1998 Summary of Legislation Published by the Iowa General Assembly -- Legislative Service Bureau

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2184 - Solid Waste Tonnage Fees -- Exemptions for Certain Disposal Facilities (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT. This Act adds cement kiln dust to the list of materials that may be disposed of at certain solid waste disposal facilities which are exempt from paying a tonnage fee to the Department of Natural Resources.

SENATE FILE 2413 - Solid Waste -- Tonnage Fees and Standards and Criteria for Landfills (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. This Act relates to solid waste tonnage fees paid to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) by sanitary landfills for each ton of solid waste received and disposed of at the sanitary landfill.

The Act provides for the retention of a portion of the tonnage fee by a sanitary landfill operator, if an updated, comprehensive plan has been approved by DNR. The amount of the tonnage fee that may be retained equals 25 cents per ton of solid waste beginning July 1, 1998. In the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1999, and every year thereafter, any planning area that meets the statewide solid waste reduction average, as determined by DNR on July 1, 1999, shall retain, in addition to the 25 cents retained, 10 cents of the tonnage fee regardless of whether the planning area subsequently fails to meet the statewide average. The Act provides that any tonnage fee retained shall be used for waste reduction, recycling or small business pollution prevention purposes. Any tonnage fee retained shall be taken from that portion of the tonnage fee which would have been allocated to funding alternatives to landfills.

The Act requires the Environmental Protection Commission to adopt rules requiring all sanitary disposal projects to install and utilize scales to calculate payment of the tonnage fee.

The Act provides that a person who fails or refuses to provide the return required by the Code shall be assessed a penalty of 2 percent of the fee due each month the return is overdue.

The Act also provides that the General Assembly supports the 50 percent waste stream reduction goal, requests DNR to evaluate, assess and suggest amendments to the design standards and criteria for nonmunicipal solid waste landfills, and requests the Environmental Protection Division to implement a permitting fee schedule for the permitting of foundry sand and coal combustion residue disposal sites.

HOUSE FILE 681 - Environmental Audits (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Act relates to privilege and immunity granted to an entity that conducts an environmental audit which meets the criteria provided in the Act.

The Act provides that an environmental audit is a voluntary evaluation of a facility or operation, of an activity at a facility or operation, or of an environmental management system at a facility or operation if the facility, operation or activity is regulated under state or federal environmental laws, rules or permit conditions. The audit is conducted by an owner or operator, an employee or an independent contractor. The audit is designed to identify historical or current noncompliance with environmental laws, rules, ordinances, or permit conditions; discover environmental contamination or hazards; remedy noncompliance or improve compliance with environmental laws; or improve an environmental management system. The Act provides that once notification is given to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the audit must be completed within a reasonable time not to exceed six months.

The Act provides that material included in an environmental audit report generated during an environmental audit is privileged and confidential and is not discoverable or admissible as evidence in any civil or administrative proceeding. The Act provides circumstances under which certain persons shall not be compelled to testify about or produce a document related to an environmental audit. The Act provides that the privilege may be waived and provides certain circumstances under which information is not privileged.

The Act provides that disclosure of a portion of an environmental audit may be required by a court or presiding officer in a civil or administrative proceeding if the court or presiding officer makes particular findings after an in camera review. The Act provides an appeal process, including interlocutory appeal, for appealing a ruling requiring disclosure. If a court finds that a person claiming privilege intentionally claimed the privilege for material that is not entitled to be privileged, the person is subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000. The Act provides that privilege does not apply if an owner or operator has been found in a civil or administrative proceeding to have committed serious violations in this state that constitute a pattern of continuous or repeated violations of environmental laws, administrative rules or permit conditions, which were due to separate and distinct events giving rise to the violations within the three-year period prior to the date of disclosure.

The Act provides that privilege for environmental audits does not apply to criminal proceedings; however, if an audit report is obtained, reviewed or used in a criminal investigation or proceeding, the administrative and civil evidentiary privilege is not waived or made inapplicable. The department may review information in an audit report, but such review does not waive or make inapplicable the administrative and civil evidentiary privilege.

