Bill Text: IA SF2198 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to surface water quality by requiring the establishment and maintenance of riparian protection measures, providing for financing, and providing penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-06 - Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Celsi, and Green. S.J. 227. [SF2198 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-SF2198-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2198 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 2198
BY WEINER , CELSI , WINCKLER ,
PETERSEN , QUIRMBACH , and
DONAHUE
(COMPANION TO HF 2029 BY
WESSEL-KROESCHELL)
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to surface water quality by requiring the
establishment and maintenance of riparian protection
measures, providing for financing, and providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 161A.4, Code 2024, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. The division, in consultation with
the state soil conservation and water quality committee, and
in cooperation with the commissioners of the soil and water
conservation districts and the department of natural resources,
shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement,
administer, and enforce chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 2. Section 161A.42, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . d. The establishment of riparian protection
measures as provided in chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 3. Section 161A.42, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code
2024, is amended to read as follows:
a. (1) “Permanent soil and water conservation practices”
“Permanent soil and water conservation practice” means
planting of perennial grasses, legumes, shrubs, or trees, the
establishment of grassed waterways, and or the construction of
terraces, or other permanent soil and water practices approved
by the committee.
(2) “Permanent soil and water conservation practice” includes
riparian protection measures as provided in chapter 466B,
subchapter V.
Sec. 4. Section 161A.48, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
1. a. An Except as provided in paragraph “b” , the owner
or occupant of agricultural land in this state is not required
to establish any new permanent or temporary soil and water
conservation practice unless cost-share or other public
moneys have been specifically approved for that land and made
available to the owner or occupant pursuant to section 161A.74 .
b. Paragraph “a” does not apply to riparian protection
measures as provided in chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 5. Section 161A.49, Code 2024, is amended to read as
follows:
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161A.49 Petition for court order.
1. The Except as provided in subsection 2, the commissioners
shall petition the district court for a court order requiring
immediate compliance with an administrative order previously
issued by the commissioners as provided in section 161A.47 , if
all of the following apply :
1. a. The work necessary to comply with the administrative
order is not commenced on or before the date specified in such
order, or in any supplementary order subsequently issued as
provided in section 161A.48 , unless in the judgment of the
commissioners the failure to commence or complete the work
as required by the administrative order is due to factors
beyond the control of the person or persons to whom such order
is directed and the person or persons can be relied upon to
commence and complete the necessary work at the earliest
possible time.
2. b. Such work is not being performed with due diligence,
or is not satisfactorily completed by the date specified in the
administrative order, or when completed does not reduce soil
erosion from such land below the limits established by the soil
and water conservation district’s regulations.
3. c. The person or persons to whom the administrative
order is directed advise the commissioners that they do not
intend to commence or complete such work.
2. Subsection 1 does not apply to the extent that the
division proceeds against a landowner for violating a riparian
protection measure as provided in chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 6. Section 161A.72, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. The division shall provide a priority
to financing the establishment of riparian protection measures
as provided in chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 7. Section 161C.2, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
2024, is amended to read as follows:
a. Each soil and water conservation district, alone and
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whenever practical in conjunction with other districts,
shall carry out district-wide and multiple-district projects
to support water protection practices in the district
or districts, including projects to protect this state’s
groundwater and surface water from point and nonpoint sources
of contamination, including but not limited to contamination
by agricultural drainage wells, sinkholes, sedimentation, or
chemical pollutants. A district acting alone or in conjunction
with other districts shall provide priority to establishing
riparian protection measures as provided in chapter 466B,
subchapter V.
Sec. 8. Section 455B.171, subsection 11, Code 2024, is
amended to read as follows:
11. “Iowa nutrient reduction strategy” means a water
quality initiative developed and updated by the department of
agriculture and land stewardship, the department of natural
resources, and the college of agriculture and life sciences at
Iowa state university of science and technology in order to
assess do all of the following:
a. Assess and reduce nutrients in this state’s watersheds
that utilize a pragmatic, strategic, and coordinated approach
with the goal of accomplishing reductions over time.
b. Evaluate the progress of water quality initiatives
including but not limited to the programs and riparian
protection measures provided in chapter 466B, subchapter V.
