Finance, or other state agency or office, including the University of California. The Department of Transportation’s area of responsibility concerns streets, roads, bridge and mass transit repairs. The Department of Water Resources’ area of responsibility concerns dams, levees, flood control works, channels, irrigation works, and other similar projects. The Department of General Services’ area of responsibility concerns buildings, sewer, water systems, and district road and access facility construction, alteration, repair and improvement thereof, and all other projects. The director shall assign applications to the appropriate agencies for investigation.

8680.9.

 “Local emergency” means a condition of extreme peril to persons or property declared as such by the governing body of the local agency affected, in accordance with Section 8630.

8682.9.

 The director shall adopt regulations to govern the administration of the disaster assistance program authorized by this chapter in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3). These regulations shall include specific project eligibility requirements, a procedure for local governments to request the implementation of programs under this chapter, and a method for evaluating these requests by the Office of Emergency Services. Interim regulations required by this section shall be adopted by December 1, 1989, and final regulations shall be adopted by October 1, 1990, provided that neither the interim nor final regulations shall be subject to review or approval of the Office of Administrative Law.

8685.

 From any money appropriated for that purpose, and subject to the conditions specified in this article, the Director of Emergency Services 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 of Emergency Services.

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 regular hourly wage and overtime 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 regularly assigned emergency services and public safety personnel.

(b)  To repair, restore, reconstruct, or replace facilities belonging to local agencies damaged as a result of natural disasters as defined in Section 8680.3.

(c)  Matching fund assistance for cost sharing required under federal public assistance programs.

(d)  Indirect costs defined as eligible by the Office of Emergency Services and in accordance with the federal Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-87, or its successors, and any other assistance deemed necessary by the Director of Emergency Services.

8686.

 (a)  For any eligible project, the state share shall amount to no more than 75 percent of total state eligible costs. 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).

(b)  Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the state share shall be up to 100 percent of total state eligible costs connected with the October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake. 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 subdivision.

8690.2.

 The Natural Disaster Assistance Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the State Treasury. This fund and its subsidiary accounts are continuously appropriated for purposes of this act. The fund is the successor to the funds appropriated by Section 4 of Chapter 624 of the Statutes of 1973 and to the Street and Highway Disaster Fund, which funds are hereby abolished, effective the 61st day after final adjournment of the 1973–74 Regular Session of the Legislature. All of the assets, liabilities, and surpluses of the two abolished funds shall, on order of the Controller and as of the effective date of their abolition, be transferred to and become assets, liabilities, and surpluses of the Natural Disaster Assistance Fund except that all assets, liabilities, and surplus of the portion of the Street and Highway Disaster Fund relating to state highways shall be transferred to the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund. The existing appropriations from either of such funds shall continue to be available for allocation, encumbrance, and expenditure in the same manner and for the same purposes and periods from the Natural Disaster Assistance Fund. Any reference in any law or regulation to the Street and Highway Disaster Fund shall be deemed to refer to the Street and Highway Account of the Natural Disaster Assistance Fund.

Any moneys received by the director or any state agency after the effective date of this section which, by law, would otherwise be required to be deposited in either of such funds, shall on order of the Controller, be deposited in the State Treasury in the Natural Disaster Assistance Fund.

8690.4.

 The Controller shall establish the following four special accounts in the Natural Disaster Assistance Fund:

(a)  The Public Facilities and Local Agency Disaster Response Account, into which shall be paid all moneys appropriated by the Legislature for allocation for (1) the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of facilities belonging to local agencies damaged as a result of natural disasters, (2) matching fund assistance for cost sharing required under federal disaster assistance programs, as specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 8685, and (3) local agency personnel overtime costs and supplies used during eligible disaster response and recovery activities, including the cost of administering those activities, as specified in subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 8685.

(b)  The Street and Highway Account, into which shall be paid all resources transferred from the Street and Highway Disaster Fund, any money received from the federal government as reimbursement to any city or county for expenditures from funds allocated, transferred or expended pursuant to this chapter for a street and highway project, any money hereafter appropriated by the Legislature for allocation for street and highway projects, and any income from investment of moneys in the account and payments by local agencies in reimbursement of moneys disbursed from the account including deferred payments with charges, pursuant to Section 8686.8.

(c)  The Office of Emergency Services Disaster Administration Support Account, into which shall be paid all moneys appropriated by the Legislature for allocation for state administrative and engineering support required to respond to a specific disaster in accordance with the state disaster assistance program authorized under this chapter.

