§ 455E.11 — Groundwater protection fund established — appropriations

Iowa § 455E.11

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title XI: NATURAL RESOURCES
• Ch. 455E: GROUNDWATER PROTECTION

Text

1. a. A groundwater protection fund is created in the state treasury. Moneys received
from sources designated for purposes related to groundwater monitoring and groundwater
quality standards shall be deposited in the fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any
unexpended balances in the groundwater protection fund and in any of the accounts within
the groundwater protection fund at the end of each fiscal year shall be retained in the fund
and the respective accounts within the fund. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection
2, interest or earnings on investments or time deposits of the moneys in the groundwater
protection fund or in any of the accounts within the groundwater protection fund shall
be credited to the groundwater protection fund or the respective accounts within the
groundwater protection fund. The fund may be used for the purposes established for each
account within the fund.
b. The director shall include in the departmental budget prepared pursuant to section
455A.4, subsection 1, paragraph “c”, a proposal for the use of groundwater protection fund
moneys, and a report of the uses of the groundwater protection fund moneys appropriated in
the previous fiscal year.
c. The secretary of agriculture shall submit the report on a biennial basis to the governor
in the same manner as provided in section 7A.3. The report shall include a proposal for the
use of groundwater protection fund moneys, and uses of the groundwater protection fund
moneys appropriated in the two previous fiscal years.
2. The following accounts are created within the groundwater protection fund:
a. A solid waste account. Moneys received from the tonnage fee imposed under section
455B.310 and from other sources designated for environmental protection purposes in
relation to sanitary disposal projects shall be deposited in the solid waste account. Moneys
shall be allocated as follows:
(1) After the one dollar and fifty-five cents is allocated pursuant to subparagraph (2), the
remaining moneys from the tonnage fee shall be used for funding alternatives to landfills and
shall be allocated as follows:
(a) Fifty thousand dollars to the department to implement the special waste authorization
program.
(b) One hundred sixty-five thousand dollars to the department to be used for the
by-products and waste search service at the university of northern Iowa.
(c) Up to thirty percent of the fees remitted shall be used for grants to environmental
management systems as provided in section 455J.7.
(d) Not more than four hundred thousand dollars to the department for purposes of
providing funding assistance to eligible communities to address abandoned buildings by
promoting waste abatement, diversion, selective dismantlement of building components,
and recycling. Eligible communities include a city with a population of five thousand or
fewer. Eligible costs for program assistance include but are not limited to asbestos and
other hazardous material abatement and removal, the recovery processing of recyclable
or reusable material through the selective dismantlement of abandoned buildings, and
reimbursement for purchased recycled content materials used in the renovation of buildings.
(e) The balance of the remaining funds shall be used by the department to develop and
implement demonstration projects for landfill alternatives to solid waste disposal including
recycling programs. These funds may also be used to assist planning areas which have
not been designated as environmental management systems in meeting the designation
requirements of section 455J.3.
5 GROUNDWATER PROTECTION, §455E.11
(2) One dollar and fifty-five cents shall be used as follows:
(a) Forty-eight percent to the department to be used for the following purposes:
(i) Eight thousand dollars shall be transferred to the department of health and human
services for departmental duties required under sections 135.11 and 139A.21.
(ii) The administration and enforcement of a groundwater monitoring program and other
required programs relating to solid waste management.
(iii) The development of guidelines for groundwater monitoring at sanitary disposal
projects as defined in section 455B.301.
(iv) The waste management assistance program of the department.
(b) Sixteen percent to the university of northern Iowa to develop and maintain the Iowa
waste reduction center for the safe and economic management of solid waste and hazardous
substances.
(c) Six and one-half percent for the department to establish a program to provide
competitive grants to regional coordinating councils for projects in regional economic
development centers related to a by-products and waste exchange system. Grantees under
this program shall coordinate activities with other available state or multistate waste
exchanges, including but not limited to the by-products and waste search service at the
university of northern Iowa. The department shall consult with the economic development
authority and the waste reduction center at the university of northern Iowa in establishing
criteria for and the awarding of grants under this program. The department shall expend
not more than thirty thousand dollars of the moneys appropriated under this subparagraph
division to contract with the by-products and waste search service at the university of
northern Iowa to provide training and other technical services to grantees under the
program. If regional economic development centers cease to exist, the department shall
transfer existing contracts to one or more community colleges or councils of governments
and shall revise the criteria and rules for this program to allow community colleges or
councils of governments to be applicants for competitive grants.
