House Bill No. 6
Introduced By bergsagel
By Request of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Office of Budget and Program Planning
A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act appropriating money to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation for grants under the Renewable Resource Grant and Loan Program; and providing effective dates."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Appropriations from renewable resource grant and loan state special revenue account. (1) There is appropriated to the department of natural resources and conservation up to $125,000 to be used for emergency projects from the money available in the renewable resource account administered by the department.
(2) There is appropriated to the department of natural resources and conservation the money that is available in the renewable resource grant and loan state special revenue account for grants to political subdivisions and local government entities during the 1999 biennium. The funds appropriated in this section must be awarded by the department of natural resources and conservation to the named entities for the described purposes and in the described grant amounts set out in subsection (3), subject to the conditions set forth in [sections 1 through 4] and the contingencies described in the renewable resource grant and loan program January 1997 report to the 55th legislature. The legislature, pursuant to 85-1-605, approves the grants listed in subsection (3), with grants to be made in the order indicated in the prioritized list of projects and activities. Funds must be awarded up to the amounts approved in this section in order of priority until available funds are expended. Funds not accepted or used by higher-ranked projects must be provided for projects further down the priority list that would not otherwise receive funding. Any grants that are funded by the reclamation and development grants programs may not be funded under [sections 1 through 4].
(3) The following are the prioritized grant projects:
RENEWABLE RESOURCE GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAM Recommended Funding
Applicant/Project Grant Amount
MT Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission $100,000
(Chippewa-Cree Water Rights Settlement Implementation)
Broadwater County Conservation District * 47,080
(Slim Sam Riparian Area Implementation)
Sheridan County Conservation District 95,412
(Sheridan County Ground Water Management Program)
Cascade County Conservation District * 100,000
(Agrimet Irrigation Water Management Project)
East Missoula Sewer District * 100,000
(Wastewater Treatment and Collection System)
MT Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) 99,781
(Montana Climate Information Center)
Cascade, Town of 100,000
(Wastewater System Improvements)
Greenfields Irrigation District * 100,000
("J" Lake - Reregulation Reservoir)
Valier, Town of 100,000
(Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade)
Beaverhead County Board of Commissioners * 100,000
(Big Hole River Return Flow and Water Budget Study)
MT Bureau of Mines and Geology * 99,959
(Ground Water Protection and Education for Rural Schools)
Lake County Land Services 100,000
(Evaluation of Level II Treatment for Individual Septic)
Gallatin County Local Water Quality District * 100,000
(Ground Water Evaluation and Monitoring Project)
Bloomfield School District #30 18,375
(GeoSource Heat/Cool System)
Choteau, City of 100,000
(Rehabilitation of Sewer System)
Yellowstone County* 29,250
(Conservation Resource Inventory, Billings Planning Area)
Glasgow Irrigation District 98,221
(Vandalia Diversion Dam - Rehabilitation Plan Study)
Roosevelt County Conservation District 64,561
(Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Off-Reservation Water Project)
Chouteau County (Highwood) 100,000
(Highwood Infrastructure Improvements)
Pondera County Conservation District * 20,000
(Lake Frances Shoreline Rehabilitation Project)
Neihart, Town of 100,000
(Water Distribution System)
Ruby Valley Conservation District * 99,741
(Ruby River Water Management and Conservation Project)
MT Dept of Environmental Quality 100,000
(Direct Planning Grants to Small, Needy Communities)
Chouteau County and Fergus County 76,450
(PN Bridge and Campground - Streambank Erosion Control)
Missoula, City of 100,000
(Reserve Street South Sewer Project)
Fort Shaw Irrigation District * 100,000
(Irrigation Efficiency and Water Quality)
Custer County Soil and Water Conservation District * 97,460
(Demonstration of Livestock Waste on Irrigated Croplands)
Thompson Falls, City of No. 2 100,000
(Waterline Replacement)
Park County 100,000
(Hydrological Reconnaissance of the Paradise Valley)
Twin Bridges, Town of 100,000
(Water System Improvements)
Lewis and Clark County Water Quality Protection * 100,000
(Lower Tenmile Resource Assessment)
Hill and Liberty County Conservation Districts 100,000
(Water Resource Evaluation of the Sage Creek Watershed)
Lewis and Clark County 39,500
(Flood Mitigation Plan)
Glasgow, City of 100,000
(Sanitary Sewer Separation Project)
Meagher County Conservation District * 60,306
(Cottonwood Creek Watershed Treatment)
Fort Benton, City of 100,000
(Irrigation and Community Forestry Rehabilitation)
MT DNRC, Forestry Div, Fire and Aviation Mgmt Bureau 100,000
(Western Montana Fire Hazard Assessment GIS Project)
Chester, Town of 100,000
(Water Treatment Plant and Storage System Improvements)
Thompson Falls, City of #1 100,000
(Water Supply Improvements I)
Ekalaka, Town of 41,000
(Water System Improvement Project)
Roundup, City of 100,000
(Wastewater Treatment Facility)
Livingston, City of 27,000
(Livingston Open Space Conservation Initiative)
Yellowstone County 100,000
(Alkali Creek Streambank Stabilization and Park Landscape)
Fort Peck Rural County Water District 36,000
(Fort Peck Water System Development)
Yellowstone Conservation District 100,000
(Watershed Planning - Integrating Geospatial Information)
(4) For grant projects for which the department of natural resources and conservation has also recommended a loan, the authorization for the loan is contained in House Bill No. 8.
(5) The funding provided to the projects approved in this section and identified with an asterisk (*) following the applicant's name is eligible for and may be designated for use as a nonfederal match for the federal funding acquired for the nonpoint source pollution control program administered by the department of environmental quality.
(6) To the entities listed in this section, this appropriation constitutes a valid obligation of these funds for purposes of encumbering the funds within the 1999 biennium pursuant to 17-7-302.
NEW SECTION. Section 2. Condition of grants. Disbursement of funds under [sections 1 through 4] for grants is subject to the following conditions that must be met by project sponsors:
(1) approval of a scope of work and budget for the project by the department of natural resources and conservation. Reductions in a scope of work or budget may not affect priority activities or improvements.
(2) documented commitment of other funds required for project completion;
(3) satisfactory completion of conditions described in the recommendation section of the project narrative in the renewable resource grant and loan program project evaluations and recommendations report submitted to the 55th legislature for the 1999 biennium or, in the case of emergency applications, conditions specified at the time of written notification of approved grant authority;
(4) execution of a grant agreement with the department; and
(5) accomplishment of other specific requirements considered necessary by the department to accomplish the purpose of the grant as evidenced from the application to the department or from the proposal to the legislature.
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Conditions for grants. Notwithstanding the conditions described in [section 2], grant funds are disbursed in the order of priority listed in [section 1] as resource indemnity trust account interest income revenue is received. A project approved by [section 1] is not entitled to receive grant funds that are not collected and allocated to the renewable resource grant and loan program state special revenue account.
NEW SECTION. Section 4. Appropriations established. (1) For any entity of state government that receives a grant under [sections 1 through 3], an appropriation is established for the amount of the grant upon award of the grant by the department of natural resources and conservation. Grants to state entities from prior bienniums are reauthorized for completion of contract work.
(2) Any funds in excess of the amount appropriated for grants under [sections 1 through 3] are available for appropriation for authorized purposes from the renewable resource grant and loan state special revenue account.
NEW SECTION. Section 5. Severability. If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.
NEW SECTION. Section 6. Effective dates. (1) [Sections 2 through 5 and this section] are effective on passage and approval.
(2) [Section 1] is effective July 1, 1997.
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