PRINTER'S NO. 2392
No. 1834 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY GRUCELA, BELARDI, BELFANTI, BROWNE, DALLY, DeLUCA,
DeWEESE, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GERGELY, GOODMAN, HARHAI,
KOTIK, LAUGHLIN, McCALL, McGILL, PETRARCA, READSHAW,
REICHLEY, RUBLEY, SHANER, SOLOBAY, STABACK, TANGRETTI,
TRAVAGLIO, WALKO, WANSACZ, WASHINGTON, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD
AND YUDICHAK, JULY 9, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, JULY 9, 2003
AN ACT
1 Establishing a sinkhole damage assistance program; providing for
2 grants and loans; and making an appropriation.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Sinkhole
7 Damage Repair Assistance Law.
8 Section 2. Statement of purpose.
9 By this act, the General Assembly recognizes that the
10 presence of sinkholes and the potential for sinkhole development
11 in many areas of this Commonwealth poses a continued threat to
12 the health and welfare of the residents of those areas and
13 further recognizes that sinkholes damage property, jeopardize
14 public safety and cause economic hardship to property owners.
15 Accordingly, it is the purpose of this act:
16 (1) to establish a program to authorize financial
1 assistance in the form of grants and loans in the event of
2 sinkhole damage to property;
3 (2) to develop recommendations for controlling
4 development which may exacerbate sinkhole damage; and
5 (3) to provide for the surveying and mapping of areas of
6 this Commonwealth subject to sinkhole development.
7 Section 3. Definitions.
8 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
9 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
10 context clearly indicates otherwise:
11 "Commercial property." A building or structure which is
12 occupied primarily for the purpose of operating a business, an
13 office, a manufactory or a public accommodation or for any other
14 lawful nonresidential purpose. The term does not include
15 buildings and structures owned by the Federal Government, the
16 Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions.
17 "Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
18 the Commonwealth.
19 "Dwelling." A building or structure whose primary use is
20 residential.
21 "Property." A dwelling or commercial property.
22 "Qualified property." Property containing a business, an
23 office, a factory, a public accommodation or other lawful
24 nonresidential enterprise with fewer than 25 employees, provided
25 that the owner can demonstrate hardship in obtaining and
26 repaying a conventional loan and provided that other criteria
27 which may be established by the department are met. The term
28 does not include buildings and structures owned by the Federal
29 Government, the Commonwealth or any of its political
30 subdivisions, except for buildings and structures of school
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1 districts used as public school buildings.
2 "Sinkhole." A hole in the land surface which results from
3 the collapse of the roof of a cave or from the subsidence of
4 surface material into a subsurface opening which has been
5 created specifically by the chemical weatherization of carbonate
6 rock. The term shall not include a sinkhole caused by mine
7 subsidence.
8 "Sinkhole damage." Actual physical damage to property
9 arising out of or caused by sudden settlement or collapse of the
10 earth supporting the property, provided that the settlement or
11 collapse results from a sinkhole.
12 "Sinkhole emergency." A situation that occurs when, as a
13 result of sinkhole damage, property is rendered unsafe for human
14 occupancy.
15 Section 4. Sinkhole Damage Revolving Loan Fund.
16 There is established in the State Treasury a special fund to
17 be known as the Sinkhole Damage Revolving Loan Fund. The fund
18 shall be comprised of all money appropriated, allocated or made
19 available to it from any source; the repayment of principal and
20 interest on loans made from this fund; and all interest,
21 earnings, increment and additions to the fund. The assets of the
22 fund shall be used solely for the purposes of the sinkhole
23 damage assistance program, as set forth in section 5.
24 Section 5. Sinkhole damage assistance program.
25 (a) Application for assistance.--Whenever property has
26 sustained sinkhole damage, the owner of the property may apply
27 to the department for financial assistance. The application
28 shall be on a form prepared by the department and shall provide
29 for inspection of the property to determine the nature and
30 extent of the damage. Upon a determination by the department
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1 that property has sustained sinkhole damage, the department
2 shall, to the extent funds are made available, grant assistance,
3 as provided in this section.