(d) Three percent to the department to establish permanent household hazardous
materials collection sites so that both urban and rural populations are served and so that
collection services are available to the public on a regular basis. Beginning July 1, 2008, any
moneys collected pursuant to this subparagraph division that remain unexpended at the end
of a fiscal year for establishment of permanent household hazardous materials collection
sites shall be used for purposes of subparagraph division (e).
(e) Nine and one-half percent to the department for payment of collection and disposal
costs related to household hazardous materials collection programs.
(f) Eight and one-half percent to the department to support special events for household
hazardous materials collection or other efforts of the department to support the household
hazardous materials program, permanent household hazardous material collection systems,
and for the natural resource geographic information system required under section 455E.8,
subsection 4.
(g) Three percent for the economic development authority to establish, in cooperation
with the department of natural resources, a marketing initiative to assist Iowa businesses
producing recycling or reclamation equipment or services, recyclable products, or products
from recycled materials to expand into national markets. Efforts shall include the reuse and
recycling of sawdust.
(h) Five and one-half percent to the department for the provision of assistance to public
and private entities in developing and implementing waste reduction and minimization
programs for Iowa industries.
b. An agriculture management account. Moneys collected from the groundwater
protection fee levied pursuant to section 200.8, subsection 3, the portion of the fees collected
pursuant to section 206.8, subsection 2, and section 206.12, subsection 3, and other moneys
designated for the purpose of agriculture management shall be deposited in the agriculture
management account. The agriculture management account shall be used for the following
purposes:
(1) Nine thousand dollars of the account is appropriated to the department of health and
human services for carrying out the departmental duties under sections 135.11 and 139A.21.
§455E.11, GROUNDWATER PROTECTION 6
(2) Of the remaining moneys in the account:
(a) Thirty-fivepercentisappropriatedannuallytotheIowanutrientresearchfundcreated
in section 466B.46. Of the moneys appropriated pursuant to this subparagraph division, five
hundred thousand dollars or one-third of the moneys appropriated, whichever is higher, shall
be deposited in the water quality initiative fund created in section 466B.45 for purposes of
supporting the water quality initiative administered by the division of soil conservation and
water quality as provided in section 466B.42.
(b) Twopercentisappropriatedannuallytothedepartmentand, exceptforadministrative
expenses, is transferred to the department of health and human services for the purpose
of administering grants to counties and conducting oversight of county-based programs for
the testing of private rural water supply wells, private rural water supply well sealing, and
the proper closure of private rural abandoned wells and cisterns. Not more than thirty-five
percent of the moneys is appropriated annually for grants to counties for the purpose of
conducting programs of private rural water supply testing, private rural water supply well
sealing, the proper closure of private rural abandoned wells and cisterns, or any combination
thereof. An amount agreed to by the department of natural resources and the department
of health and human services shall be retained by the department of natural resources for
administrative expenses.
(i) A county applying for grants under this subparagraph division shall submit only one
application. To be eligible for a grant, a county must have adopted standards for private
water supply and private disposal facilities at least as stringent as the standards adopted by
the commission. During each fiscal year, the amount granted each eligible applicant shall be
the total funds available divided by the number of eligible counties applying. Upon receipt of
the grant, the county may apply the funds to any one or more of the county-based programs
for the testing of private rural water supply wells, private rural water supply well sealing, and
the proper closure of private rural abandoned wells and cisterns.
(ii) Notmorethansixpercentofthemoneysisappropriatedannuallytothestatehygienic
laboratory to assist in well testing.
(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph division, “cistern” means an artificial reservoir
constructed underground for the purpose of storing rainwater.
