ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fifth Legislature

Second Regular Session

 

HB 2127: fire suppression; assistance; private landowners

Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 14

Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water

Overview

Allows the Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM) to distribute up to $10 million in emergency wildfire funding to private landowners after all reimbursements have been deducted or they provide evidence that they do not qualify for other reimbursements.

History

Last summer, as part of a special session on wildfire funding, the Legislature appropriated $75 million from the state General Fund to DFFM for wildfire emergency responses. These monies could be used for financial assistance to public and private landowners for emergency repairs for infrastructure damage from fires or suppression activities. However, no more than $10 million could be distributed to private landowners, which could only happen once they had exhausted all other sources of payments such as insurance or reimbursements (Laws 2021, First Special Session, Chapter 1, § 1).

As of December 2021, DFFM has approved about $335,900 in assistance to private landowners.

Provisions

1.   ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteRemoves the requirement that DFFM can only distribute up to $10 million to private landowners as the payor of last resort. (Sec. 1)

2.   Clarifies that DFFM can only distribute these funds to private landowners after all other sources of reimbursements have been deducted or the landowners provide information showing they do not qualify for other reimbursement. (Sec. 1)

3.   Directs DFFM to prioritize distributing financial assistance to private landowners. (Sec.1)

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7.                     HB 2127

8.   Initials PAB           Page 0 Natural Resources, Energy & Water

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