(d)  The Earthquake Emergency Investigations Account, into which shall be paid all moneys appropriated by the Legislature to the Seismic Safety Commission for allocation for the purpose of enabling immediate investigation of damaging earthquakes. Allocations may be made by the commission to assist organizations which have incurred expenses in the course of conducting earthquake investigations. Allocations may be made to cover the following expenses:

(1)  Travel, meals, and lodging.

(2)  Publishing of findings.

(3)  Contractor assistance in the investigation.

(4)  Other expenses which the commission may allow as necessary to assist the investigation.

The unpredictable nature of earthquakes necessitates immediate access to funds for investigative purposes. For this reason, notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds in the Earthquake Emergency Investigations Account shall be available for expenditure without regard to fiscal years.

(e)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the Public Facilities and Local Agency Disaster Response Account, the Street and Highway Account, and the Office of Emergency Services Administration Support Account each have an unencumbered balance of one million dollars ($1,000,000) at the beginning of each fiscal year.

In the event that any of these three accounts require additional moneys to meet claims against the account, the Director of Finance may transfer moneys from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the account in that amount sufficient to pay the amount of the claims that exceed the unencumbered balance in the account, provided that the transfer is not made prior to notification in writing to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the reason and amount of transfer.

8690.6.

 (a)  There is hereby established in the Reserve for Economic Uncertainties a Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account. Notwithstanding Section 13340, moneys in the account are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for allocation by the Director of Finance to state agencies for disaster response operation costs incurred by state agencies as a result of a state of emergency proclamation by the Governor. These allocations may be for emergency protective measures for the preservation of life or property within the state, or activities necessary for the resumption of regular state and local government operations and services.

(b)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account have an unencumbered balance of one million dollars ($1,000,000) at the beginning of each fiscal year. In the event that this account requires additional moneys to meet claims against the account, the Director of Finance may transfer moneys from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the account in that amount sufficient to pay the amount of the claims that exceed the unencumbered balance in the account.

(c)  The funds shall be allocated subject to the conditions of this section and in accordance with Section 27.00 of the annual Budget Act, except that the allocations may be made 30 days or less after notification of the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (b) of that section.

(d)  No funds allocated under this section shall be used to supplant federal funds otherwise available in the absence of state financial relief.

(e)  The amount of financial assistance provided to an individual, business, or governmental entity under this section, or pursuant to any other program of state-funded disaster assistance, shall be deducted from sums received in payment of damage claims asserted against the state, its agents, or employees, for causing or contributing to the effects of the proclaimed disaster.

(f)  No public entity administering disaster assistance to individuals shall receive funds under this section unless it administers that assistance pursuant to the following criteria:

(1)  All applications, forms, and other written materials presented to persons seeking assistance shall be available in English and in the same language as that used by the major non-English-speaking group within the disaster area.

(2)  Bilingual staff who reflect the demographics of the disaster area shall be available to applicants.

(g)  The Legislature finds and declares that the amendments made to subdivision (c) of this section by Chapter 16 of the Statutes of 1986 declare the intent of the Legislature at the time when this section was originally added to this code by Chapter 1562 of the Statutes of 1985.

(h)  This section shall become inoperative on June 30, 1993, and, as of January 1, 1994, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1, 1994, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

13600.

 (a)  The State Department of Social Services may provide state supplemental individual and family grants to meet disaster-related necessary expenses or serious needs of individuals or families adversely affected by any major disaster declared by the President of the United States in those cases where individuals or families are unable to meet those expenses or needs through assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended by P.L. 100-707), or other means.

(b)  Grants shall only be made to individuals and families determined to be eligible for the federal individual and family grant program who have suffered losses reimbursable under that program in excess of the maximum federal grant amount.

(c)  The State Department of Social Services may make a grant to those individuals and families equal to the difference between the federal grant awarded and the federally eligible appraised loss, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per individual or family.

(d)  For purposes of this section, “federally eligible” means only those losses that are eligible under the federal individual and family grant program, without regard to the federal maximum grant.

(e)  Application procedures established for the administration of this chapter shall conform to the procedures required in the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended by P.L. 100-707). The State Department of Social Services shall ensure that applicants for relief under this chapter have followed those procedures and that applicants have exhausted all other available means of seeking relief for disaster damage prior to receiving any grants pursuant to this chapter.

(f)  Notwithstanding subdivision (e), application procedures utilized in the administration of this chapter shall be subject to the following criteria:

(1)  All applications, forms, and other written materials presented to persons seeking assistance shall be available in English and in the same language as that used by the major non-English-speaking group within the disaster area.

(2)  Bilingual staff who reflect the demographics of the disaster area shall be available to applicants.