SF 146 – Use of boat registration fees
SF 317 – Prohibit the selling and distribution of non-native invasive plants
SF 388 – Use of pervious pavement in sponsored watershed projects
SF 389 – Firearm demonstration portion of hunter safety and ethics education
SF 390 – Removing time of transfer information for private sewage systems form title abstract
SF 413 – Recreational liability on private property
SF 414 – Alternative energy loan and grant programs
HF 225 – Updates to various environmental duties under the DNR
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 146 extends a provision that requires funds from the boat registration fee increase enacted by legislation in 2005 to be used exclusively for water safety enforcement and prevention of aquatic invasive species. That provision will expire on July 1, 2013. The bill extends the provision for another ten years to July 1, 2023. [3/11: 46-0 (Anderson, Bertrand, Courtney, Houser absent]
SF 317 adds oriental bittersweet, Japanese hops, Japanese knotweed and garlic mustard to the list of invasive plants that may not be sold or distributed in the state. These plants are not native to Iowa, and they threaten native plants and ecosystems with their spread across the state. These plants are not added to the state’s noxious weed list, which would place them under the authority of the weed commissioner and require their removal from property. [3/12: 48-0 (Courtney, Greiner absent)]
HF 225 addresses issues identified in a State Auditor’s report on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) programs, including outdated Code provisions enacted in the late 1980s. The bill also updates provisions for the waste reduction (recycling) program. The provisions include:
• The hazardous waste regulatory program, which is now administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Activities that were to have been funded by the Waste Management Assistance Fund. The Fund has been rescinded since 1989, but not the activities that were to have been funded by it.
• Rescinding language establishing a Toxics Pollution Prevention programs. This program was meant to work with the business community but received no interest in participation. Since then, the DNR has developed an alternative program that is voluntary and helps businesses offer confidential business assistance to reduce pollution and improve operations.
• Updating provisions for the DNR’s existing business assistance programs.
• Removes some waste management techniques that solid waste planning areas were required to implement if they failed to meet the 25 percent waste-volume reduction goals outlined in legislation. The waste reduction goals, as well as the diversion of tonnage fees for failure to achieve the diversion goal, will remain.
• Removes prohibitions on the sale of metal containers with pull tabs and containers comprised of metal and plastic from the Code. There is concern the prohibition on pull tab containers could be construed to apply to aluminum bottles that are currently being sold. The prohibition on containers containing plastic and metal were in place to prevent the sale of containers that could not be handled by recycling processes, but those containers are now able to be recycled with current methods.
• Rescinds out-of-date requirements for yard waste management, while also extending materials allowed for composting to include other organic materials, such as food waste.
During floor action, the Senate adopted a conforming amendment to SF 144 that simply adds “voluntary” to the section of the bill regarding technical assistance companies may choose to receive through the Iowa Waste Reduction Center at UNI. These services are voluntary, and the amendment clarified that the recommendations that businesses receive from the center are voluntary as well. The Senate then substituted HF 225 for SF 144. [3/11: 46-0 (Anderson, Bertrand, Courtney, Houser absent]
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 388 would allow permeable surfaces used for parking lots to be eligible for sponsored water resource restoration projects. These are projects that can occur in a watershed that are sponsored by a water utility to improve the quality of the water resource they have a discharge permit for, but the watershed improvement project may be outside of their service area. [3/7: short form]
SF 389 would allow an individual 18 or older to take a hunter education and safety course and receive their hunter education certificate of completion without demonstrating the safe handling of a firearm. This is meant to help individuals complete the course online and still receive their certificate. [3/7: short form]
SF 390 establishes grant and loan assistance funds under the Iowa Energy Center for small wind innovation zones, homegrown wind energy and solar energy, and powering agriculture wind and solar energy. These funds serve the purpose of providing assistance to projects that fall under those categories. The bill also provides for an extension on time of service installation for projects that receive wind energy tax credits under 476C. [3/7: short form]
SF 413 makes a number of changes to Iowa’s recreational liability law in response to the Sallee vs. Stewart Supreme Court decision that took a very narrow interpretation of Iowa’s recreational liability law. The decision identified a number of situations where the law did not clearly offer immunity under the recreational activity statute, and many landowners had operated under the presumption that they were protected in the event an individual was injured on their property. The bill is designed to restore protections afforded to landowners who allow individuals to recreate on their property without receiving compensation for that access. [3/7: short form (Bolkcom “no”)]
SF 414 provides a fix to an issue regarding the declaration of private sewage disposal systems on the title abstract of a property. Legislation was enacted in 2007 to require the inspection of private sewage systems at the time of transfer of a property, the original bill required that the sewage disposal system be declared on the title abstract of the property. The following year, the Legislature passed legislation changing this so that the system would be declared on the groundwater hazard statement and not on the title abstract. In the meantime, title abstracts for that one year were required to have the declaration of the inspection of the system. The bill goes back to remove the requirement that the title abstract include this documentation for that one year it was in effect so the title abstract will not need to include it going forward. Private sewage disposal systems and the inspections of those systems will still need to be disclosed on the groundwater hazard statement. [3/7: short form]