The Act provides that an owner or operator is eligible for immunity from the time DNR receives official notification from the owner or operator of a scheduled environmental audit. An owner or operator is immune from any administrative or civil penalty associated with the information disclosed if the owner or operator makes a prompt voluntary disclosure to DNR regarding the environmental violation which is discovered. The Act provides for the circumstances under which disclosure is considered voluntary. The Act provides that immunity does not apply if the violations are intentional or if the violations resulted in substantial actual injury or imminent and substantial risk of injury to persons, property or the environment. Immunity also does not apply if an owner or operator is found to have committed serious violations that constitute a pattern of continuous or repeated violations or if a violation results in a substantial economic benefit which gives the violator a clear advantage over its business competitors.

The Act requires DNR and the Iowa Waste Reduction Center to jointly develop a training program and standards for certification of environmental auditors.

The Act requires DNR to annually make available a summary of the number of environmental audit notices received, the violations, and the remediation status of the violations reported during the preceding fiscal year.

HOUSE FILE 2292 - Aquifer Storage and Recovery -- Permits (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Act authorizes the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue permits for aquifer storage and recovery sites for a period of 20 years or the life of the project, whichever is less. Permits may be renewed an unlimited number of times for periods of 20 years. The Act prohibits DNR from authorizing withdrawal of treated water from an aquifer storage and recovery site by anyone other than the permittee during the period of the original permit and each subsequent renewal permit. The Act provides that treated water injected into a permitted aquifer storage and recovery site is the property of the permittee. The Act provides that a person, other than a permittee, withdrawing treated water from a permitted site within the state is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day the violation occurs as provided in Code Section 455B.279. The Act requires DNR to adopt rules relating to information an applicant for a permit must submit to DNR.

HOUSE FILE 2339 - Underground Storage Tanks -- No Further Action Fund (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Act makes amendments to Code Chapter 455G relating to the Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund and creates a "No Further Action Fund."

The Act amends limitations of Remedial Account coverage to delete the differentiation between claims for a release for a small business and all other claims. The Act also amends the minimum copayment schedule provisions relating to the Remedial Account. The Act provides that, with the exception of counties under certain circumstances, an owner or operator shall be required to pay the greater of $5,000 or 18 percent of the first $80,000 of the total costs of corrective action for a release. If the actual cost of corrective action of a site exceeds $80,000, the Remedial Account pays the remainder of the total costs, as provided by federal regulations, up to $1 million.

The Act creates a No Further Action Fund under the control of and administered by the Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board. The fund consists of $10 million allocated from the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund and any interest earned on the No Further Action Fund. Moneys in the No Further Action Fund do not revert to the General Fund of the State at the end of each fiscal year.

Up to $100,000, per site, from the No Further Action Fund may be used for reimbursement for corrective action under certain conditions. The Act prohibits moneys in the fund from being used for purposes of bonding or providing security for bonding. Any moneys remaining in the fund on June 30, 2006, which are not held in reserve for a claim, and any moneys remaining on June 30, 2008, are credited to the Road Use Tax Fund.

HOUSE FILE 2490 - Underground Storage Tank Insurance Fund and Board (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Act creates an Underground Storage Tank Insurance Fund consisting of all moneys held in the Insurance Account of the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund. The Treasurer of State acts as the custodian of the fund and the fund is administered by the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board. By July 1, 2004, the Underground Storage Tank Insurance Board will receive all the assets and liabilities of the insurance fund when the insurance board is restructured as an independent nonprofit entity.

The insurance board consists of five members. Prior to the restructuring of the insurance board as an independent nonprofit entity, the insurance board is to provide recommendations to the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board relating to all of the following:

1. Rules, practices and procedures for implementing and administering the insurance fund.
2. A process to independently provide all of the following: long-term insurability based upon competitive rates; elimination of any lapse in coverage; ease in transition; participation of insureds in establishing the rules, practices and procedures; and continued approval as an acceptable financial assurance mechanism as required by federal law.
3. The determination of a date certain upon which all assets and liabilities of the Insurance Account shall be transferred to the insurance board once the insurance board is an independent nonprofit entity.

