Idaho Bills

Relates to the Appropriation to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2020.

This is the FY 2020 original appropriation bill for the Department of Environmental Quality. It appropriates a total of $68,415,600 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 389.00. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions; and temporarily reduces the rate agencies pay the Division of Human Resources for its services. Funding for replacement items includes $425,800 for computers, network equipment and software, three trucks, and scientific equipment. For statewide cost allocation, $240,700 is provided. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. Funding for a 3% upward shift in the compensation schedule is also included. The bill funds seven line items, which provide: 3.00 FTP and $757,300 for the Idaho Pollution Discharge Elimination System (IPDES), which Idaho assumed primacy over in June of 2018; a transfer of $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund for the Triumph Mine; a reduction of $1,345,300 from the Water Pollution Control Fund and an increase of $1,050,400 in the General Fund for a total decrease of $294,900 to shift the Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program and the Lakes Management Plan back to the General Fund; a net reduction of $100,000 in federal funds and an object transfer of $100,000 from operating expenditures to personnel costs for the Environmental Remediation Match; $167,200 for water quality monitoring to establish naturally occurring background levels for arsenic; $50,100 for a boat and trailer to monitor and respond to time-critical issues such as harmful algal blooms and provide access to the Snake River for water quality monitoring; and $340,000 onetime for remediation project co