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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session |
Senate: NR DP 6-1-1-0 | 3rd Read 18-9-3-0 |
SB 1709: unlawful feeding of wildlife; exception
NOW: agriculture; water; innovation fund; pilot
Sponsor: Senator Gowan, LD 19
Committee on Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Summary of the Strike-Everything Amendment to SB 1709
Overview
Creates the Agriculture and Water Innovation Fund Pilot Program (Program) and the Agriculture and Water Innovation Fund (Fund) to provide grants and collect data for water-focused innovation in agriculture.
History
Laws 2022, Chapter 332 established the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Pilot Program and the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Fund to provide grants and collect data for on-farm irrigation efficiency systems to reduce on-farm water use while minimizing or eliminating the use of flood irrigation or fallowing. The On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Fund, administered by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, consists of legislative appropriations, grants from federal agencies and other approved monies.
The State Lottery Fund consists of all revenues from the sale of lottery tickets excluding the amount designated for prize payments. The State Lottery Fund balance is annually reduced by a series of statutory appropriations and then all the remaining balance is deposited into the state GF (A.R.S. §§ 5-571, 5-572 and 5-572 Version 2).
Provisions
1. Establishes the Program to provide and collect data for water-focused innovation in agriculture. (Sec. 2)
2. Allows applicants to use water savings to farm fallowed irrigated acreage or dedicated to system conservation approved by the ADWR Director only when their agricultural irrigation water consists of mainstream Colorado River water or water delivered through the Central Arizona Project. (Sec. 2)
3. Establishes the Fund consisting of legislative appropriations, grants and monies from other lawful sources, which are continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing. (Sec.2)
4. Limits the Department from using more than 3% of monies in the Fund for administration of the Fund and Program. (Sec. 2)
5. Permits the Department to grant monies from the Fund to applicants for acquiring or contracting for deployment of innovative technology that improves water use efficiency by improving soil health if:
a) the grant does not exceed $2,000,000 for a single applicant or related applicant from the same farm unit or $5,000,000 if the applicant is an irrigation district that will deploy innovative technology under this grant on more than two farm units within the district;
b) the innovative technology is currently deployed throughout Arizona and has demonstrated consistent improvement in indicators of water use efficiency on fields implementing the technology;
c) the increase in water use efficiency proposed is a function of improved soil health due to the deployment of the technology;
d) the applicant provides a record of active farming or intentional water conservation for three of the previous five years for the proposed acreage at the time of the application; and
e) the proposed acreage to receive the deployment is located completely within Arizona. (Sec. 2)
6. Specifies that the Department can give preference to a deployment that is determined to:
a) increase agricultural yields on fields that increase water use efficiency;
b) improve water use efficiency on high-water-demand crops or high-value crops;
c) maximize benefits to soil health, including reduced need for cover cropping, reduction in soil salinity and improved disease resilience; and
d) provide opportunities for data collection and public demonstration of the technology for diverse high agricultural water use regions in the state. (Sec. 2)
7. Prohibits recipients from receiving a state tax credit for that portion of an innovative technology that was purchased with Program grant monies. (Sec. 2)
8. Allows the grantee to receive pre-payment for approved projects under this grant, provided the contracted innovative technology service provider agrees, in writing, to provide the state with recourse if there is non-performance. (Sec. 2)
9. Specifies that, as a condition of the grant, the Department must require the applicant to:
a) certify the installation of the new approved innovative technology;
b) agree to use the new technology for three years; and
c) report on the individual fields that receive the benefit of the monies to demonstrate increased water use efficiency in the affected fields. (Sec. 2)
10. Instructs the Department, by December 31 of each year, to submit a written report describing the activities and expenditures of the Fund and how the monies were used to implement on-farm irrigation efficiency systems to specified individuals. (Sec. 2)
11. Requires the Department report to identify:
a) the specific fields where deployment occurred;
b) the legal character of the water used on those fields;
c) the soil type and types of crops produced;
d) the improvement in water use efficiency resulting from the implementation of innovative soil health technology and, if known, the amount of water conserved;
e) co-benefits arising from implementation of innovative soil health technology; and
f) any other data that will better inform future decisions on strategically deploying agriculture and water innovation technologies or programs to use agricultural water more efficiently in Arizona. (Sec. 2)
12. Contains a delayed repeal date for the Program of December 31, 2028. (Sec. 2)
13. Appropriates $10,000,000 to the Program from the State Lottery Fund in FYs 2026 and 2027. (Sec. 1)
14. Appropriates $10,000,000 to the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Fund from the State Lottery Fund in FYs 2026 and 2027. (Sec. 1)
15. Defines innovative technology, farm unit, and qualified applicant. (Sec. 2)
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19. SB 1709
20. Initials BSR Page 0 Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs
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