SB 1701

Abstract

Amends the State Finance Act. Adds uses for which the Partners for Conservation Fund and the Partners for Conservation Projects Fund may be used, and adds amounts that will be transferred from the General Revenue Fund to the Partners for Conservation Fund until 2033 (rather than ending in 2023). Provides that the Partners for Conservation Fund is eligible to receive grants, gifts, and awards from any public or private entity for the purpose of expanding financial and technical assistance in order to advance nutrient loss reduction efforts within priority watersheds. Amends the Soil and Water Conservation Districts Act. Defines terms. Creates the Illinois Healthy Soils and Watersheds Initiative to improve the health of soils and the function of watersheds through efforts that support the implementation of the State's Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, reduce nutrient loss, improve soil and water quality, protect drinking water, increase the resilience of ecosystems to extreme weather events, protect and improve agricultural productivity, and support aquatic and wildlife habitat. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall adopt and revise guidelines to assist soil and water conservation districts in determining local goals and needs for implementing soil health and watershed conservation projects consistent with the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Provides that, after the Department has adopted its guidelines, each soil and water conservation district shall develop its own goals and needs assessment to guide implementation of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Includes provisions about compliance and standards cost sharing, Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy alignment for State-owned, State-managed, and State-leased agricultural lands, and Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy reports. Effective immediately. Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Deletes reference to: 70 ILCS 405/3.28 new 70 ILCS 405/22.03e new 70 ILCS 405/22.03f new 70 ILCS 405/22.03g new Adds reference to: 30 ILCS 708/45 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes. Makes the following changes in the provisions regarding the Partners for Conservation Fund and the Partners for Conservation Projects Fund in the State Finance Act: provides that the Funds may be used to support (rather than implement) the State's Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy; removes new purposes that the Funds may be used for relating to the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, grants to support soil and water conservation districts, and development of a Healthy Soils and Watersheds AmeriCorps program; provides that the use of moneys of the Funds for implementation of a crop insurance premium discount program must be used for a State-level implementation; removes added amounts that would have been transferred from the General Revenue Fund to the Partners for Conservation Fund; and removes provisions allowing the Fund to receive grants, gifts, and awards from any public or private entity for the purpose of expanding financial and technical assistance in order to advance nutrient loss reduction efforts within priority watersheds. Makes the following changes in the provisions amending the Soil and Water Conservation Districts Act: changes the Initiative to the Illinois Healthy Soils Initiative (rather than the Illinois Healthy Soils and Watersheds Initiative); removes references to watersheds and nutrient loss reduction from the Initiative; provides that the Department of Agriculture shall report on progress of the Initiative annually (rather than as a component of biennial reporting for the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy); changes a goals and needs assessment to a soil health assessment; makes changes to the goals and needs for soil health assessments that the Department shall consider in the Initiative; removes provisions providing that the Initiative should seek to leverage funding and resources from local, State, federal, and private entities and that the Initiative may be coordinated with research and pilot projects directed by the Nutrient Research and Education Council; and makes conforming and other changes. Amends the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act. Provides that the Act does not apply to the Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Conservation District Grants Program. Effective immediately. Senate Committee Amendment No. 3 Deletes reference to: 30 ILCS 708/45 Removes provisions amending the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act providing that the Act does not apply to the Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Conservation District Grants Program. Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 In the provisions regarding the Partners for Conservation Fund and the Partners for Conservation Projects Fund in the State Finance Act, provides that the Funds may be used to provide capacity grants to support soil and water conservation districts, including lab analysis (rather than professional development), and to implement a crop insurance premium discount program at the State level (rather than to implement a crop insurance premium discount program at the State level for practices that improve soil health). Makes the following changes to the provisions amending the Soil and Water Conservation Districts Act. Modifies the definition of "soil health assessment". Provides that soil health assessments shall be used to identify opportunities to access (rather than access and leverage) financial and technical assistance from local, State, and federal sources to guide resources to their best potential use. Provides that the Illinois Healthy Soils Initiative shall complement and improve coordination of existing resources and processes and shall not replace existing, local, State, or federal (removing private) funding or technical assistance programs. Provides that the information collected through the development of the Department of Agriculture's guidelines for soil health assessments shall be compiled (rather than summarized) and provided to the soil and water conservation districts annually (rather than by July 1) to inform the development of local soil health assessments. Provides that the soil health assessment that each soil and water conservation district shall develop shall be developed annually. Provides that, upon the request of a district, the Department may (rather than shall) assist in the preparation of the district's soil health assessment. Makes a grammatical change. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Provides that the Partners for Conservation Fund and the Partners for Conservation Projects Fund may be used to provide capacity grants to support soil and water conservation districts, including, among other things, for development and travel stipends for meetings and educational events (instead of travel stipends for meetings and educational events). Removes implementation of a crop insurance premium discount program at the State level as a use of the Partners for Conservation Fund and the Partners for Conservation Projects Fund. Provides that "health soil practices" includes practices related to conservation. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Illinois Healthy Soils Initiative shall be administered by the Director of Agriculture with consultation from specified entities (adding that the administration is subject to appropriation). Provides that, in developing its guidelines to assist soil and water conservation districts in determining local goals and needs for soil health assessments, the Department of Agriculture shall consider availability of State and federal financial and technical assistance programs (rather than State, federal, and private financial and technical assistance programs) to soil and water conservation districts, local governments, and conservation partners.