Guam Hazard Mitigation Plan - Western States Seismic Policy Council

SECTIONSIXMitigation StrategyDepartment of Transportation, Federal Highway AdministrationEmergency Relief (ER) Program. The ER Program is special component of the Highway TrustFund for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways and roads on federal lands that havesuffered serious damage as a result of (1) natural disasters or (2) catastrophic failures from anexternal cause. This program supplements the commitment of resources by states or territories tohelp pay for unusually heavy expenses resulting from extraordinary conditions. The total ERProgram obligations for territories is limited to $20 million in any FY. For a large disaster,Congress may pass special legislation lifting the cap for that disaster. Hazard mitigationactivities, referred to as “betterments,” may be funded through this program. Guam currentlyuses this funding source.Environmental Protection Agency, Office of WaterWetland Protection Development Grants. These grants are provided to states and territories tosupport the development and enhancement of wetland protection programs.Non-Point Source Implementation Grants (319 Program). These grants are provided to statesand territories to implement non-point source pollution control programs, including support fornon-structural watershed restoration activities.Clean Water State Revolving Fund. This program provides loans at actual or below-marketinterest rates to help build, repair, relocate, or replace wastewater treatment plants.Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. This program provides funds on a formula basis tostates for consolidation or maintenance of drinking water supplies, creation of new systems,drinking water storage/treatment and transmission costs, and drinking water security measures.Water Security Training and Technical Assistance and Water Security InitiativeContamination Warning System Pilots. The objective of these grant programs is to providefinancial assistance to improve water infrastructure security through both training and technicalassistance for water utilities and cooperative agreements to address the risk of intentionalcontamination.6.3.2 Government of Guam Funding Sources for Hazard MitigationSimilar to most state governments, the Government of Guam establishes a general fund througha cooperative effort between the executive and legislative branches for each FY. EachGovernment of Guam agency submits a proposed budget to the Guam Bureau of Budget andManagement Research (BBMR) annually. BBMR reviews the proposed budget requests, revisesthe proposals as it determines is necessary, and forwards the proposed budget to the GuamLegislature. The Guam Legislature then drafts a budget for vote, makes revisions as necessaryfor a consensus, and passes the final budget to the Governor for signature or veto. Unlessotherwise stipulated in the law promulgating the budget, each agency determines general fundexpenditures based on its authorized budget. Hence, individual agencies have some discretion todetermine the percentage of its general fund budget to apply to hazard mitigation activities.Sources of income for the Government of Guam’s general fund include property tax, corporatetax, gross receipt tax, licensing fees, and income tax. The Government of Guam distinguishesbetween line agencies and autonomous agencies. Line agencies rely completely on the generalfund for their budgets; distribution of funds for line agencies occurs through the Department ofAdministration. Autonomous agencies (such as GPA or the Guam Economic Development and6-16