Sec. 9. Section 466B.5, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. Riparian protection. The department
of natural resources shall provide for the assessment of
regional watersheds and subwatersheds that are identified in
the riparian protection inventory and map.
Sec. 10. Section 466B.6, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 3. Riparian protection. A community-based
subwatershed improvement plan shall provide for methods to
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increase compliance with riparian protection measures provided
in subchapter V.
Sec. 11. Section 466B.7, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
2. Data collection and use. Local communities in which
the department of natural resources conducts subwatershed
monitoring shall use the information to support subwatershed
planning activities, do local data collection, and identify
priority areas needing additional resources. Local communities
shall also collect data regarding the effect of riparian
protection measures, and collect data over time and use the
data to evaluate for use in evaluating the impacts of their
management efforts.
Sec. 12. NEW SECTION . 466B.51 Definitions.
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. “Department” means the department of natural resources.
2. “District” means a soil and water conservation district
established in section 161A.5.
3. “Division” means the division of soil conservation and
water quality created within the department of agriculture and
land stewardship pursuant to section 159.5.
4. “Landowner” means a person listed on the tax assessment
rolls as responsible for the payment of real estate taxes
imposed on the land adjacent to a public water source.
5. “Normal water level” means the level evidenced by the
long-term presence of surface water as indicated directly by
hydrophytic plants or hydric soils or indirectly determined via
hydrological models or analysis.
6. “Public water source” means waters of the state having
definite banks and a bed.
7. “Riparian protection measure” means a riparian protection
buffer or an alternative riparian protection practice as
provided in section 466B.55.
8. “Waters of the state” means any stream, lake, pond,
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marsh, watercourse, waterway, well, spring, reservoir, aquifer,
irrigation system, drainage system, and any other body or
accumulation of water, surface or underground, natural or
artificial, public or private, which is contained within, flows
through, or borders upon the state or any portion of the state.
Sec. 13. NEW SECTION . 466B.52 Purposes and goals.
1. The purpose of this subchapter is to establish riparian
protection measures for public water sources that do all of the
following:
a. Provide protection from erosion and runoff pollution.
b. Stabilize soils, shores, and banks.
c. Protect or provide riparian corridors for public use.
2. In administering this subchapter, the division, in
consultation with the department, shall advance all of the
following goals:
a. Reduce soil erosion and sediment loss, including by doing
any of the following:
(1) Stabilizing the soil or otherwise limiting sediment
from being conveyed by surface water runoff.
(2) Filtering sediment-laden water.
b. Manage nutrients and reduce contributing contaminant
loads to receiving public surface waters.
c. Provide a setback distance from an input applied to
adjacent land, including pesticides as defined in section
206.2, nutrients as defined in section 455B.171, commercial
fertilizers as defined in section 200.3, and manure as defined
in section 459.102.
d. Reduce the volume or velocity of precipitation-induced
surface water.
e. Improve stream or ditch bank stability with deep-rooted
plants.
f. Provide an infiltration area for surface water.
g. Provide an uptake and denitrification zone for shallow
subsurface flow.
h. Retire adjacent land from crop production in areas that
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have low productivity or are inefficient to farm.
i. Provide habitat for beneficial wildlife species if a
corridor is sufficiently wide or the buffer connects larger
habitat areas together.
Sec. 14. NEW SECTION . 466B.53 Administration and
enforcement.
1. The division shall administer and enforce this chapter
in consultation with the department. The division shall adopt
all rules necessary or desirable to carry out this subchapter,
including rules necessary or desirable to effectuate this
subchapter’s purposes and goals as provided in section 466B.52.
