HF 2211 (LSB 5601YH (5) 86)

HOUSE FILE 2211

BY  WILLS

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to water quality improvement, by providing for water quality programs, projects, and practices, the certification of conservation planners, the use or transfer of fertilizer fees, and the approval of designs for soil and water conservation practices, making appropriations to support environmental specialists, and reducing property taxes on land reserved for conservation practices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

DIVISION I
WATER POLLUTION REDUCTION PROJECTS

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

IOWA NUTRIENT RESEARCH CENTER

    Section 1.  Section 466B.47, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3A.  The center may sponsor or support projects to reduce water pollution, including projects that reduce the transport of nutrients to surface water from nonpoint sources within watersheds in accordance with the latest revision of the document entitled “Iowa nutrient reduction strategy” initially presented in November 2012 by the department of agriculture and land stewardship, the department of natural resources, and Iowa state university of science and technology. The projects may also implement findings or recommendations of the college of agriculture and life sciences of Iowa state university of science and technology, including those findings and recommendations submitted to the general assembly pursuant to 2015 Iowa Acts, chapter 132, section 18.
DIVISION II
CONSERVATION PLANNING CERTIFICATION FOR AGRIBUSINESS PROGRAM

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

IOWA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE FOR AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  266.35A  Conservation planning certification for agribusiness program.
   1.  The Iowa cooperative extension service for agriculture and home economics shall develop and administer a conservation planning certification for agribusiness program. The program shall, to every extent practicable, be based on the same criteria used by the United States department of agriculture to certify persons as conservation planners under 7 C.F.R. pt. 1469. When developing and implementing the program, the extension service shall, to every extent practicable, consult with the United States department of agriculture, natural resources conservation service. Participation in the program is voluntary. The program shall be designed to provide program participants with information and materials regarding practical management practices that optimize nitrogen and phosphorus use within crop fields and reduce downstream nutrient loading, in a scientific, reasonable, and cost-effective manner.
   2.  A person seeking to obtain or maintain a certification under the program must complete an annual number of hours of instruction as determined by the extension service. The extension service may offer a person the option of passing an examination as a method to become certified in lieu of completing all of the instructional hours. However, a person shall not be required to pass an examination in order to become certified. The extension service may provide the required hours of instruction via an internet site maintained by Iowa state university of science and technology.
   3.  The extension service shall establish and adjust certification fees based on the costs of developing and administering the program. Any fees received by the service shall be deemed repayment receipts as defined in section 8.2.
DIVISION III
HIGH-PRIORITY WATERSHEDS AND WATER QUALITY INITIATIVE FUND —— FERTILIZER FEES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND LAND STEWARDSHIP, SOIL AND WATER 

CONSERVATION DIVISION

    Sec. 3.  Section 200.9, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   200.9  Fertilizer fees.
   1.  Fees collected for licenses and inspection fees inspections under sections 200.4 and 200.8, with the exception of those fees collected for deposit in the agriculture management account of the groundwater protection fund, shall be deposited in the general fund of the state and shall be subject to the requirements of section 8.60. Moneys deposited under this section to in the general fund shall are appropriated to the department to be used only by the department for the purpose of inspection, sampling, analysis, preparation, and publishing of reports and other expenses necessary for administration of this chapter. The secretary may assign moneys to the Iowa agricultural experiment station for research, work projects, and investigations as needed for the specific purpose of improving the regulatory functions for enforcement of this chapter.
   2.  Notwithstanding subsection 1, the moneys appropriated to the department under that subsection may be used by the division of soil conservation and water quality to administer water quality projects and programs in high-priority watersheds identified by the water resources coordinating council pursuant to section 466B.3, including salaries, support, maintenance, and other miscellaneous purposes. The secretary may also transfer the moneys to the water quality initiative fund established pursuant to section 466B.45 for use as described in that section.
DIVISION IV
INNOVATIVE PROJECTS —— WATER QUALITY INITIATIVE FUND

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND LAND STEWARDSHIP, SOIL AND WATER

CONSERVATION DIVISION

    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  466B.46  Innovation project —— grants.
   The division shall award grants to support innovative projects for the development of new and improved practices or technologies to reduce the transport of nutrients to surface waters from nonpoint sources. The new or improved practices or technologies must be able to be implemented within a reasonable period of time and in a scientific, reasonable, and cost-effective manner. The division shall make awards from moneys deposited into the fund. Total awards made by the division to support all innovative projects shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars during any fiscal year.
DIVISION V
QUALIFYING SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND LAND STEWARDSHIP, SOIL AND WATER

