Bill > S3401

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the Blue Acres Buyout Fund (hereinafter referred to as the "fund") as a nonlapsing, revolving fund in the Department of Environmental Protection and appropriates $25 million from the General Fund for the purposes of the fund. The fund would be administered by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to be used for relocation assistance for homeowners and tenants displaced by a Blue Acres acquisition or for a Blue Acres acquisition of flood-prone property. No more than five percent of the total annual revenue allocated to the fund in each fiscal year may be used by the DEP for administrative costs. The monies may be used for relocation assistance, for buyouts of single-family or multifamily property or other flood-prone property, and for administrative costs associated with the program. Since its inception in 1995, the DEP's Blue Acres program has worked to protect public safety and the environment by acquiring properties subject to repeated flooding, for use as natural flood storage, parks, and community open space. The Blue Acres program seeks to improve the slow approval times that keep residential property owners from selling flood-prone properties and finding replacement homes both for owners and tenants. Furthermore, the Blue Acres program has a role in supporting tenant relocation. The Blue Acres program helps relocate tenants affected by the buyout of their rental property and assists in finding a comparable living arrangement. In order to support renters and landlords more quickly, a tenant relocation program with a dedicated team was added to the Blue Acres program in 2017. This appropriation will provide the DEP with assistance to complete larger-scale buyouts by supporting the relocation of tenants of multifamily housing under the Blue Acres program, and would provide additional funding for acquisition of flood-prone property under the Blue Acres program.

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Andrew Zwicker (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee (on 12/19/2022)

Official Document