2. The division shall assist the department and the water
resources coordinating council established in section 466B.3,
including in the completion of a statewide regional watershed
assessment, prioritization, and planning process described in
section 466B.5.
3. a. The commissioners of a district shall consult with
department field office staff in assisting the division in the
administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
b. The commissioners of a district shall assist landowners
in establishing and maintaining riparian protection measures.
The assistance may be in the form of planning, technical
support, and tracking progress toward compliance with the
requirements of this subchapter.
4. The division, acting on its own or on behalf of the
commissioners of a district, may obtain an administrative
search warrant to determine compliance with this subchapter as
provided in section 808.14.
Sec. 15. NEW SECTION . 466B.54 Riparian protection inventory
and map.
1. The department shall prepare, revise, and publish a
riparian protection inventory and map for each county which
shall be used as the basis of designating public water sources
that require riparian protection from nonpoint sources of
pollution as provided in this subchapter.
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2. In preparing and revising a riparian protection
inventory and map, the department shall provide priority to a
public water source classified as any of the following:
a. Part of a subwatershed that drains into a water body or
water segment placed on the department’s section 303(d) list
as defined in section 455B.171, regardless of whether a total
maximum daily load for that water body or water segment has
been developed.
b. A high-quality water resource as defined in section
459.102.
c. The Mississippi river basin as part of the Mississippi
river basin initiative as provided in chapter 161G.
3. Each tract of land where each riparian protection measure
is to be established shall be identified according to a system
of parcels identified by a property identification number
according to uniform criteria developed by the department.
4. The division, and a board governing a drainage or
levee district as provided in chapter 468, shall provide all
cooperation requested by the department in order to prepare and
revise a riparian protection inventory and map.
Sec. 16. NEW SECTION . 466B.55 Riparian protection measures.
1. A landowner shall establish and maintain riparian
protection measures as provided in this section.
2. a. A landowner of property adjacent to a public water
source identified as part of a riparian protection inventory
and map shall maintain a continuous riparian protection buffer
as follows:
(1) The riparian protection buffer must consist of
perennial vegetation, excluding invasive plants and weeds
declared noxious pursuant to section 317.1A, if the area is
adjacent to a public water source.
(2) (a) Except as provided in subparagraph division (b),
the riparian protection buffer shall have a fifty-foot average
width and a thirty-foot minimum width.
(b) A landowner shall comply with subparagraph division
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(a) twelve months after the land is identified in a riparian
protection inventory and map published under section 466B.54.
The commissioners of a district may grant a landowner a
one-time waiver of this requirement for not more than one year.
(3) (a) For a ditch, tile drain, watercourse, or settling
basin established as part of a drainage or levee district
governed under chapter 468, the buffer shall have a sixteen and
one-half foot minimum width.
(b) A landowner shall comply with subparagraph division (a)
twenty-four months after the land is identified as part of a
riparian protection inventory and map published under section
466B.54. The commissioners of a district may grant a landowner
a one-time waiver of this requirement for not more than one
year.
b. The width of a riparian protection buffer shall be
measured from the crown of the bank. Where there is no defined
bank, the measurement shall be from the edge of the normal
water level. The division may provide a different measurement
method for a ditch, tile drain, watercourse, or settling basin
established as part of a drainage or levee district governed
under chapter 468.
3. a. A landowner of property adjacent to a public water
source identified as part of a riparian protection inventory
and map may meet the requirements described in subsection 1
by adopting an alternative riparian protection practice alone
or in combination with a modified riparian protection buffer.
The alternative riparian protection practice as established
alone or in combination with a riparian protection buffer shall
provide water quality protection comparable to the riparian
protection described in subsection 2.
b. A landowner shall comply with paragraph “a” twelve
months after the land is identified as part of a riparian
protection inventory and map published under section 466B.54.
The commissioners of a district may grant a one-time waiver of
this requirement for not more than one year.