The Act provides that if the insurance board dissolves or ceases to function as an acceptable financial assurance mechanism or if a person or persons purchase the ownership rights of the assets of the insurance board, any unencumbered and unobligated moneys transferred to the insurance board shall be transferred back to the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund, if the fund is still in existence, or to the General Fund of the State.

The Act changes one of the alternative conditions for owners and operators to receive Insurance Account coverage to require compliance with all technical requirements of the Department of Natural Resources. The Act also changes a provision relating to actuarially sound premiums.

The Act amends provisions relating to installer's and inspector's insurance coverage. Currently, the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board is required to provide such coverage. The Act makes offering of such coverage by the board optional. The Act also allows the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board to choose to cease offering installer's and inspector's insurance coverage if the board determines that competitive private market alternatives exist.

The Act also provides that the Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board may cease offering insurance coverage to owners and operators if the board determines that competitive private market alternatives exist and if certain criteria are met.

The Act removes the availability of property transfer insurance under Code Section 455G.11.

Code Section 455G.11, which creates the insurance fund and the insurance board, is repealed effective July 1, 2004.

HOUSE FILE 2546 - Waste Tires and Tire-Derived Fuels (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS. This Act relates to financial assurance instruments for waste tires and use of processed waste tires.

The Act amends Code Section 455D.11A, relating to financial assurance for waste tires, by amending what constitutes an instrument and the amount of financial assurance that must be provided. Effective July 1, 1999, the Act requires a waste tire collection site to have a financial assurance instrument that provides coverage in an amount equivalent to 35 cents per passenger tire equivalent collected by the site prior to July 1, 1998, and an amount equivalent to 35 cents per passenger tire equivalent collected for processing by the site which is above the three-day processing supply of tires for the site as determined by the department. The Act requires a financial assurance instrument that provides coverage in an amount equivalent to 85 cents per passenger tire equivalent collected by the site on or after July 1, 1998, and an amount equivalent to 85 cents per passenger tire equivalent collected for processing by the site which is above the three-day processing supply of tires for the site as determined by the department.

The Act provides that State Board of Regents institutions of higher learning are encouraged to use waste tires for consumption of tire-derived fuels. The Act allows for moneys to be awarded to institutions from the Waste Tire Management Fund to offset additional fuel, operation and maintenance costs incurred in generating heat, electricity or power through the use of tire-derived fuel and for the reimbursement of costs associated with mandated air permits, regulatory fees, and emission or fuel testing required to expand the institutions' use of tire-derived fuels. Institutions receiving these moneys shall not be eligible to receive end-users award moneys for using processed waste tires.

The Act provides that an end-user who annually recycles, reuses or consumes more than 250,000 processed waste tires may be awarded moneys of not more than 10 cents per passenger tire equivalent processed and delivered to the end-user, at a reimbursement rate of no more than 50 percent of the costs incurred or paid per ton by the end-user to receive the processed waste tires. An end-user shall not be awarded more than $150,000 in a fiscal year. Award allocations shall be made proportionately between eligible end-users in the event that funding requests exceed the total annual amount of moneys available. Moneys are available only for waste tires generated within the state and processed by and received from a tire processor located within the state. An end-user with a pending enforcement action against the end-user by the Department of Natural Resources relating to Code Sections 455D.11 through 455D.11H is ineligible for consideration of receiving moneys for waste tire materials which are recycled, reused or consumed while the enforcement action is pending. The Act provides that end-users are encouraged to use moneys awarded to increase the purchase and consumption of processed materials.

The Act provides that a generator of waste tires who is identified as being a contributor to the materials which are the object of an abatement is not liable for any of the costs of recovery actions of the abatement if the generator can document full compliance with Code Chapter 455D, Waste Volume Reduction and Recycling.

