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Text: HF00216                           Text: HF00218
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House File 217

Partial Bill History

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  468A.1  DEFINITIONS.
  1  2    As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
  1  3 requires:
  1  4    1.  "Agricultural drainage well" means a vertical opening
  1  5 to an aquifer or permeable substratum which is constructed by
  1  6 any means including but not limited to drilling, driving,
  1  7 digging, boring, augering, jetting, washing, or coring, and
  1  8 which is capable of intercepting or receiving surface or
  1  9 subsurface drainage water from agricultural land.
  1 10    2.  "Agricultural drainage well basin" means an area of
  1 11 land where surface or subsurface water drains into an
  1 12 agricultural drainage well directly or through a drainage
  1 13 system.
  1 14    3.  "Alternative drainage system" means a drainage system
  1 15 constructed as part of a drainage district in order to drain
  1 16 surface or subsurface water from agricultural land due to the
  1 17 plugging of an agricultural drainage well.
  1 18    4.  "Anaerobic lagoon" means the same as defined in section
  1 19 455B.161.
  1 20    5.  "Cost-share" means a contribution of money made by the
  1 21 state in order to pay a percentage of the costs related to
  1 22 plugging an agricultural drainage well or constructing an
  1 23 alternative drainage system as provided in this chapter.
  1 24    6.  "Designated drainage area" means an agricultural
  1 25 drainage well basin or a drainage district in which there is
  1 26 located an anaerobic lagoon or earthen manure storage basin
  1 27 for which a construction permit is required to be obtained
  1 28 from the department of natural resources pursuant to section
  1 29 455B.173.
  1 30    7.  "Division" means the soil conservation division of the
  1 31 department of agriculture and land stewardship.
  1 32    8.  "Drainage district" means a drainage district
  1 33 established pursuant to chapter 468.
  1 34    9.  "Drainage system" means tile lines, laterals, surface
  1 35 inlets, or other improvements which are constructed to
  2  1 facilitate the drainage of agricultural land.
  2  2    10.  "Earthen manure storage basin" means the same as
  2  3 defined in section 455B.161.
  2  4    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  468A.2  CLOSURE OF AGRICULTURAL
  2  5 DRAINAGE WELLS AND CONSTRUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE DRAINAGE
  2  6 SYSTEMS.
  2  7    1.  Not later than December 31, 2001, the owner of land
  2  8 which is within a designated drainage area shall plug each
  2  9 agricultural drainage well located on the land.  The owner
  2 10 shall plug the agricultural drainage well in a manner using
  2 11 materials and according to specifications required by rules
  2 12 which shall be adopted by the department of natural resources.
  2 13 The department may provide different plugging requirements
  2 14 based on classifications established by the department.
  2 15 However, the department's requirements shall ensure that an
  2 16 agricultural drainage well is plugged by using sealing
  2 17 materials such as bentonite to permanently seal the
  2 18 agricultural drainage well from contamination by surface or
  2 19 subsurface water drainage.
  2 20    2.  A person owning land affected by the plugging of an
  2 21 agricultural drainage well as required pursuant to subsection
  2 22 1 may construct an alternative drainage system as part of an
  2 23 established or new drainage district.  The alternative
  2 24 drainage system shall ensure that surface or subsurface water
  2 25 does not drain into an agricultural drainage well.  A
  2 26 competent registered professional engineer shall certify that
  2 27 work related to plugging an agricultural drainage well and
  2 28 constructing an alternative drainage system meets all
  2 29 applicable engineering standards.  If the site is within an
  2 30 established drainage district, the engineer shall be the
  2 31 district's engineer appointed pursuant to section 468.10 or an
  2 32 engineer approved by the district's engineer.
  2 33    3.  The department of natural resources shall provide
  2 34 notice to owners of land registering agricultural drainage
  2 35 wells pursuant to section 159.29 within designated drainage
  3  1 areas.  The notice shall include the deadline for complying
  3  2 with this section, and information regarding the alternative
  3  3 drainage system assistance program as provided in section
  3  4 468A.5.  The notice may be provided by print, electronic
  3  5 media, or other notification process as determined appropriate
  3  6 by the department.
  3  7    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  468A.3  ASSESSMENT OF COSTS WITHIN
  3  8 AN ESTABLISHED DRAINAGE DISTRICT.
  3  9    The costs of plugging an agricultural drainage well or
  3 10 constructing an alternative drainage system within an
  3 11 established drainage district shall be assessed as a special
  3 12 assessment by the board of the drainage district as provided
  3 13 in chapter 468.
  3 14    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  468A.4  ALTERNATIVE DRAINAGE SYSTEM
  3 15 ASSISTANCE FUND.
  3 16    1.  An alternative drainage system assistance fund is
  3 17 created in the state treasury under the control of the
  3 18 division.  The fund is composed of moneys appropriated by the
  3 19 general assembly, and moneys available to and obtained or
  3 20 accepted by the division or the state soil conservation
  3 21 committee established pursuant to section 161A.4, from the
