Bill Text: NH SB539 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Establishing a procedure for the department of environmental services to transfer ownership of dams to municipalities or others, including making loans.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 10-2)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-24 - Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2024-1638h (NT) 04/24/2024 (Vote 19-0; Consent Calendar) [SB539 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2024-SB539-Amended.html
SB 539-FN-A-LOCAL - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
04/11/2024 1462s
2024 SESSION
24-2854
10/05
SENATE BILL 539-FN-A-LOCAL
SPONSORS: Sen. Murphy, Dist 16; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Rep. Osborne, Rock. 2; Rep. Alexander Jr., Hills. 29; Rep. Mazur, Hills. 44; Rep. C. McGuire, Merr. 27
COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a procedure for the department of environmental services to transfer ownership of a dam and associated property to the municipality in which the dam is located, or to other associations or parties, and includes the authority of the department to make loans from a dam maintenance revolving loan fund.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/11/2024 1462s 24-2854
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Department of Environmental Services; Dams; Transfer Procedures. Amend RSA 482 by inserting after section 51 the following new section:
482:51-a Dams; Transfer to Municipality or Association.
I. In this section "state-owned dam" means any dam owned exclusively by the department.
II. At least one year prior to removing any state-owned dam, the department shall offer to transfer ownership of the dam and associated property to the municipality in which the dam and impoundment created by it are located. Upon notice by the department, the governing body shall cause the legislative body to answer the question of whether the legislative body wants to accept the transfer of ownership of the dam. At the same meeting, the legislative body shall consider the issuance of any long term debt necessary to effectuate the transfer and address any deficiencies. If the legislative body votes to accept the transfer, but denies issuance of the debt, the department shall consider that to be a rejection of the offer. Upon rejection of the offer by the municipality, the department shall offer to transfer ownership of the dam and impoundment created by it to any association of landowners or any interested parties, registered as a public entity in good standing and capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt which have an interest in perpetuating the dam and its impoundment. Those interested parties shall have 90 days to consider whether to accept the transfer of ownership. After those 90 days have elapsed with no accepted offers for a transfer of ownership, the department may proceed with removal of the dam.
III. The procedure in paragraph II shall not apply if, upon receipt of information reasonably believed to be valid, the commissioner of environmental services believes the dam to be in imminent danger of failure and a threat to the lives and property downstream, or unless there is a compelling environmental interest in removal.
IV. When offering a transfer of a dam under paragraph II, the department shall provide to the offerees any existing documentation regarding the dams condition, a good faith estimate of costs of necessary repairs, a list of ongoing maintenance, inspection, or licensing needed, and all other relevant information regarding the costs of taking ownership of the dam with associated property.
V. The department shall develop by administrative rules under RSA 541-A a process by which municipalities, or other interested parties who are capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt, may apply for a loan necessary for the maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement of their non-state-owned dams. Loans shall be funded by moneys in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b.
2 New Section; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund Established. Amend RSA 482 by inserting after section 55-a the following new section:
482:55-b Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund Established.
I. There is established a dam maintenance revolving loan fund to provide loans to fund the maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement of any municipally owned dam or dam owned by other interested parties who are capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt, when such maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement is required under this chapter. This fund shall be nonlapsing and shall be continually appropriated to the department for the purposes of RSA 482:51-a. No loans shall be made from this fund until the fund has accrued a balance of at least $2,500,000 II. Loans made from the fund shall be issued at the discretion of the department of environmental services.
III. A sum equal to up to 5 percent or not more than $200,000 of the balance of the fund each year shall be set aside to pay the department costs of administering the fund. The funds set aside shall be deposited into the dam maintenance fund and shall be continually appropriated to the department exclusively for the purposes of this section and RSA 482:51-a.
IV. The department shall adopt rules for the revolving loan fund including the interest rate charged on loans and oversight of the administration of the fund. In providing loans, the department shall evaluate the risk posed by the dam, the public benefit of the dam, the private benefit of the dam to lakefront owners, the ecological impacts of the dam, the potential for contributions to needed maintenance, repair, or reconstruction, the financial resources of the applicant, and the relative cost of maintaining, repairing, or improving the dam as compared to removing or breaching the dam.
V. Sources of revenue that may be accepted and deposited into the dam maintenance revolving loan fund include:
(a) Any funds that may be appropriated from the general fund;
(b) Principal and interest received from the repayment of loans made from the fund;
(c) Grants and awards made to the state by the federal government for the purpose for which the fund was established;
(d) Interest earned from the investment of fund balances;
(e) Private gifts, bequests, and donations made to the state for the purpose for which the fund was established; and
(f) Any other funds from any public or private source intended to be used for the purpose for which the fund was established.
3 New Subparagraph; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b) by inserting after subparagraph (394) the following new subparagraph:
(395) Moneys deposited in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b.
4 Appropriation; Department of Environmental Services; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund. The sum of $1 is appropriated to the department of environmental services for deposit in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b, for the purpose of providing loans under RSA 482:51-a. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
24-2854
12/4/23
SB 539-FN-A-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the transfer of dams to municipalities.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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Estimated State Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None
| |||||
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund Dam Maintenance Fund | |||||
Appropriations | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund
| |||||
• Does this bill provide sufficient funding to cover estimated expenditures? [X] No • Does this bill authorize new positions to implement this bill? [X] No | ||||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill establishes a procedure for the Department of Environmental Services to transfer ownership of a dam and associated property to the town or towns in which the dam is located, or to other associations or parties, and includes the authority of the Department to make loans from the dam maintenance fund.
The Department of Environmental Services indicates the State owns 273 dams. The Department states the potential impact on state expenditures and revenues cannot be determined because the Department does not have a time line of which dams it would be seeking to remove in the future. There may be more than one offer to transfer ownership, or none at all, in any given year.
When offering to transfer a dam, the bill would require the Department to provide documentation relating to the dam and a cost estimate for repairing and maintaining the dam. To properly determine such costs, the Department would need to contract with an engineering consultant to estimate the costs based on current pricing in the construction industry. The cost of contracts is unknown and would depend on the repair needs at the dam, the type of dam, the age of the dam, the condition assessment and the hazard classification of the dam. Consulting contract costs vary depending on the number of dams offered for ownership transfer.
The bill would also require the Department establish a loan program with funds in the Dam Maintenance Fund. The Dam Maintenance Fund only receives revenue from leasing nine state-owned dams to hydropower companies. This income, along with the current balance in the Dam Maintenance Fund, does not cover the costs of major repair projects to state-owned dams. Those costs are covered by appropriations in the Capital Budget. The Dam Maintenance Fund currently only covers overhead expenses and minor repair projects on state-owned dams. The balance in the Dam Maintenance Fund is not sufficient to cover all potential loans. The cost of repairing and maintaining a dam to meet current regulatory standards can range from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. Since the Dam Maintenance Fund balance currently is insufficient to meet all existing costs associated with state dam ownership, it is unlikely to cover the loan amounts necessary to repair and maintain dams transferred to towns or other parties. The implementation of a loan program with the Dam Maintenance Fund would likely require the Department to fund overhead expenses and minor repair projects with General Funds. Since the number of loans is unknown, the cost to manage those loans is also unknown. Because the life of the loans could be 20 years, these indeterminable costs are expected to extend beyond fiscal year 2027.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill creates a local option and enables a municipality to take ownership of a state-owned dam and have it transferred to their jurisdiction. The Association indicates, because this is a local option, the bill would have no fiscal impact
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Environmental Services and New Hampshire Municipal Association
