Idaho Bills

Appropriates an additional $290,000 to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2019.

Appropriates an additional $50,000 to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2019.

This is an FY 2019 trailer appropriation bill for the Department of Environmental Quality. It addresses the fiscal impact of S1260, which updates Section 39-8503, Idaho Code, to allow the Lake Pend Oreille, Pend OreilleRiver, PriestLakeandPriestRiverCommissiontoparticipateinproceedingsrelatedtotheColumbia River Basin.

Appropriates $66,620,100 to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2019; limits the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions to 386.00; transfers $1.5 million from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund; provides legislative intent regarding the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund and requires an annual report; provides legislative intent regarding uses of the Water Pollution Control Fund; provides legislative intent regarding certain moneys appropriated for agricultural best management practices; and provides reappropriation authority for moneys associated with agricultural best management practices.

This is the FY 2019 original appropriation bill for the Department of Environmental Quality. It appropriates $66,620,100 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 386.00. For benefit costs, the bill removes $1,450 per eligible FTP to bring the annual employer contribution for health insurance down to $11,650 by including a two-month employee and employer premium holiday, adds a 6.8% increase for life insurance, and adjusts funding for workers' compensation in amounts that vary by agency. Funding for replacement items includes $620,600 for monitoring equipment, three vehicles, and computer equipment. For statewide cost allocation, $89,500 is provided, as Attorney General fees will increase by $99,000, risk management costs will decrease by $9,100, and State Controller fees will increase by $8,600. The bill also provides funding for a 3% ongoing merit-based salary increase for permanent employees, to be distributed at the discretion of the agency director, and a 3% increase in the compensation schedule. The bill includes funding for five line items, which provide 4.00 FTP and $546,000 for the fifth year of funding for the Idaho Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; $5,500,000 as the first portion of the settlement with the Volkswagen Auto Group over cheating on diesel emissions to fund nitrogen oxide mitigation projects; a transfer of appropriation from operating expenditures to personnel costs to increase state support to meet the obligations for cleanup of the Coeur d'Alene basin; a transfer of $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Fund as the state's Superfund match for cleanup projects in the Coeur d'Alene Basin; and $200,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to provide additional statewide water quality monitoring. Section 3 transfers $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund. Section 4 of the bill requires an annual report regarding reme