  3 22 United States or private sources for placement in the fund.
  3 23    2.  Moneys in the fund are subject to an annual audit by
  3 24 the auditor of state.  The fund is subject to warrants written
  3 25 by the director of revenue and finance, drawn upon the written
  3 26 requisition of the division.
  3 27    3.  The fund shall be used to support the alternative
  3 28 drainage system assistance program as provided in section
  3 29 468A.5.  Moneys shall be used to provide financial incentives
  3 30 under the program.  The division may adopt rules pursuant to
  3 31 chapter 17A to administer this section.
  3 32    4.  The division shall not in any manner directly or
  3 33 indirectly pledge the credit of the state.
  3 34    5.  Section 8.33 shall not apply to moneys in the fund.
  3 35 Moneys earned as income, including as interest, from the fund
  4  1 shall remain in the fund until expended as provided in this
  4  2 section.
  4  3    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  468A.5  ALTERNATIVE DRAINAGE SYSTEM
  4  4 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
  4  5    1.  The division shall establish an alternative drainage
  4  6 system assistance program as provided by rules which shall be
  4  7 adopted by the division pursuant to chapter 17A.  The program
  4  8 shall be supported from moneys deposited in the alternative
  4  9 drainage system assistance fund created pursuant to section
  4 10 468A.4.
  4 11    2.  To the extent that moneys are available to support the
  4 12 program, the division shall provide cost-share moneys to
  4 13 persons plugging agricultural drainage wells and constructing
  4 14 alternative drainage systems which are not part of an
  4 15 established drainage district system.  The amount of moneys
  4 16 allocated in cost-share payments to a person qualifying under
  4 17 the program shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the
  4 18 estimated cost of installing the alternative drainage system
  4 19 or seventy-five percent of the actual cost of installing the
  4 20 drainage system, whichever is less.
  4 21    3.  A person shall not be eligible to participate in the
  4 22 program, if the person does any of the following:
  4 23    a.  Owns land within the agricultural well drainage basin
  4 24 where there is located an anaerobic lagoon or earthen manure
  4 25 storage basin for which a construction permit is required to
  4 26 be obtained from the department of natural resources pursuant
  4 27 to section 455B.173 or an agricultural drainage well serving
  4 28 the agricultural well drainage basin.
  4 29    b.  Is a party to a pending legal or administrative action,
  4 30 including a contested case proceeding under chapter 17A, which
  4 31 relates to an alleged violation of chapter 455B involving an
  4 32 animal feeding operation.
  4 33    c.  Is classified as a habitual violator as provided in
  4 34 section 455B.173.
  4 35    The department of natural resources shall cooperate with
  5  1 the division by providing information necessary to administer
  5  2 this subsection.  
  5  3                           EXPLANATION
  5  4    This bill provides for plugging agricultural drainage wells
  5  5 within areas where there are located anaerobic lagoons and
  5  6 earthen manure storage basins required to obtain construction
  5  7 permits from the department of natural resources.
  5  8    The bill requires that by December 31, 2001, a landowner
  5  9 must plug an agricultural drainage well located on the land,
  5 10 if the land drains into an agricultural drainage well.  The
  5 11 well must be plugged in a manner and according to
  5 12 specifications required by the department of natural
  5 13 resources.  The bill provides that a professional engineer
  5 14 must certify that the work related to plugging the
  5 15 agricultural drainage well and constructing any alternative
  5 16 drainage system meets all applicable engineering standards.
  5 17    The bill requires the department of natural resources to
  5 18 provide notice to applicable landowners of the December 31,
  5 19 2001, deadline and information regarding a state assistance
  5 20 program as provided in the bill.
  5 21    The bill provides that the costs of plugging an
  5 22 agricultural drainage well or constructing an alternative
  5 23 drainage system within an established drainage district is to
  5 24 be assessed as a special assessment by the board of the
  5 25 drainage district.  The bill establishes a state fund
  5 26 administered by the soil conservation division of the
  5 27 department of agriculture and land stewardship.  The purpose
  5 28 of the fund is to support a program also administered by the
  5 29 division which provides cost-share moneys to landowners
  5 30 plugging agricultural drainage wells and constructing
  5 31 alternative drainage systems which are not part of an
  5 32 established drainage district.  The bill places restrictions
  5 33 upon persons eligible to qualify for assistance.  Assistance
  5 34 is not available for landowners who maintain a permitted
  5 35 anaerobic lagoon or earthen manure storage basin on the land.
  6  1 In addition, a landowner cannot be a party to a pending legal
  6  2 or administrative action which relates to an alleged violation
  6  3 involving an animal feeding operation.  The landowner also
  6  4 cannot be classified as a habitual violator of regulations
  6  5 applying to confinement feeding operations.  
  6  6 LSB 1891YH 77
  6  7 da/jw/5
     

Text: HF00216                           Text: HF00218
Text: HF00200 - HF00299                 Text: HF Index
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