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4. The terms and conditions of a riparian protection measure
shall be set forth in a parcel-specific riparian protection
compliance plan approved by the commissioners of the district
where the land is located and filed by the commissioners
with the division which shall be published on the division’s
internet site. The riparian protection plan may be part of
a financing agreement entered into by the landowner and the
division or commissioners of a district as provided in chapter
161A.
5. The establishment and maintenance of a riparian
protection measure shall at least comply with all requirements
of soil and water conservation practices or erosion control
practices as described in chapter 161A, unless otherwise
provided by the division and agreed to by the commissioners.
A riparian protection measure qualifies for water quality
agriculture infrastructure programs created in section 466B.43
and the water quality urban infrastructure program as provided
in section 466B.44. A riparian protection measure shall be
inspected and certified by the commissioners of the district
where the land is located as required by the division.
6. This section does not prevent a landowner from using land
established for riparian protection in any manner that does not
interfere with the requirements of this subchapter, including a
riparian protection compliance plan. The division shall upon
request of a landowner issue a declaratory order regarding the
use as provided in section 17A.9.
Sec. 17. NEW SECTION . 466B.56 Exemptions.
1. A landowner is not required to comply with the
requirements in section 466B.55 if any of the following apply:
a. The public water source is located adjacent to land where
only one landowner is riparian.
b. A person’s contribution of a pollutant to a public
water source is regulated by the department under chapter 455B
or pursuant to a permit related to the administration of the
national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program
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pursuant to the federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C.
ch. 26, as amended, and 40 C.F.R. pt. 124. However, this
paragraph does not apply to the discharge or application of
manure or other nutrients under chapter 459, 459A, or 459B.
c. The land where riparian protection measures are otherwise
required pursuant to section 466B.55 is any of the following:
(1) Enrolled in the federal conservation reserve program as
described in 7 C.F.R. pt. 1410.
(2) A wetland that could qualify under the conservation
reserve enhancement program as provided in section 466.5.
(3) Subject to a conservation easement as provided in
chapter 457A.
(4) Covered by a road, trail, building, or other structure.
(5) Subject to a crop approved by the division, including
alfalfa or other perennial crop or part of a water-inundation
cropping system.
(6) Part of a prairie, forest area, other biologically
significant area, or that contains significant archaeological,
historical, or cultural value.
(7) Contains geological characteristics which are
unsuitable for vegetation.
(8) In a temporary nonvegetated condition due to drainage
tile installation and maintenance, plant seeding, or the
construction of a conservation project authorized by the
federal government, the state, or a political subdivision
thereof.
2. The division may excuse a landowner from complying with
the requirements of section 466B.55 if the division determines
that compliance would not significantly further the purposes
and goals of this chapter as described in section 466B.52. The
exemption may be based on but is not limited to any of the
following:
a. The normal water level, which may exclude periods of
drought or flooding.
b. The average water flow, which may exclude periods of
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drought or flooding.
c. The total drainage area, which may exclude periods of
drought or flooding.
Sec. 18. NEW SECTION . 466B.57 Corrective action ——
compliance order.
1. The division shall take enforcement action against
a landowner who violates a term or condition of a riparian
protection compliance plan as provided in section 466B.55. The
division, in cooperation with the department and commissioners
of a district where the land is located, shall issue a
compliance order that includes a list of corrective actions
that the landowner must correct. The compliance order shall
include a practical period for the landowner to complete the
corrective actions and for the commissioners to inspect the
land and approve the corrective actions. A corrective action
must be approved by the commissioners within one year after the
division issues the compliance order, unless the commissioners
grant an extension.
2. If the landowner is in violation of a protection
compliance plan as provided in section 466B.55 and an
administrative order is issued by the commissioners under
chapter 161A, subchapter V, part 1, to the landowner, the
division may waive its right to take an enforcement action
under this chapter.
Sec. 19. NEW SECTION . 466B.58 Removal or degradation.