The Act appropriates $200,000, from moneys used for funding alternatives to landfills, to Iowa State University for equipment and retrofitting of the heating plant at the university to burn tire-derived fuel.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2015 -- Items Deemed Nuisances (Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT.)

This Act removes cotton-bearing cottonwood trees and all other cotton-bearing poplar trees in cities from a list of items or conditions that constitute a nuisance.

SENATE FILE 2185 -- State Purchase of Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluids (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

This Act provides that when purchasing hydraulic fluids, state agencies must give a preference to biodegradable hydraulic fluids manufactured from soybeans to the extent that the purchase is within their purchasing budgets and is consistent with manufacturer's specifications.

SENATE FILE 2201 -- Security for Damages From Abandonment of Pipelines (Complete summary under ENERGY & PUBLIC UTILITIES.)

This Act amends Code Section 479A.12, relating to the financial condition of natural gas pipeline companies, to include damages arising out of the abandonment of pipelines and underground storage facilities as damages for which a surety bond, guaranty or proof of solvency must be provided.

SENATE FILE 2295 -- Appropriations -- Agriculture and Natural Resources (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

This Act makes appropriations to the Department of Natural Resources for the administration of a program to provide safe drinking water and a project to support the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System; to Iowa State University to support a program to assist counties in testing private wells and waters of the state for pollution caused by animal feeding production; and appropriates $9 million to the Resources Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Fund in lieu of the appropriation made to that fund statutorily. The Act also provides that the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship may reimburse landowners, from the Agricultural Management Account of the Groundwater Protection Fund, for engineering costs associated with voluntarily closing agricultural drainage wells.

SENATE FILE 2415 -- Iowa Agricultural Industry Finance Act and Related Provisions (Complete summary under ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.)

This Act establishes a new division within Code Chapter 15E, cited as the "Iowa Agricultural Industry Finance Act," which authorizes the establishment of Iowa agricultural industry finance corporations. The Act provides that $4.25 million per quarter from the use tax moneys deposited in the Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Marketability Fund shall be credited to the Department of Economic Development for purposes of supporting the Act until June 30, 1999, to a maximum of $25 million. The Act also provides that moneys deposited in the Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Marketability Fund from January 1, 1998, until July 1, 1998, must be transferred to the department.

HOUSE FILE 2136 -- Compliance With Requirements for Agricultural Drainage Wells (Complete summary under AGRICULTURE.)

This Act extends the deadline by which an owner of land containing an agricultural drainage well must comply with requirements for preventing surface water from draining into the agricultural drainage well, from December 31, 1998, to December 31, 2001.

HOUSE FILE 2210 -- Appropriations -- Energy Conservation Trust Funds (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

This Act provides for the appropriation from Oil Overcharge Account funds for FY 1998-1999 to the departments of Human Rights, Natural Resources and Transportation for energy conservation programs and provides for the dissolution of the Energy Fund Disbursement Council on June 30, 2003, and the Intermodal Revolving Loan Fund by July 1, 2019. This Act also eliminates the June 30, 2000, repeal of the Energy Conservation Trust.

HOUSE FILE 2494 -- Regulation of Animal Feeding Operations and Related Provisions (Complete summary under AGRICULTURE.)

This Act amends a number of provisions which apply to the regulation of animal feeding operations, including provisions regarding the Manure Storage Indemnity Fund; county ordinances regulating livestock operations; separation distances between animal feeding operation structures and homes, schools, businesses, churches, and public use areas; separation distances between manure application and water sources; the issuance of construction permits; the enforcement of environmental regulations; the submission of manure management plans; the certification of commercial manure applicators; the construction of manure storage structures; and nuisance suit protection.

HOUSE FILE 2542 -- Bulk Dry Animal Nutrient Products (Complete summary under AGRICULTURE.)

This Act creates a new Code Chapter 200A, titled the "Bulk Dry Animal Nutrient Products Law." The Act regulates certain bulk dry animal manure for use as a fertilizer or soil conditioner and especially the distribution of the manure, which is unmanipulated and therefore not subject to regulation under Code Chapter 200 (regulating processed fertilizers and soil conditioners).

© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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