Relating to the establishment of the Rural Infrastructure Disaster Recovery Program.

Contracts

• Master Service Agreements (MSAs): Update agreements with rural municipal and county clients to include "State Grant Contingency" clauses. Ensure payment terms account for potential delays associated with state grant disbursement cycles.
• Scope of Work: Revise standard scopes to include "Grant Compliance Support" as a billable line item, specifically for gathering data required for TDEM applications.

Hiring/Training

• Project Management Training: Train field teams to distinguish between "FEMA-eligible" and "State-eligible" damages immediately post-disaster. Commingling these damage assessments will stall funding.
• Grant Writing: Staff or contracted consultants must be versed in TDEM specificities, distinct from standard FEMA Public Assistance (PA) workflows.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• FEMA Denial Documentation: You must implement a system to retain formal FEMA denial letters or regulatory citations proving a project’s ineligibility for federal funds. This is the statutory "gatekeeper" document for state funding.
• Asset Categorization: Records must explicitly categorize damaged assets as "Critical Infrastructure" (e.g., water/wastewater facilities, hospitals, schools) rather than general public works to meet statutory definitions.

Fees & Costs

• Administrative Overhead: Expect a slight increase in administrative costs related to dual-track damage assessments (Federal vs. State).
• No New Fees: The bill does not impose new filing fees on vendors.