PRINTER'S NO. 1457
No. 1049 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, MARCH 22, 2004
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 22, 2004
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
17 assistance in the form of grants and loans in the event of
18 sinkhole damage to property;
1 (2) to develop recommendations for controlling
2 development which may exacerbate sinkhole damage; and
3 (3) to provide for the surveying and mapping of areas of
4 this Commonwealth subject to sinkhole development.
5 Section 3. Definitions.
6 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
7 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
8 context clearly indicates otherwise:
9 "Commercial property." A building or structure which is
10 occupied primarily for the purpose of operating a business, an
11 office, a manufactory or a public accommodation or for any other
12 lawful nonresidential purpose. The term does not include
13 buildings and structures owned by the Federal Government, the
14 Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions.
15 "Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
16 the Commonwealth.
17 "Dwelling." A building or structure whose primary use is
18 residential.
19 "Property." A dwelling or commercial property.
20 "Qualified property." Property containing a business, an
21 office, a factory, a public accommodation or other lawful
22 nonresidential enterprise with fewer than 25 employees, provided
23 that the owner can demonstrate hardship in obtaining and
24 repaying a conventional loan and provided that other criteria
25 which may be established by the department are met. The term
26 does not include buildings and structures owned by the Federal
27 Government, the Commonwealth or any of its political
28 subdivisions, except for buildings and structures of school
29 districts used as public school buildings.
30 "Sinkhole." A hole in the land surface which results from
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1 the collapse of the roof of a cave or from the subsidence of
2 surface material into a subsurface opening which has been
3 created specifically by the chemical weatherization of carbonate
4 rock. The term shall not include a sinkhole caused by mine
5 subsidence.
6 "Sinkhole damage." Actual physical damage to property
7 arising out of or caused by sudden settlement or collapse of the
8 earth supporting the property, provided that the settlement or
9 collapse results from a sinkhole.
10 "Sinkhole emergency." A situation that occurs when, as a
11 result of sinkhole damage, property is rendered unsafe for human
12 occupancy.
13 Section 4. Sinkhole Damage Revolving Loan Fund.
14 There is established in the State Treasury a special fund to
15 be known as the Sinkhole Damage Revolving Loan Fund. The fund
16 shall be comprised of all money appropriated, allocated or made
17 available to it from any source; the repayment of principal and
18 interest on loans made from this fund; and all interest,
19 earnings, increment and additions to the fund. The assets of the
20 fund shall be used solely for the purposes of the sinkhole
21 damage assistance program, as set forth in section 5.
22 Section 5. Sinkhole damage assistance program.
23 (a) Application for assistance.--Whenever property has
24 sustained sinkhole damage, the owner of the property may apply
25 to the department for financial assistance. The application
26 shall be on a form prepared by the department and shall provide
27 for inspection of the property to determine the nature and
28 extent of the damage. Upon a determination by the department
29 that property has sustained sinkhole damage, the department
30 shall, to the extent funds are made available, grant assistance,
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1 as provided in this section.
2 (b) Grants.--Grants may be awarded only to those homeowners
3 whose dwellings are unsafe for occupancy as a result of a
4 sinkhole emergency and may be awarded to move persons whose
5 dwellings are destroyed or endangered until the homes are
6 repaired, until there is no further danger from sinkhole
7 subsidence or until a new permanent replacement residence is
8 found.
9 (c) Loans.--Loans may be approved at interest rates not to
10 exceed 3% for the repair or replacement of sinkhole-damaged
11 property. Property need not be rendered unsafe for human
12 occupancy as a result of a sinkhole emergency, to qualify for a
13 loan under this subsection. The loan shall be in an amount
14 sufficient to cover the cost of repairing the structural damage
15 to the property, but in no event shall be greater than the
16 replacement cost of the property as determined by an appraiser,
17 as provided for in regulations. Loans shall be administered by
18 the department and shall be secured by a lien on the property
19 being repaired or replaced.
20 (d) Priority.--The department shall give preference to
21 grants and loans based on the following:
22 (1) Grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) shall be
23 made on a priority basis, in accordance with regulations, and
24 considering both the severity of damages and whether the
25 person applying for the grant demonstrates hardship in
26 obtaining and repaying a loan.
27 (2) Loans awarded pursuant to subsection (c) shall be
28 made on a priority basis, in accordance with regulations, and
29 considering the following:
30 (i) That preference shall be given to loans for
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1 dwellings.
2 (ii) That, in the case of loans for dwellings,
3 preference shall be given to persons who demonstrate
4 hardship in obtaining and repaying a conventional loan.
5 (iii) That, in the case of loans for commercial
6 property, preference shall be given to qualified
7 property.
8 (iv) That, after establishing priority in accordance
9 with subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii), loans shall be
10 made on a priority basis according to the severity of
11 damages.
12 (e) Thresholds.--A grant or loan shall not be awarded
13 pursuant to this section unless the following damage thresholds
14 are met or exceeded:
15 (1) A dwelling must have incurred sinkhole damage of
16 $1,000.
17 (2) Commercial property must have incurred sinkhole
18 damage as follows:
19 (i) $2,000 in the case of qualified property.
20 (ii) $10,000 in the case of commercial property
21 other than qualified property.
22 (f) Municipal ordinance.--In order for an owner of property
23 which has sustained sinkhole damage to be eligible for grants or
24 loans under this act, an ordinance similar in intent and
25 function to the ordinance developed and published by the
26 department pursuant to section 7, to control and regulate land
27 development to reduce sinkhole damage, must be adopted by the
28 municipality in which the property is located.
29 Section 6. Rulemaking.
30 The department shall propose regulations necessary to
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1 accomplish the purposes and carry out the provisions of this
2 act, and the Environmental Quality Board shall have the power
3 and duty to adopt regulations necessary to accomplish the
4 purposes and carry out the provisions of this act.
5 Section 7. Guidelines and model ordinances.
6 The department shall also develop and publish nonbinding
7 guidelines and model ordinances for use by counties and other
8 municipalities in addressing the control and regulation of land
9 development in order to reduce property damage caused by
10 sinkholes.
11 Section 8. Geologic survey.
12 Within three years of the effective date of this act, the
13 department shall complete its ongoing survey and mapping of
14 those areas of this Commonwealth subject to sinkhole
15 development.
16 Section 9. Annual appropriation estimate.
17 The department shall submit to the Governor and General
18 Assembly an annual estimate of the amount needed to be
19 appropriated to the department for allocation to the Sinkhole
20 Damage Revolving Loan Fund to insure its fiscal sufficiency to
21 meet the needs of the sinkhole damage assistance program.
22 Section 10. Appropriation.
23 (a) Appropriation.--The sum of $1,150,000, or as much
24 thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the
25 Department of Environmental Protection for the fiscal year July
26 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005, to be allocated as follows:
27 (1) The sum of $1,000,000 is allocated to the Sinkhole
28 Damage Revolving Loan Fund. No more than 10% of this sum
29 shall be used for administrative costs.
30 (2) The sum of $150,000 is allocated for the ongoing
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1 survey and mapping of areas of this Commonwealth subject to
2 sinkhole development.
3 (b) Nonlapsing.--The appropriation made in subsection (a)
4 shall be a continuing appropriation and shall not lapse.
5 Section 11. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect immediately.
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