(c) The department shall allocate a sum not to exceed seventy-nine thousand dollars of
the moneys appropriated for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1987, and ending June 30, 1988,
for the preparation of a detailed report and plan for the establishment on July 1, 1988, of
the center for health effects of environmental contamination. The plan for establishing the
center shall be presented to the general assembly on or before January 15, 1988. The report
shall include the assemblage of all existing data relating to Iowa drinking water supplies,
including characteristics of source, treatment, presence of contaminants, precise location,
and usage patterns to facilitate data retrieval and use in research; and detailed organizational
plans, research objectives, and budget projections for the anticipated functions of the center
in subsequent years. The department may allocate annually a sum not to exceed nine percent
of the moneys of the account to the center, beginning July 1, 1988.
(d) (i) Thirteen percent of the moneys is appropriated annually to the department of
agriculture and land stewardship for financial incentive programs related to agricultural
drainage wells and sinkholes, for studies and administrative costs relating to sinkholes
and agricultural drainage wells programs. Of the moneys allocated for financial incentive
programs, the department may reimburse landowners for engineering costs associated
with voluntarily closing agricultural drainage wells. The financial incentives allocated for
voluntary closing of agricultural drainage wells shall be provided on a cost-share basis
which shall not exceed fifty percent of the estimated cost or fifty percent of the actual cost,
whichever is less. Engineering costs do not include construction costs, including costs
associated with earth moving.
(ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph subdivision (i), the department of agriculture and
land stewardship may use all or a portion of the moneys appropriated in that subparagraph
subdivision to support programs, projects, and activities related to improving the quality of
surface water as well as groundwater.
c. A household hazardous waste account.
7 GROUNDWATER PROTECTION, §455E.11
(1) The moneys collected pursuant to section 455F.7 and moneys collected pursuant
to section 29C.8A which are designated for deposit shall be deposited in the household
hazardous waste account. Two thousand dollars is appropriated annually to the department
of health and human services to carry out departmental duties under sections 135.11 and
139A.21. The remainder of the account shall be used to fund the efforts of the department to
support a collection system for household hazardous materials, including public education
programs, training, andconsultationoflocalgovernmentsintheestablishmentandoperation
of permanent collection systems, and the management of collection sites, education
programs, and other activities pursuant to chapter 455F, including the administration of the
household hazardous materials retailer permit program by the department of revenue.
(2) The department shall submit to the general assembly, annually on or before January 1,
an itemized report which includes but is not limited to the total amount of moneys collected
and the sources of the moneys collected, the amount of moneys expended for administration
of the programs funded within the account, results of the efforts of the department to support
a collection system for household hazardous materials pursuant to chapter 455F, and an
itemization of any other expenditures made within the previous fiscal year.
d. A storage tank management account. The account shall consist of moneys
appropriated to, transferred to, or deposited in the account, including fees collected pursuant
to section 455B.473, subsection 5, section 455B.477, subsection 7, and section 455B.479.
Moneys in the account shall be expended for all of the following purposes:
(1) One thousand dollars is appropriated annually to the department of health and human
services to carry out departmental duties under sections 135.11 and 139A.21.
(2) Moneys transferred under 2024 Iowa Acts, ch. 1054, to the account are appropriated
for the following purposes until such moneys are fully expended:
(a) For reimbursement to tank owners or operators for all or part of the costs of a
corrective action for a petroleum release.
(b) For the annual appropriation to the department of agriculture and land stewardship
in the amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the purpose of inspecting fuel quality
at pipeline terminals and renewable fuel production facilities, including associated salaries,
support, maintenance, and miscellaneous purposes.
(c) For permanent closure of an underground storage tank system under a remedial
program pursuant to chapter 455B, subchapter IV, part 8, for additional assessment and
corrective action arising out of releases at sites for which a certificate of no further action has
been issued, and for tank operator training. At least three million dollars of the total moneys
expended pursuant to this subparagraph shall be expended for the purposes described in
this subparagraph division, but not more than fifty thousand dollars shall be utilized for
operator training each fiscal year.
(3) The moneys remaining in the account after the appropriations in subparagraphs (1)
and (2) are appropriated to the department of natural resources for the administration of a
state storage tank program pursuant to chapter 455B, subchapter IV, part 8, and for programs
that reduce the potential for harm to the environment and the public health from storage
tanks.