State SealARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

HB 2658: environment; budget reconciliation; 2018-2019.

PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Livingston, LD 22

BILL STATUS: Appropriations

 

Legend: ADOR – Arizona Department of Revenue BOS – board of supervisors SOS – Secretary of State UST – underground storage tank VEI – vehicle emissions inspection WQARF – Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund Amendments – BOLD and Stricken (Committee)

Abstract

☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteRelating to the environment and the FY 2019 budget.

Provisions

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)

1.       Adds the following activities as permissible uses of Water Quality Fee Fund monies:

  1. paying permit program implementation costs for direct reuse of reclaimed water; and
  2. water quality monitoring and reporting of aquifer pollution information. (Sec. 2)

2.       Continues to suspend the $15,000,000 annual transfer from corporate income tax revenues to WQARF and instead appropriates the following amounts in FY 2019 (Sec. 8):

Fund Source

Amount

Emissions Inspection Fund

$6,500,000

Air Quality Fund

$5,000,000

Recycling Fund

$2,052,000

Non-appropriated (revenue from various license and registration fees)

$2,000,000

Total Appropriated to WQARF

$15,552,000

o   Statute specifies that WQARF must be assured of an annual funding amount of $18,000,000 each FY, with $15,000,000 transferred from corporate income tax revenues (A.R.S. § 49-282). For TY 2017 and after, the corporate income tax rate is 4.9% of net income (A.R.S. § 43-1111).

3.       Continues to require the ADEQ Director to charge the following VEI testing fees in Area A (Maricopa County and portions of Pinal and Yavapai Counties):

Test

Testing Fees (FY 2018)

Onboard Diagnostic (OBD)

$17

Steady State and Idle

$16

Heavy-duty Diesel

$25

a.       Exempts ADEQ from rulemaking until July 1, 2019, to establish the fees. (Sec. 11)

4.       Allows ADEQ to transfer up to $6,531,000 from the UST Revolving Fund for the following in FY 2019:

a.       administrative costs; and

b.       remediating sewage discharge issues in Naco, Arizona. (Sec. 6)

5.       Permits ADEQ to use the following amounts appropriated in FY 2019 (HB 2665) for the costs of developing and implementing an e-licensing project:

a.       $1,800,000 from the Permit Administration Fund; and

b.       $1,400,000 from the UST Revolving Fund. (Sec. 10)

6.       Corrects drafting error in Laws 2018, Chapter 225 (SB 1493). (Sec. 3)

 

Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission (ANSAC)

7.       Continues to allow monies appropriated to ANSAC from the Arizona Water Banking Fund to pay legal fees in FY 2019. (Sec. 7)

o   HB 2665 appropriates $200,000 in FY 2019.

Arizona State Parks Board (ASPB)

8.       Continues to allow ASPB to spend up to $692,100 from its portion of the Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Fund for operating expenses in FY 2019. (Sec. 5)

Arizona Department of Water Resource (ADWR)

9.       Continues to allow the Arizona Water Protection Commission to grant ADWR up to $336,000 of the unobligated balance in the Arizona Water Protection Fund to pay for administrative costs in FY 2019. (Sec. 4)

10.   Continues to allow the ADWR Director to increase fees for services in FY 2019, and requires the monies to be deposited into the Water Resources Fund.

a.       Contains Legislative intent that generated revenues be limited to $100,200.

b.       Exempts ADWR from rulemaking until July 1, 2019, to establish the fees. (Sec. 12)

Groundwater Withdrawal Estimates

11.   Appropriates $200,000 from the GF in FY 2019 and $300,000 from the GF in FY 2020 to ADWR to estimate the amount of withdrawals, diversions and deliveries of groundwater from, and the resulting effects on, the aquifers in the Hualapai Valley basin, Sacramento Valley basin, Renegras Plain basin, McMullen Valley basin and Butler Valley basin and provide an annual report.

a.       Allows these monies to also pay the travel and subsistence expenses of the Advisory Council.

b.       Exempts the appropriation from lapsing. (Sec. 9)

12.   Requires ADWR to submit an expenditure report for JLBC review before spending appropriated FY 2020 monies that includes an accounting of FY 2019 spending and an expenditure plan for remaining FY 2019 and FY 2020 monies. (Sec. 9)

13.   Prohibits ADWR from installing well meters or monitors to make estimates. (Sec. 9)

14.   Permits ADWR to collect information from water users who voluntarily provide it, use other data sources and partner with a state university. (Sec. 9)

15.   Prohibits the university from charging more than 25% for indirect overhead on the project. (Sec. 9)

16.   Repeals these requirements on July 1, 2022. (Sec. 9)

Advisory Councils

17.   Establishes the La Paz County West Basin Water Users Advisory Council and the Mohave County West Basin Water Users Advisory Council, each consisting of:

a.       the following seven members, appointed by the Governor:

i.         two members of a county farm bureau livestock association;

ii.       one county supervisor;

iii.     one city or town council member or the mayor of a city or town;

iv.     one person who represents industrial water users;

v.       one person who represents a NRCD; and

vi.     one member of the public who owns five or more water wells.

b.       one member of the House of Representatives who represents the legislative district in the basin, appointed by the Speaker, to serve as an advisory nonvoting member; and

c.        one member of the Senate who represents the legislative district in the basin, appointed by the President, to serve as an advisory nonvoting member. (Sec. 1)

18.   Requires the Governor to appoint the Advisory Council members within six months after receiving the nonbinding advice of the respective county BOS.

a.       Staggers the initial member's terms of office and specifies subsequent terms are six years. (Sec. 1)

19.   Prohibits Advisory Council members from receiving compensation but permits reimbursement from ADWR for eligible travel and subsistence while engaged in official business. (Sec. 1)

20.   Requires each Advisory Council to:

a.       receive and analyze groundwater withdrawal data developed by ADWR;

b.       advise the ADWR Director and make recommendations on basin groundwater management programs and policies;

c.        provide the ADWR Director comments on any draft basin best management practices before plans are proposed to the Legislature; and

d.       analyze the utility of underground water storage in the basins and provide recommendations to the ADWR Director.

i.         Contains Legislative intent that only recommendations transmitted to the ADWR Director by the Advisory Councils be considered by the Legislature.

ii.       Instructs each Advisory Council to submit a report of its recommendations to the ADWR Director, the Governor, the Speaker and the President by December 31, 2022, and provide a copy to the SOS. (Sec. 1)

21.   Directs each Advisory Council to:

a.       file minutes, records, reports and other information relative with ADWR and record its actions by motion, resolution or other appropriate means;

b.       make the records open to public inspection during regular business hours in the Office of the Clerk of the BOS in the respective county or by posting on a public website; and

c.        elect a chairperson and vice chairperson to serve two-year terms. (Sec. 1)

22.   Repeals the Advisory Councils on July 1, 2026. (Sec. 1)

 

 

 

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Fifty-third Legislature                  HB 2658

Second Regular Session                               Version 1: Appropriations

 

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