1. A landowner shall not engage in any work to remove
or degrade a riparian protection measure, in whole or in
part, unless the person has obtained a signed statement from
the commissioners of the district where the land is located
granting authorization to engage in the work as required by the
division.
2. A person other than a landowner shall not engage in
any work to remove or degrade a riparian protection measure,
in whole or in part, unless the person has obtained a signed
statement from the landowner granting authorization to engage
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in the work subject to the requirements in subsection 1.
Sec. 20. NEW SECTION . 466B.59 Civil penalty.
1. Except as provided in subsection 2, a landowner who does
not complete a corrective action within the period stated in
the compliance order under section 466B.57 is subject to a
civil penalty as follows:
a. One hundred dollars per parcel as described in
the riparian protection compliance plan which shall be
assessed, imposed, and collected on a thirty-day basis for a
one-hundred-eighty-day period.
b. After the period described in paragraph “a” , five hundred
dollars per parcel as described in the riparian protection
compliance plan which shall be assessed, imposed, and collected
on a thirty-day basis.
2. A person who is in violation of section 466B.56 is
subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars per parcel
as described in the riparian protection compliance plan which
shall be assessed, imposed, and collected by the division on a
thirty-day basis.
3. Civil penalties collected pursuant to this section shall
be credited to the general fund of the state.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
GENERAL. This bill amends Code chapter 466B, which provides
for a number of programs to protect surface water and provide
for flood mitigation and watershed management. The bill
creates a new Code subchapter which requires a landowner having
an interest in property adjoining a public water source (e.g.,
a watercourse such as a river, stream, or drainage ditch; or
body of water such as a pond, lake, or reservoir) to establish
and maintain a riparian protection measure (measure) in
compliance with a riparian protection compliance plan (plan).
The plan is derived from a riparian protection inventory and
map developed by the department of natural resources (DNR).
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ADMINISTRATION. The plan must be prepared by the landowner
and approved by the division of soil conservation and water
quality (division) created within the department of agriculture
and land stewardship. The division must act in partnership
with commissioners of soil and water conservation districts
(commissioners), and in cooperation with a number of other
government entities, including the state soil conservation
and water quality committee, the water resources coordinating
council, and DNR.
REQUIREMENTS. Under an approved plan, a landowner must
establish and maintain a measure which is either a riparian
protection buffer consisting of perennial vegetation, or an
alternative riparian protection practice (e.g., erosion control
practice or soil and water conservation practice) alone or in
combination with a modified riparian protection buffer. The
landowner must establish and maintain the measure after the
division completes a riparian protection inventory and map
which identifies the land subject to riparian protection. A
landowner may apply for financial assistance to establish a
measure under a number of programs, including cost-share moneys
awarded under the authority of the division.
EXCEPTIONS. The bill creates a number of exceptions that
excuse compliance, including if (1) there is only one riparian
landowner; (2) other regulations apply, including storm water
outlets regulated by DNR, or a conservation program regulated
by the federal or state government; (3) the land is covered by
another object or structure; (4) the land is used to produce
a designated crop; (5) the land is part of an environmentally
designated area (e.g., a forest); (6) the land contains unique
geological characteristics; or (7) the land is subject to
construction. The division may also create other exceptions
if it determines that the exception would not interfere with
the bill’s purposes.
ENFORCEMENT. The division is to take enforcement action
against a landowner who violates a term or condition of a
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plan, unless the division allows the commissioners to take an
enforcement action in court for the landowner’s violation of
the terms of an administrative order (e.g., for violating the
terms of a cost-share agreement). If the division enforces the
plan, if must first issue a compliance order listing items that
the landowner must complete within a specified time but not
more than one year after the compliance order has been issued.
The bill also prohibits a landowner or another person from
engaging in any work to remove or degrade a riparian protection
measure, unless the person has obtained authorization. The
bill provides a range of civil penalties based on the number of
parcels included in the plan and the period that the violation
continues after the compliance order was delivered. The
amounts of the civil penalties range from $100 to $500 per
parcel.
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