Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House File 2614 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE 2614
                                  BY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                                  (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 674)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to the conservation and improvement of
  soil and water resources, including by providing for the
  administration of associated programs and regulations,
  making appropriations, and including effective date
  provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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                            DIVISION I
                 SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS LAW
    Section 1. Section 161A.2, Code 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
    161A.2 Declaration of policy.
    It is hereby declared to be the policy of the legislature
 state to integrate the conservation of soil and water resources
 into the production of agricultural commodities to insure
 ensure the long-term protection of the soil and water resources
 of the state of Iowa, and to encourage the development of farm
 management and agricultural practices that are consistent
 with the capability of the land to sustain agriculture, and
 thereby to preserve natural resources, control floods, prevent
 impairment of dams and reservoirs, assist and maintain the
 navigability of rivers and harbors, preserve wildlife, protect
 the tax base, protect public lands, and promote the health,
 safety, and public welfare of the people of this state.
    Sec. 2. Section 161A.3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
 following new subsection:
    NEW SUBSECTION. 12A. “Soil health” means the continuing
 capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that
 sustains plants, animals, and humans.
    Sec. 3. Section 161A.4, subsection 2, paragraph g, Code
 2024, is amended to read as follows:
    g. To assist each soil and water conservation district in
 developing a district soil and water resource conservation plan
 as provided under section 161A.7. The plan shall be developed
 according to rules adopted by the division to preserve and
 protect the public interest in the soil and water resources
 of this state for future generations and for this purpose to
 encourage, promote, facilitate, and where such public interest
 requires, to mandate the conservation and proper control of and
 use of the soil and water resources of this state, by measures
 including but not limited to the control of floods, the control
 of erosion by water or by wind, the improvement of soil health,
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 and the preservation of the quality of water for its optimum
 use for agricultural, irrigation, recreational, industrial,
 and domestic purposes, all of which shall be presumed to be
 conducive to the public health, convenience, and welfare, both
 present and future.
    Sec. 4. Section 161A.7, subsection 1, paragraphs f, h, m,
 and n, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
    f. To make available on such terms as it shall prescribe,
 to landowners or occupiers within the district, agricultural
 and engineering machinery and equipment, fertilizer, lime,
 and such other material or equipment as will assist such
 landowners or occupiers to carry on operations upon their lands
 for the conservation of soil resources and for the prevention
 and control of soil erosion; the improvement of soil health;
 and for the prevention of erosion, floodwater, and sediment
 damages.
    h. To develop comprehensive plans for the conservation of
 soil resources and for; the improvement of soil health; the
 control and prevention of soil erosion; and for the prevention
 of erosion, floodwater, and sediment damages within the
 district, which. The comprehensive plans shall specify in such
 detail as may be possible, the acts, procedures, performances,
 and avoidances which are necessary or desirable for the
 effectuation of such plans, including the specification of
 engineering operations, methods of cultivation, the growing of
 vegetation, cropping programs, tillage practices, and changes
 in the use of land; and to. The district shall publish such
 plans and information and bring them to the attention of owners
 and occupiers of lands within the district.
    m. To encourage local school districts to provide
 instruction in the importance of and in some of the basic
 methods of soil conservation and soil health practices, as a
 part of course work relating to agriculture, the conservation
 of natural resources, and environmental awareness as required
 in rules adopted by the state board of education pursuant
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 to section 256.11, subsections 3 and 4 through 5, and to
 offer technical assistance to schools in developing such
 instructional programs.
    n. To develop a soil and water resource conservation
 district plan for the district.
    (1) The district plan shall contain a comprehensive
 long-range assessment of soil and surface water resources in
 the district consistent with rules approved by the committee
 under section 161A.4.
    (2) In developing the district plan, the district may
 receive technical support from the United States department
 of agriculture natural resources conservation service and the
 county board of supervisors in the county where the district
 is located. The division and the Iowa cooperative extension
 service in agriculture and home economics may provide technical
 support to the district. The support may include but is not
 limited to the following:
    (a) Assessing the condition of soil and surface water in
 the district, including an evaluation of the type, amount,
 and quality of soil and water,; the threat of soil erosion
 and erosion, floodwater, and sediment damages;, and necessary
 preventative and control measures; and soil restoration
 efforts.