CONSERVATION DIVISION AND SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  161A.55  Qualifying practices —— eligibility for cost-share moneys.
   1.  A landowner may submit a design to the district for a voluntary qualifying permanent soil and water conservation practice to be established on the landowner’s land for approval by the district.
   2.  The division shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this section, which shall include at least all of the following:
   a.  Design standards and specifications. The division shall adopt in whole or in part the standards and specifications of the United States department of agriculture, natural resources conservation service.
   b.  A process to approve designs for qualifying practices, which may be established by a person having a practical knowledge of land use and row crop farming, that are relatively inexpensive to establish and maintain, and that remain highly effective for a long period of time.
   c.  A schedule of amounts of cost-share moneys or other financing available under this chapter that may be used to finance specific qualifying practices.
   3.  The commissioners are not required to provide for the submission of bids to establish a qualifying practice, unless otherwise provided in rules adopted by the division.
   4.  A landowner shall not receive cost-share moneys for preparing or submitting a design to a district.
    Sec. 6.  Section 542B.2, subsection 9, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  Notwithstanding paragraphs “a” and “b”, a person shall not be construed to be engaged in the practice of engineering if the person constructs or establishes a qualifying permanent soil and water conservation practice pursuant to section 161A.55.
DIVISION VI
ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALISTS

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND LAND STEWARDSHIP, SOIL AND WATER

CONSERVATION DIVISION

    Sec. 7.  ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALISTS POSITIONS.  

There is appropriated from the general fund of the state to the department of agriculture and land stewardship for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017, the following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes designated:
   1.  For purposes of supporting additional environmental specialists within the department’s soil and water conservation division in order to administer water quality projects and programs in high-priority watersheds identified by the water resources coordinating council pursuant to section 466B.3, including salaries, support, maintenance, miscellaneous purposes, and for not more than the following full-time equivalent positions:
   ...................................................................... $  1,000,000
   ............................................................... FTEs         30.00

   2.  The department shall convert contract positions referred to as project coordinators and associated with assessing and reducing nutrients in this state’s watersheds to the full-time equivalent environmental specialist positions described in subsection 1.
   3.  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017, the department may also provide support for the full-time equivalent environmental specialist positions described in subsection 1 from other moneys available to the department that are not expressly appropriated for another purpose.
DIVISION VII
PRIORITIZING WATERSHED FUNDING

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND

WATER RESOURCES COORDINATING COUNCIL

    Sec. 8.  Section 456A.33A, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   456A.33A  Watershed priority.
   1.  The commission shall each year establish and maintain a priority list of watersheds which are of highest importance based on soil all of the following:
   a.  Soil loss, to be used for the allocation of moneys set aside in annual appropriations from the general fund to the department of agriculture and land stewardship for permanent soil conservation practices under chapter 161A on watersheds above publicly owned lakes.
   b.  An evaluation of economic and quality-of-life factors that contribute to the watershed’s comparative value to the state and local communities located in the watershed, including the populations served by the watershed, the use of the watershed as a source of drinking water, the existence of a rare or valuable ecological system, and recreational opportunities associated with the watershed.
   2.  Chapter 17A does not apply to this section.
    Sec. 9.  Section 466B.3, subsection 6, paragraph b, subparagraph (8), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   (8)  Develop a protocol which identifies high-priority watersheds, including local and community-based subwatersheds, and which appropriately directs resources to those watersheds.  The protocol shall consider economic and quality-of-life factors that contribute to the watershed’s comparative value to the state and local communities located in the watershed, including the population served by the watershed, the use of the watershed as a source of drinking water, the existence of a rare or valuable ecological system, and recreational opportunities associated with the watershed.
DIVISION VIII
PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION TO SUPPORT WATER QUALITY PRACTICES

