LEGISLATIVE CHANGES TO THE OIL IMPACT GRANT PROGRAM Jeff Engleson Director, Energy Infrastructure and Impact Office ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPACT OFFICE
HOUSE BILL 1013 OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS: LAND DEPARTMENT BUDGET UNOFFICIALLY KNOWN AS: ENERGY IMPACT BILL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPACT OFFICE
House Bill 1013 Changes the name of the office from Energy Development Impact Office to: Energy Infrastructure and Impact Office (EIIO) Increases funding to the oil impact grant program from $8 million per biennium to $100 million per biennium. EIIO Director: No longer award grants; will now make recommendations Board of University and School Lands: The Land Board will now award grants; they may also create an advisory committee to assist in awarding grants WHAT IT DOES
2011 Oil Impact Grant Round Before we implement the changes included in House Bill 1013, we need to finish up with the oil impact grant funding for the biennium Grant Requests $62.5 million worth of grant requests 422 requests from 314 entities Approximately $3.9 million available for grants Will be handled much as it has been for the past few years and will focus on: Township Roads Emergency Services Small Cities Entities that receive little or no funding through the gross production tax distribution formula Most entities that receive GPT distributions have seen large increases during the current bi. Can’t fix million dollar problems, but can help fix many $10,000 & $20,000 problems Only change is Land Board will now make grants
HOW DOES HOUSE BILL 1013 CHANGE THE ENERGY IMPACT GRANT PROGRAM? ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPACT OFFICE
NEW NAME ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPACT OFFICE New acronym: EIIO Recognizes changing needs in western North Dakota Need to focus us creating infrastructure, not just reacting to impacts Just glad they didn’t call it Energy Infrastructure and Emerging Impacts Office, or EIEIO !
MORE MONEY $100 MILLION FOR BIENNIUM An increase of $92 million over the current biennium Impacts are growing fast, funding needs to grow too This is in addition to the $142 million of funding provided to DOT for county and township roads (HB 1012) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS $5 million for schools with rapid enrollment growth (SB2050) $350,000-Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (SB2325) 35% of money available to Williston, Dickinson and Minot - no more than 60% to any one city 65% of money available to other cities, counties, school districts, and other political subdivisions No more than 60% of total can be awarded during a fiscal year
EIIO DIRECTOR A CHANGING ROLE FOR THE EIIO DIRECTOR Develop plans, establish procedures and provide forms Disburse funds to entities that have been awarded grants Receive and review applications for impact assistance Make recommendations to the Land Board, not less than once each calendar quarter The EIIO Director will no longer be responsible for making grants to political subdivisions - instead the Director will now be an advisor to the Land Board
LAND BOARD A CHANGING ROLE FOR THE LAND BOARD The Land Board now has the responsibility for actually awarding grants to political subdivisions The Land Board may appoint an advisory committee to assist it in making grant award determinations The Land Board continues to be responsible for appointing the EIIO Director Previously, the EDIO Director awarded grants, while the Land Board was the appellate if a grant applicant did not like a decision made by the Director
MAKE UP OF LAND BOARD The Board of University and School Lands (Land Board) is a constitutional board The members of the Land Board can be found in Article IX, Sec. 3 of North Dakota’s Constitution: Governor Jack Dalrymple – Chairman Dr. Wayne Sanstead, Supt. Of Public Instruction Kelly Schmidt, State Treasurer Wayne Stenehjem, Attorney General Alvin A. Jaeger, Secretary of State
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPACT OFFICE
EIIO ADVISORY COMMITTEE On April 29, 2011, the Land Board appointed a group of individuals to serve as initial members of the EIIO advisory committee ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Made up of individuals representing the various entities that have historically requested grants from this program Diverse in geographic location Developed with help of ND Assoc. of Oil and Gas Producing Counties Dave Hynek – Mountrail County Commissioner Jim Arthaud – Billing County Commissioner Lyn James – President, Bowman City Commission Brent Sanford – Mayor, Watford City Barry Jager – Burke County Emergency Manager Floyd Miller – Township Officer, Williams Co. Rick Larson – Industry Rep. (former EDIO Dir.) Francis Zeigler – ND Dept. of Transportation Lance Gaebe - State Land Commissioner
May 2011 June 2011 Advisory committee meet one or two times to establish broad consensus on a purpose and vision for the program Intern hired to help coordinate efforts of advisory committee (NDAOGPC) Review other grant programs to learn what functions/processes might work for EIIO grants Work with NDDOT to determine how $142 million county/township road grant program will work Provide Land Board with update and get Land Board direction as to how the grant program should work Develop policies, procedures and forms for administering the expanded oil impact grant program Develop specific criteria for submitting and evaluating grant applications Determine if there are special or emergency situations that should have a higher priority in the grant process Provide Land Board with update and get Land Board to approve specific process for submitting and evaluating grants Communicate how new EIIO grant process will work to potential grant applicants NEXT COUPLE MONTHS
IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT THE LAND DEPARTMENT