Iowa Code 460.304 – Agricultural drainage well water quality assistance program
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1. The division shall establish an agricultural drainage well water quality assistance program as provided by rules which shall be adopted by the division pursuant to chapter 17A. The program shall be supported from moneys deposited in the agricultural drainage well water quality assistance fund created pursuant to section 460.303.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 460.304
- Agricultural drainage well: means a vertical opening to an aquifer or permeable substratum which is constructed by any means including but not limited to drilling, driving, digging, boring, augering, jetting, washing, or coring, and which is capable of intercepting or receiving surface or subsurface drainage water from land directly or by a drainage system. See Iowa Code 460.101
- Agricultural drainage well area: means an area of land where surface or subsurface water drains into an agricultural drainage well directly or through a drainage system connecting to the agricultural drainage well. See Iowa Code 460.101
- Department: means the department of natural resources. See Iowa Code 462A.2
- Designated agricultural drainage well area: means an agricultural drainage well area in which there is located an anaerobic lagoon or earthen manure storage basin required to obtain a construction permit by the department of natural resources. See Iowa Code 460.101
- Division: means the division of soil conservation and water quality created within the department of agriculture and land stewardship pursuant to section 159. See Iowa Code 460.101
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Land: means land which is used or which is suitable for use for any purpose, if the land is located within an agricultural drainage well area which includes land used or suitable for use in farming. See Iowa Code 460.101
- Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, or association. See Iowa Code 462A.2
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. To the extent that moneys are available to support the program, the division shall expend moneys from the fund to do the following:
a. (1) Provide cost-share moneys to persons closing agricultural drainage wells in accordance with the priority system established pursuant to section 460.302. In conjunction with closing agricultural drainage wells, the division shall award cost-share moneys to carry out the following projects:
(a) Construct alternative drainage systems.
(b) Establish water quality practices other than constructing alternative drainage systems, including but not limited to converting land to wetlands.
(2) The amount of moneys allocated in cost-share payments to a person qualifying under the program shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the estimated cost of carrying out the project or seventy-five percent of the actual cost of carrying out the project, whichever is less.
b. Contract with persons to obtain technical assessments in agricultural drainage well areas, including but not limited to areas having a predominance of shallow bedrock or karst terrain as the division determines is necessary to carry out a project.
3. a. A person who owns an interest in land within a designated agricultural drainage well area shall not be eligible to participate in the program, if the person is any of the following:
(1) A party to a pending legal or administrative action, including a contested case proceeding under chapter 17A, relating to an alleged violation involving an animal feeding operation as regulated by the department of natural resources, regardless of whether the pending action is brought by the department or the attorney general.
(2) Is classified as a habitual violator for a violation of state law involving an animal feeding operation as regulated by the department of natural resources.
b. Noncrop acres located within a designated agricultural drainage well area shall not be eligible to benefit from the program.
c. The department of natural resources shall cooperate with the division by providing information necessary to administer this subsection.
4. A person is not eligible to participate in the program for a project described in this section that involves an agricultural drainage well that has not been registered with the department of natural resources pursuant to section 460.302 by January 1, 2019.