Text: H01876 Text: H01878 Text: H01800 - H01899 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Amend House File 733 as follows:
1 2 #1. Page 17, by inserting after line 18 the
1 3 following:
1 4 "DIVISION ___
1 5 BLUFFSLANDS PROTECTION PROGRAM
1 6 Sec. . NEW SECTION. 161A.80 BLUFFLANDS
1 7 PROTECTION PROGRAM – REVOLVING FUND.
1 8 1. As used in this section, unless the context
1 9 otherwise requires:
1 10 a. "Bluffland" means a cliff, headland, or hill
1 11 with a broad steep face along the channel or
1 12 floodplain of a river and its tributaries.
1 13 b. "Conservation organization" means a nonprofit
1 14 corporation incorporated in Iowa or an entity
1 15 organized and operated primarily to enhance and
1 16 protect natural resources in this state.
1 17 2. A blufflands protection revolving fund is
1 18 created in the state treasury. The revolving fund
1 19 shall consist of five hundred thousand dollars
1 20 appropriated from the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund
1 21 each fiscal year for the fiscal period beginning July
1 22 1, 1997, and ending June 30, 2017, and any other
1 23 moneys obtained or retained for the fund. The
1 24 proceeds of the revolving fund are appropriated to
1 25 make loans to conservation organizations which agree
1 26 to purchase conservation easements on blufflands along
1 27 the Mississippi river or to purchase blufflands along
1 28 the Mississippi river for resale with restrictive
1 29 covenants attached to the property. The
1 30 administrative director of the division of soil
1 31 conservation shall administer the revolving fund.
1 32 Notwithstanding section 12C.7, interest or earnings on
1 33 investments made pursuant to this section or as
1 34 provided in section 12B.10 shall be credited to the
1 35 blufflands protection revolving fund. Notwithstanding
1 36 section 8.33, unobligated or unencumbered funds
1 37 credited to the blufflands protection revolving fund
1 38 shall not revert at the close of a fiscal year.
1 39 However, the maximum balance in the blufflands
1 40 protection fund shall not exceed two million five
1 41 hundred thousand dollars. Any funds in excess of two
1 42 million five hundred thousand dollars shall be
1 43 credited to the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund.
1 44 3. The administrative director of the division
1 45 shall establish a blufflands protection program to
1 46 demonstrate creative land protection techniques and
1 47 encourage private landowners to protect the natural
1 48 beauty of the blufflands along the Mississippi river.
1 49 The commissioners of each soil and water conservation
1 50 district which has a boundary which is coterminous
2 1 with the Mississippi river shall cooperate with and
2 2 assist the director in administering the blufflands
2 3 protection program within their respective districts.
2 4 The director shall provide, by rule, for a uniform
2 5 application form, the content of the form, provisions
2 6 for a loan agreement model conservation easement and
2 7 restrictive covenant requirements for blufflands, and
2 8 minimum qualifications of conservation organizations
2 9 which are eligible to participate in the blufflands
2 10 protection program. The administrative director shall
2 11 specify the eligible purposes for which a loan
2 12 authorized under this section can be expended
2 13 including, but not limited to, the purchase of
2 14 blufflands, the acquisition of conservation easements
2 15 on blufflands, the establishment of landowner
2 16 associations, payment for loss of land value due to
2 17 restrictive covenants, and payment for administrative
2 18 and legal costs.
2 19 4. An applicant for a loan from the blufflands
2 20 protection revolving fund shall apply to the soil and
2 21 water conservation district of the county in which the
2 22 bluffland is located. The application shall be on
2 23 forms prepared by the division and shall include the
2 24 information required by rule of the division. Each
2 25 conservation organization which applies for a loan
2 26 under this section shall demonstrate its financial
2 27 capability to qualify for a loan to the commissioners
2 28 and its commitment to natural resource protection and
2 29 appropriate development. If there is a loss of value
2 30 of a blufflands protection project funded under this
2 31 section resulting from restrictive covenants, the
2 32 conservation organization shall be forgiven seventy-
2 33 five percent of the amount of the loss not exceeding
2 34 the amount of the loan. If a loan is used to purchase
2 35 a conservation easement on a blufflands protection
2 36 project, the conservation organization shall be
2 37 forgiven seventy-five percent of the loan. The
2 38 application shall be reviewed and feasibility of the
2 39 proposed project shall be investigated by the
2 40 commissioners of the district and its report and
2 41 recommendation shall be sent to the administrative
2 42 director and the committee for approval.
2 43 5. Except as otherwise provided in this
2 44 subsection, each loan made under this section shall be
2 45 for a period not to exceed five years, shall bear no
2 46 interest for the first year, and shall be repayable to
2 47 the blufflands protection revolving fund. After the
2 48 first year and for each subsequent year that the
2 49 principal remains unpaid, interest shall be charged
2 50 against any unpaid balance of the loan. The interest
3 1 rate shall be set at the prevailing market rate for
3 2 similar real estate in the county as determined by the
3 3 director. All interest payments shall be credited to
3 4 the blufflands protection revolving fund. Each loan
3 5 shall be repaid as provided in the loan agreement.
3 6 However, interest on the principal of a loan shall be
3 7 due and payable thirty days after the conclusion of
3 8 the second year and each subsequent year that the
3 9 principal or a part of the principal remains unpaid.
3 10 A loan may be extended annually beyond the original
3 11 five years with the approval of the district
3 12 commissioners and the administrative director.
3 13 6. The administrative director may:
3 14 a. Contract, sue and be sued, and adopt
3 15 administrative rules pursuant to chapter 17A and
3 16 approved by the committee, necessary to carry out this
3 17 section, but the administrative director, the
3 18 committee, or the district commissioners shall not
3 19 directly or indirectly pledge the credit of the state
3 20 of Iowa.
3 21 b. Authorize payment from the blufflands
3 22 protection revolving fund from moneys received under
3 23 section 99F.11, subsection 4, and from any income
3 24 received by investments of any money in the fund for
3 25 costs, commissions, attorney fees, and other
3 26 reasonable expenses related to and necessary for the
3 27 making and protecting of direct loans under this
3 28 section, and for recovery of moneys loaned or the
3 29 management of property acquired in connection with the
3 30 loans.
3 31 7. The principal and interest from any blufflands
3 32 protection loans outstanding on July 1, 2017, and
3 33 payable to the blufflands protection revolving fund,
3 34 shall be paid to the administrative director of the
3 35 division of soil conservation on or after July 1,
3 36 2017, pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement and
3 37 shall be credited to the rebuild Iowa infrastructure
3 38 fund.
3 39 8. This section is repealed on July 1, 2017."
3 40 #2. By renumbering as necessary.
3 41
3 42
3 43
3 44 WITT of Black Hawk
3 45
3 46
3 47
3 48 HUSEMAN of Cherokee
3 49
3 50
4 1
4 2 THOMAS of Clayton
4 3
4 4
4 5
4 6 KLEMME of Plymouth
4 7 HF 733.511 77
4 8 mk/jw/28
Text: H01876 Text: H01878 Text: H01800 - H01899 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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