4 (b) Grants.--Grants may be awarded only to those homeowners
5 whose dwellings are unsafe for occupancy as a result of a
6 sinkhole emergency and may be awarded to move persons whose
7 dwellings are destroyed or endangered until the homes are
8 repaired, until there is no further danger from sinkhole
9 subsidence or until a new permanent replacement residence is
10 found.
11 (c) Loans.--Loans may be approved at interest rates not to
12 exceed 3% for the repair or replacement of sinkhole-damaged
13 property. Property need not be rendered unsafe for human
14 occupancy as a result of a sinkhole emergency, to qualify for a
15 loan under this subsection. The loan shall be in an amount
16 sufficient to cover the cost of repairing the structural damage
17 to the property, but in no event shall be greater than the
18 replacement cost of the property as determined by an appraiser,
19 as provided for in regulations. Loans shall be administered by
20 the department and shall be secured by a lien on the property
21 being repaired or replaced.
22 (d) Priority.--The department shall give preference to
23 grants and loans based on the following:
24 (1) Grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) shall be
25 made on a priority basis, in accordance with regulations, and
26 considering both the severity of damages and whether the
27 person applying for the grant demonstrates hardship in
28 obtaining and repaying a loan.
29 (2) Loans awarded pursuant to subsection (c) shall be
30 made on a priority basis, in accordance with regulations, and
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1 considering the following:
2 (i) That preference shall be given to loans for
3 dwellings.
4 (ii) That, in the case of loans for dwellings,
5 preference shall be given to persons who demonstrate
6 hardship in obtaining and repaying a conventional loan.
7 (iii) That, in the case of loans for commercial
8 property, preference shall be given to qualified
9 property.
10 (iv) That, after establishing priority in accordance
11 with subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii), loans shall be
12 made on a priority basis according to the severity of
13 damages.
14 (e) Thresholds.--A grant or loan shall not be awarded
15 pursuant to this section unless the following damage thresholds
16 are met or exceeded:
17 (1) A dwelling must have incurred sinkhole damage of
18 $1,000.
19 (2) Commercial property must have incurred sinkhole
20 damage as follows:
21 (i) $2,000 in the case of qualified property.
22 (ii) $10,000 in the case of commercial property
23 other than qualified property.
24 (f) Municipal ordinance.--In order for an owner of property
25 which has sustained sinkhole damage to be eligible for grants or
26 loans under this act, an ordinance similar in intent and
27 function to the ordinance developed and published by the
28 department pursuant to section 7, to control and regulate land
29 development to reduce sinkhole damage, must be adopted by the
30 municipality in which the property is located.
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1 Section 6. Rulemaking.
2 The department shall propose regulations necessary to
3 accomplish the purposes and carry out the provisions of this
4 act, and the Environmental Quality Board shall have the power
5 and duty to adopt regulations necessary to accomplish the
6 purposes and carry out the provisions of this act.
7 Section 7. Guidelines and model ordinances.
8 The department shall also develop and publish nonbinding
9 guidelines and model ordinances for use by counties and other
10 municipalities in addressing the control and regulation of land
11 development in order to reduce property damage caused by
12 sinkholes.
13 Section 8. Geologic survey.
14 Within three years of the effective date of this act, the
15 department shall complete its ongoing survey and mapping of
16 those areas of this Commonwealth subject to sinkhole
17 development.
18 Section 9. Annual appropriation estimate.
19 The department shall submit to the Governor and General
20 Assembly an annual estimate of the amount needed to be
21 appropriated to the department for allocation to the Sinkhole
22 Damage Revolving Loan Fund to insure its fiscal sufficiency to
23 meet the needs of the sinkhole damage assistance program.
24 Section 10. Appropriation.
25 (a) Appropriation.--The sum of $1,150,000, or as much
26 thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the
27 Department of Environmental Protection for the fiscal year July
28 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004, to be allocated as follows:
29 (1) The sum of $1,000,000 is allocated to the Sinkhole
30 Damage Revolving Loan Fund. No more than 10% of this sum
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1 shall be used for administrative costs.
2 (2) The sum of $150,000 is allocated for the ongoing
3 survey and mapping of areas of this Commonwealth subject to
4 sinkhole development.
5 (b) Nonlapsing.--The appropriation made in subsection (a)
6 shall be a continuing appropriation and shall not lapse.
7 Section 11. Effective date.
8 This act shall take effect immediately.
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