HF 523 (LSB 1301HV (1) 85)

HOUSE FILE 523

BY  COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 66)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to matters under the purview of the department of natural resources, including the registration and titling of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, the restore the outdoors program, and protected wetlands.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

DIVISION I

SNOWMOBILE AND ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE TITLING REGISTRATION
    Section 1.  Section 321G.29, subsection 3, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  An owner of a snowmobile shall apply to the county recorder for issuance of a certificate of title within thirty days after acquisition. The application shall be on forms the department prescribes and accompanied by the required fee. The application shall be signed and sworn to before a notarial officer as provided in chapter 9B or other person who administers oaths, or shall include a certification signed in writing containing substantially the representation that statements made are true and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, information, and belief, under penalty of perjury. The application shall contain the date of sale and gross price of the snowmobile or the fair market value if no sale immediately preceded the transfer and any additional information the department requires. If the application is made for a snowmobile last previously registered or titled in another state or foreign country, the application shall contain this information and any other information the department requires.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321I.31, subsection 3, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  An owner of an all-terrain vehicle shall apply to the county recorder for issuance of a certificate of title within thirty days after acquisition. The application shall be on forms the department prescribes and accompanied by the required fee. The application shall be signed and sworn to before a notary public as provided in chapter 9B or other person who administers oaths, or shall include a certification signed in writing containing substantially the representation that statements made are true and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, information, and belief, under penalty of perjury. The application shall contain the date of sale and gross price of the all-terrain vehicle or the fair market value if no sale immediately preceded the transfer and any additional information the department requires. If the application is made for an all-terrain vehicle last previously registered or titled in another state or foreign country, the application shall contain this information and any other information the department requires.

DIVISION II

RESTORE THE OUTDOORS PROGRAM
    Sec. 3.  REPEAL.  Section 461A.3A, Code 2013, is repealed.

DIVISION III

PROTECTED WETLANDS
    Sec. 4.  Section 427.1, subsection 23, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   Land designated as native prairie or land designated as a protected wetland, as defined in section 456B.1, by the department of natural resources pursuant to section 456B.12.
    Sec. 5.  Section 456B.1, subsection 4, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  “Protected wetlands” means type 3, type 4, and type 5 wetlands as described in circular 39, “Wetlands of the United States”, 1971 Edition, published by the United States department of the interior, or a palustrine emergent wetland with a water regime of seasonally flooded, semipermanently flooded, or permanently flooded as described in classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States, originally published in 1979 by the United States fish and wildlife service. However, a protected wetland does not include land where an agricultural drainage well has been plugged causing a temporary wetland or land within a drainage district or levee district.
    Sec. 6.  REPEAL.  Sections 456B.12, 456B.13, 456B.14, and 654A.16, Code 2013, are repealed.
EXPLANATION
   This bill concerns matters administered by the department of natural resources.
   DIVISION I —— SNOWMOBILE AND ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE TITLING AND REGISTRATION. Currently, an application for a certificate of title for a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle must either be signed and sworn to before a notary public or other person who administers oaths, or include the applicant’s signed certification that statements made in the application are true and correct. The bill strikes the language relating to notarization of the application, requiring only the signed certification by the owner.
   DIVISION II —— RESTORE THE OUTDOORS PROGRAM. The bill repeals the restore the outdoors program whose stated purpose is to provide funding for new and existing vertical infrastructure projects in existing state parks and other public facilities managed by the department.
   DIVISION III —— PROTECTED WETLANDS. The bill amends the definition of “protected wetlands” to include certain palustrine emergent wetlands. The bill repeals Code section 456B.12, relating to the department’s designation of protected wetlands and marshes of each county and the procedure by which affected landowners may challenge a preliminary wetlands designation; Code section 456B.13, requiring a person to obtain a permit from the department to drain a protected wetland and citing exceptions for certain activities; Code section 456B.14, relating to civil penalties for violation of permit requirements; and Code section 654A.16, relating to mediation between the department and landowners affected by a preliminary wetland designation.