    (b) Developing methods to maintain or improve soil health
 and water condition quality.
    (c) Cooperating with other state and federal agencies to
 carry out this support.
    (2) (3) The title page of the district plan and a
 notification stating where the plan may be reviewed shall be
 recorded with the recorder in the county in which the district
 is located, and updated as necessary, after the committee
 approves and the director of the division signs the district
 plan. The commissioners shall provide notice of the recording
 and may provide a copy of the approved district plan to the
 county board of supervisors in the county where the district is
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 located. The district plan shall be filed with the division
 as part of the state soil and water resource conservation plan
 provided in section 161A.4.
    Sec. 5. Section 161A.42, subsections 4 and 9, Code 2024, are
 amended to read as follows:
    4. “Erosion control practices” “Erosion control practice”
 means any of the following:
    a. The construction or installation of, and or the
 maintenance of, of such structures a structure or devices
 device as are is necessary to carry to a suitable outlet from
 the site of any building housing four or more residential
 units, any commercial or industrial development, or any
 publicly or privately owned recreational or service facility of
 any kind, not served by a central storm sewer system, any water
 which that complies with all of the following:
    (1) Would otherwise cause erosion in excess of the
 applicable soil loss limit; and.
    (2) Does not carry nor constitute sewage, industrial waste,
 or other waste as defined by section 455B.171.
    b. The employment of a temporary devices device or
 structures structure, temporary seeding, fibre mats, plastic,
 straw, or other measures measure adequate to prevent erosion in
 excess of the applicable soil loss limits from the site of, or
 land directly affected by, the construction of any public or
 private street, road, or highway, any residential, commercial,
 or industrial building or development, or any publicly or
 privately owned recreational or service facility of any kind,
 at all times prior to completion of such construction.
    c. The establishment and maintenance of vegetation upon the
 right-of-way of any completed portion of any public street,
 road, or highway, or the construction or installation thereon
 of structures or devices, or other measures adequate to prevent
 erosion from the right-of-way in excess of the applicable soil
 loss limits.
    9. a. “Soil and water conservation practices” “Soil and
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 water conservation practice” means any of the practices practice
 designated in or pursuant to this subsection which serve serves
 to prevent erosion of soil by wind or water, in excess of the
 applicable soil loss limits, from land used for agricultural
 or horticultural purposes only.
    b. “Soil and water conservation practice” includes any of the
 following:
    a. (1) “Permanent soil and water conservation practices”
 “Permanent soil and water conservation practice” which means the
 planting of perennial grasses, legumes, shrubs, or trees, the
 establishment of grassed waterways, and the construction of
 terraces, or other permanent soil and water practices approved
 by the committee.
    b. (2) “Temporary soil and water conservation practices”
 “Temporary soil and water conservation practice” which means
 the planting of annual or biennial crops,; the use of
 strip-cropping, cover cropping, or contour planting, or;
 no-tillage, minimum tillage, or mulch tillage, and; the
 installation of an agriculture practice, silviculture practice,
 aquaculture practice, or permaculture practice; the use of
 extended crop rotation or rotational grazing; or the use of any
 other cultural practices practice approved by the committee.
    Sec. 6. Section 161A.53, Code 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
    161A.53 Cooperation with other agencies.
    1. Soil A soil and water conservation districts district
 may enter into agreements an agreement with the federal
 government or an agency of the federal government, as provided
 by state law, or with the state of Iowa or an agency of the
 state, any other soil and water conservation district, or any
 other political subdivision of this state, for cooperation in
 preventing, doing any of the following:
    a. Preventing, controlling, or attempting to prevent or
 control soil erosion. Soil
    b. Improving or attempting to improve soil health, or
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 performing a soil health assessment.
    2. A soil and water conservation districts district may
 accept, as provided by state law, money disbursed for soil
 erosion control and soil health assessment purposes by the
 federal government or an agency of the federal government, and
 expend the money for the purposes for which it was received.
