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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, Second Regular Session
environment; 2024-2025.
Purpose
Makes statutory and session law changes relating to the environment necessary to implement the FY 2025 state budget.
Background
The Arizona Constitution prohibits substantive law from being included in the general appropriations, capital outlay appropriations and supplemental appropriations bills. However, it is often necessary to make statutory and session law changes to effectuate the budget. Thus, separate bills called budget reconciliation bills (BRBs) are introduced to enact these provisions. Because BRBs contain substantive law changes, the Arizona Constitution provides that they become effective on the general effective date, unless an emergency clause is enacted.
S.B. 1740 contains the budget reconciliation provisions for changes relating to the environment.
Provisions
Division of
Emergency Management within the
Department of Emergency and Military Affairs
1. Renames the Emergency Management Training Fund as the Emergency Management Training Revolving Fund and specifies that monies in the Emergency Management Training Revolving Fund are continuously appropriated.
2. Removes the requirement that all monies collected from each outlined event that are in excess of the expenses of the event revert to the state General Fund by the end of the fiscal year.
Arizona State Parks and Trails
3. Transfers all monies in the Arizona State Parks Store Fund exceeding $1,750,000, rather than $1,250,000, at the end of the fiscal year to the Arizona State Parks Revenue Fund.
Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA)
4. Allows an eligible entity to apply to WIFA for and accept grants from the Water Conservation Grant Fund to distribute rebates for the installation of gray water systems.
Fire Incident Management Fund (FIMF)
5. Exempts monies in the FIMF from lapsing.
6. Repeals the FIMF on July 1, 2025.
7. Specifies that all unexpended and unencumbered monies in the FIMF on July 1, 2025, revert to the state General Fund.
Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR)
8. Continues to authorize the Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission to grant up to $336,000 of unobligated monies in the Arizona Water Protection Fund in FY 2025 to ADWR to pay for AWDRs FY 2025 administrative costs.
9. Continues to include legal fees as an authorized use in FY 2025 of Arizona Water Banking Fund monies appropriated to the Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission.
10. Continues to cap the FY 2025 state General Fund appropriation to the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund at $15,000,000.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)
11. Continues to authorize ADEQ to use up to $6,531,000 from the Underground Storage Tank Revolving Fund in FY 2025 for administrative costs and remediating sewage discharge issues in Naco, Arizona and other border areas of Arizona.
12. Requires the Director of ADEQ, notwithstanding any other law, to reduce fees in FY 2025 for tests conducted in Area A so that vehicle emissions testing fee revenues collected from Area A are reduced by five percent from FY 2024 collections.
13. Exempts ADEQ from rulemaking requirements until July 1, 2025, to establish FY 2025 vehicle emissions testing fees.
Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA)
14. Allows the Director of the AZDA, notwithstanding any other law and subject to the review of the AZDA Advisory Council, to lower existing fees in FY 2025 for any funds held in trust by the AZDA.
15. Requires the AZDA to adopt emergency rules, through July 1, 2025, in conjunction with the industry, to modify fees deposited in the Dangerous Plants, Pests and Diseases Trust Fund.
16. Requires the established rules to be reviewed by the AZDA Advisory Council.
Authorization for Liabilities and Expenses
17. Allows the Governor, in FY 2025, to allocate:
a) $500,000 to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact and the Arizona Mutual Aid Compact Revolving Fund; and
b) $300,000 to the Emergency Management Training Revolving Fund.
18. Specifies that each allocation the Governor makes counts toward the $4,000,000 aggregate amount allowed in FY 2025 as prescribed.
Miscellaneous
19. Makes technical and conforming changes.
20. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
June 12, 2024
RA/cs