The following is part of a special email sent to members of the Indoor Air Quality Association regarding Hurricane Harvey restoration efforts. For more information on the IAQA or membership, visit: http://www.iaqa.org/government-affairs/.

For those responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, the State of Texas enacted a law in 2015 that provide exemptions from license and tax requirements for out of state companies. 

The Texas legislature passed HB 2358 in June 2015 which amends both the Business and Commerce Code and Tax Code to implement the "Facilitating Business Rapid Response to State Declared Disasters Act". This Act provides exemptions from taxes and specific registration and licensing requirements for certain out of state businesses and their employees who are in Texas solely to perform services during a disaster recovery period. The Act specifically defines the type of services which qualify for exemption, the requirements for official acknowledgement of the disaster and the time periods during which the exemptions are granted. The exemptions include: 

(1) Waiver of notice to State officials;
(2) Waiver of certain state and local taxes;  
(3) Waiver of licensing and registration requirements (as long as businesses and individuals are in compliance with requirements in their home states);
(4) Certain effective time periods during which the exemptions are in effect. A review of the specific provisions of the law should be undertaken if you or your employer perform emergency services in Texas.

Michael Bowdoin is the IAQA Government Affairs Committee Coordinator for this initiative in Texas. If you have any questions, Michael can be reached at pmbowdoin@gmail.com.