    Sec. 7. Section 161A.71, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
 to read as follows:
    1. a. The division may establish a conservation practices
 revolving loan fund composed of any money appropriated by the
 general assembly for that purpose, and of any other moneys
 available to and obtained or accepted by the committee from the
 federal government or private sources for placement in that
 fund. Except as otherwise provided by subsection 3, the assets
 of the conservation practices revolving loan fund shall be used
 only to make loans directly to owners of land in this state
 for the purpose of establishing on that land any new permanent
 soil and water conservation practice which the commissioners of
 the soil and water conservation district in which the land is
 located have found is necessary or advisable to meet the soil
 loss limits established for that land.
    (1) A loan made under this section shall not be made
 for establishing a permanent soil and water conservation
 practice on land that is subject to the restriction on state
 cost-sharing funds of section 161A.76. Revolving loan funds
 and public cost-sharing funds may be used in combination for
 funding a particular soil and water conservation practice.
    (2) Each loan made under this section shall be for a period
 not to exceed ten years, shall bear no interest, and shall be
 repayable to the conservation practices revolving loan fund in
 equal yearly installments due March 1 of each year the loan is
 in effect. The interest rate upon loans for which payment is
 delinquent shall accelerate immediately to the current legal
 usury limit. Applicants are
    (3) An applicant is eligible for no not more than twenty
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 thousand dollars in loans outstanding at any time under this
 program. “Permanent soil and water conservation practices”
    b. As used in this section, “permanent soil and water
 conservation practice” has the same meaning as defined in
 section 161A.42 and those established under this program are
 subject to the requirements of section 161A.7, subsection 3.
    c. Loans made under this program shall come due for payment
 upon sale of the land on which those practices are established.
    Sec. 8. Section 161A.73, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
 2024, is amended to read as follows:
    b. The allocation of moneys as financial incentives
 provided for the purpose of establishing management practices
 to control soil erosion on land that is row cropped and
 promote soil health, including but not limited to cover crops,
 no-till planting, ridge-till planting, contouring, and contour
 strip-cropping. The division shall by rule establish limits on
 the amount of incentives which shall be authorized for payment
 to landowners upon establishment of the practice.
    Sec. 9. Section 161A.80A, subsection 3, Code 2024, is
 amended to read as follows:
    3. This section is repealed on July October 1, 2030 2024.
    Sec. 10. Section 161A.80B, subsection 1, Code 2024, is
 amended to read as follows:
    1. The principal and interest from any loan made pursuant
 to section 161A.80A, as enacted in 2015 Iowa Acts, ch 132,
 §45 Code 2024, remaining that are outstanding on July 1, 2025
 or after the effective date of this section of this Act, and
 that prior to October 1, 2024, would have been payable to
 the blufflands protection revolving fund created in section
 161A.80A, shall instead be paid to the division on or after
 July 1, 2025, pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement
 deposited by the department of natural resources in the state
 parks and recreation areas operations fund created in section
 455A.10A. The moneys paid to the division shall be credited to
 the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund created in section 8.57.
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    Sec. 11. Section 161D.7, Code 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
    161D.7 Program coordination.
    1. The department of natural resources shall coordinate the
 blufflands protection program with the program and projects of
 the loess hills alliance.
    2. This section is repealed on October 1, 2024.
    Sec. 12. NEW SECTION. 455A.10A State parks and recreation
 areas operations fund.
    1. A state parks and recreation areas operations fund is
 created in the state treasury under the management and control
 of the department.
    2. The state parks and recreation areas operations fund
 shall include all of the following:
    a. (1) Principal and interest paid from any loan made
 pursuant to section 161A.80A, Code 2024, instead of being paid
 to the blufflands protection revolving fund as described in
 section 161A.80B.
    (2) This paragraph is repealed on July 1, 2030.
    b. Other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the
 department from public or private sources.
    3. Moneys in the state parks and recreation areas operations
 fund are appropriated to and shall be used exclusively by the
 department to pay for maintaining and improving state parks
 and recreation areas, including by supporting infrastructure
 and the professional needs of park ra