Iowa Code § 455E.11 - Groundwater protection fund established — appropriations

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. (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. (2) Of the remaining moneys in the account: (a) Thirty-five percent is appropriated annually to the Iowa nutrient research fund created 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) Two percent is appropriated annually to the department and, except for administrative 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) Not more than six percent of the moneys is appropriated annually to the state hygienic 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. (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, and consultation of local governments in the establishment and operation 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. 87 Acts, ch 225, §111; 88 Acts, ch 1169, §9 – 13; 88 Acts, ch 1188, §2, 3; 88 Acts, ch 1190, §3; 89 Acts, ch 131, §41; 89 Acts, ch 272, §38; 89 Acts, ch 311, §28; 90 Acts, ch 1255, §30, 31; 90 Acts, ch 1260, §27, 28; 91 Acts, ch 257, §6; 91 Acts, ch 268, §237; 92 Acts, ch 1215, §18; 92 Acts, ch 1239, §21; 93 Acts, ch 176, §46; 94 Acts, ch 1023, §112; 94 Acts, ch 1173, §36; 94 Acts, ch 1177, §5; 95 Acts, ch 80, §3; 95 Acts, ch 97, §1; 95 Acts, ch 216, §35; 98 Acts, ch 1220, §22; 2000 Acts, ch 1066, §46 – 49; 2000 Acts, ch 1086, §1; 2001 Acts, ch 7, §13, 14; 2001 Acts, ch 24, §54; 2001 Acts, ch 124, §3 – 6; 2001 Acts, ch 129, §6; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §176; 2002 Acts, ch 1162, §60 – 62; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2004 Acts, ch 1082, §5; 2004 Acts, ch 1101, §64; 2005 Acts, ch 33, §2, 3; 2006 Acts, ch 1178, §28; 2008 Acts, ch 1109, §3; 2008 Acts, ch 1126, §17, 33; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §136, 263; 2010 Acts, ch 1191, §24; 2010 Acts, ch 1193, §176; 2011 Acts, ch 25, §53, 110, 143; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89; 2011 Acts, ch 128, §23, 24, 60; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §100, 143; 2015 Acts, ch 30, §137; 2016 Acts, ch 1010, §1, 2; 2017 Acts, ch 45, §1, 2; 2017 Acts, ch 168, §31; 2019 Acts, ch 128, §9; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §244; 2021 Acts, ch 76, §150; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1162 – 1166; 2023 Acts, ch 109, §8; 2024 Acts, ch 1054, §10 – 12, 18; 2025 Acts, ch 134, §25 Referred to in §135.11, 206.8, 206.12, 323.1, 455B.310, 455B.311, 455B.471, 455B.472A, 455B.473, 455B.477, 455B.479, 455D.3, 455F.7, 455F.8A, 455J.7, 456B.11, 460.302, 460.305, 466B.46 See Iowa Acts for special provisions relating to appropriations in a given year Subsection 2, paragraph b, unnumbered paragraph 1 amended