    Sec. 10.  Section 441.21, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4A.  a.  Notwithstanding other provisions in this section to the contrary, for valuations established on or after January 1, 2017, property classified as residential property, agricultural property, commercial property, industrial property, multiresidential property, property valued by the department of revenue pursuant to chapter 434, and property valued by the department of revenue pursuant to chapters 428, 433, 437, and 438 in each assessing jurisdiction in the county, and which is used for soil and water conservation purposes, shall be assessed at ten percent of the actual value established for that property.
   b.  Property used for soil and water conservation purposes under paragraph “a” is limited to parcels or segments of parcels of the property that utilize a system or practice that reduces the transport of sediment, nutrients, or contaminants to a surface water. To be eligible for the reduction in assessed value a parcel or segment of a parcel must include one or more of the following:
   (1)  A bioreactor system, which is part of or connected to a working subsurface field drainage tile line, that is utilized to reduce sediment, nutrient, or contaminant loading in water transported in the tile line. The parcel or segment of the parcel qualifying for the reduction shall not be more than three acres in size.
   (2)  A filter buffer strip that is an area of permanent vegetation cover utilized to reduce sediment, nutrient, or contaminant loading associated with runoff. The parcel or segment of the parcel qualifying for the reduction may extend any distance along the edge of a surface water but shall not extend more than thirty feet from the edge of the surface water to that portion of the agricultural property used for producing crops.
   (3)  A prairie conservation strip integrating perennial prairie grass strips into agricultural property used for producing crops, and utilized to reduce erosion and the transport of sediment, nutrients, or contaminants downslope. The parcel or segment of the parcel qualifying for the reduction shall not exceed ten percent of the agricultural property’s acreage.
   (4)  A restored wetland that is mostly underwater or waterlogged during the growing season, and characterized by vegetation of hydric soils. The parcel or segment of the parcel qualifying for the reduction shall not exceed ten acres.
   c.  The county assessor shall require an owner of the agricultural property to submit documentation regarding the amount of agricultural property used for soil and water conservation purposes.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   GENERAL. This bill provides for the assessment and reduction of nutrients in this state’s watersheds and for soil and water conservation and water quality practices established on real property, including agricultural land. The bill amends or creates a number of programs administered by or entities associated with the following: Iowa state university of science and technology (ISU), including the Iowa cooperative extension service for agriculture and home economics (extension service), and the Iowa nutrient research center (center); the department of agriculture and land stewardship (DALS), including its soil and water conservation division (division) and soil and water conservation districts (districts) associated with the division; the department of natural resources (DNR); and the water resources coordinating council (WRCC). The bill also provides for these entities’ cooperation with the United States department of agriculture, natural resources conservation service (NRCS). The bill appropriates moneys to DALS for use by the division in administering water quality projects and programs in this state’s watersheds and for deposit into the water quality initiative fund (WQIF). The bill also provides for a reduction of property taxes assessed on property that is reserved for soil and water conservation practices.
   WATER POLLUTION REDUCTION PROJECTS. The bill authorizes the center to sponsor or support water quality projects that reduce water pollution, including the transport of nutrients to surface water from nonpoint sources. The purpose of the center is to carry out the state’s water quality initiative by pursuing a science-based approach to nutrient management research. Currently, the center is supported by an annual appropriation (see 2015 Iowa Acts, ch. 132, sections 17 and 40).
   CONSERVATION PLANNING CERTIFICATION FOR AGRIBUSINESS PROGRAM. The bill requires the extension service to develop and administer a conservation planning certification for agribusiness program. The program is to be based on educational requirements established by NRCS for its certification of conservation planners. The extension service may establish a fee at an amount determined by the extension service based on the costs of developing and administering the program. The extension service is entitled to retain fees collected under the program as repayment receipts.
   HIGH-PRIORITY WATERSHEDS AND WQIF FUNDING —— FERTILIZER FEES. The bill provides that license and inspection fees paid by persons who manufacture, blend, or distribute fertilizers and soil conditioners and deposited in the general fund for use by DALS in regulating the sale and use of fertilizers and soil conditioners may instead be used by the division to administer water quality projects and programs in high-priority watersheds identified by the WRRC. The secretary of agriculture may also transfer the moneys to the WQIF. The bill does not affect fertilizer fees that are required to be deposited into the agriculture management account of the groundwater protection fund.
   INNOVATIVE PROJECTS —— WQIF. The bill authorizes the division to use moneys available in the WQIF to support grants awarded to persons to support the development of new or improved practices or technologies that reduce the transport of nutrients to surface waters from nonpoint sources. However, the division cannot award more than $50,000 in grants from the WQIF to support all projects during any fiscal year.
   DESIGNS FOR QUALIFYING SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES. The bill authorizes a landowner of a district to submit a design for approval by a district for a qualifying voluntary permanent soil conservation practice eligible for cost-share or other forms of available state financing. The design standards adopted by the division must meet NRCS standards and specifications. The qualifying practice used in approved designs must be able to be established by a person having a practical knowledge of land use and row crop farming, be relatively inexpensive to establish and maintain, and be highly effective for a long period of time. The commissioners are not required to provide for the submission of bids unless the division otherwise requires a submission. A landowner is not entitled to receive cost-share or other state financing for preparing or submitting a design.
   ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALISTS. The bill appropriates moneys from the general fund to support additional full-time equivalent environmental specialist positions within the division. The specialists are to administer water quality projects and programs in high-priority watersheds. DALS must convert contract positions referred to as project coordinators and currently associated with assessing and reducing nutrients in district watersheds to full-time equivalent environmental specialist positions. The new environmental specialist positions are to administer water quality projects and programs in high-priority watersheds identified by the WRCC. DALS may use other available moneys to support the new full-time equivalent positions.
   PRIORITIZING WATERSHED FUNDING. The bill provides that when making funding decisions to improve water quality in watersheds, the DNR and the WRCC must, in their respective priority evaluations, account for economic and quality-of-life factors that contribute to the watershed’s comparative value to the state and local communities located in the watershed.
   PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION. The bill provides that property used for soil and water conservation purposes is assessed at 10 percent of the actual value established for the property. Property eligible for the reduction in actual value for assessment purposes is limited to a parcel or a segment of a parcel of property that utilizes a system or practice that reduces the transport of sediment, nutrients, or contaminants to surface water. The county assessor must require the owner of the property to submit documentation regarding the amount of property used for soil and water conservation purposes.