SB 1709 — unlawful feeding of wildlife; exception

Agriculture and water innovation fund pilot program;

fund;

grants;

requirements;

annual report;

delayed repeal;

definitions A.

The agriculture and water innovation fund pilot program is established to provide grants and collect data for water-focused innovation in agriculture.

The Arizona department of agriculture shall administer the pilot program.

B.

The agriculture and water innovation fund is established consisting of monies deposited from the state lottery fund pursuant to -3- House Amendments to S.B.

1709 section 5-572, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, legislative appropriations, grants from federal agencies and monies appropriated by any other lawful source.

Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.

The Arizona department of agriculture shall administer the fund and may use not more than three percent of the monies in the fund annually for the costs of administering the fund and the agriculture and water innovation fund pilot program.

C.

The Arizona department of agriculture may grant monies from the fund to qualified applicants to acquire or contract for implementing innovative technology that improves water use efficiency by improving soil health subject to the following conditions:

ThePersons grantlawfully maytaking not exceed $2,000,000 for a single qualified applicant or forholding qualifiedwildlife applicantspursuant fromto thetitle same17 farm unit or $5,000,000 if the qualified applicant is an irrigation district that will implement innovative technology pursuant to therules pilot program on three or moreorders farmof unitsthe withinArizona thegame irrigationand district.fish commission.

ThePublic innovativeemployees technologyor isauthorized currentlyagents implementedacting throughoutwithin thisthe statescope andof hastheir demonstratedauthority consistentfor improvementpublic insafety indicatorsor offor waterwildlife usemanagement efficiencypurposes. on fields implementing the technology.

For the purposes of this paragraph, a demonstration of increased water use efficiency may include third-party validated commercial implementation of the innovative technology and does not require academic analysis.

TheNormal increaseagricultural inor waterlivestock useoperational efficiencypractices. proposed is a function of improved soil health due to implementing the innovative technology.

TheTree qualifiedsquirrels applicant provides a record of active farming or intentionalbirds. water conservation for three of the previous five years for the proposed acreage at the time of the application.

ThePERSONS proposedPLACING acreageHOLIDAY-RELATED proposedDECORATIONS toOUTSIDE receiveOF theTHEIR innovativeRESIDENCES technologyOR isON locatedTHEIR completelyPROPERTY withinTHAT thisARE state.NOT INTENDED TO FEED, ATTRACT OR OTHERWISE ENTICE WILDLIFE.

-4-B. House Amendments to S.B.

1709This D.section applies in a county with a population of more than two hundred eighty thousand persons.

InC. assessing an application, the Arizona department of agriculture may give preference to implementing an innovative technology that the Arizona department of agriculture determines:

1.Unlawful feeding of wildlife is a petty offense.

Increases- agricultural1 yields- on fields that increase water use efficiency.

2.

Improves water use efficiency on high-water-demand crops or high-value crops.

3.

Maximizes benefits to soil health, including reduced need for cover cropping, reduction in soil salinity and improved disease resilience.

4.

Provides opportunities for data collection and public demonstration of the technology for diverse high agricultural water use regions in this state.

E.

Recipients of grant monies may not receive a state tax credit for the portion of an innovative technology that is purchased with grant monies.

F.

The director of the Arizona department of agriculture may prepay the grantee for implementing the innovative technology if the contracted-for innovative technology service provider agrees in the contract to provide recourse to this state in the event of nonperformance.

G.

As a condition of the grant, the Arizona department of agriculture shall require the qualified applicant to:

1.

Certify the installation of the new innovative technology.

2.

Agree to use the new innovative technology for not less than three years.

3.

Report on the individual fields that receive the benefit of the grant monies to demonstrate increased water use efficiency on the affected fields.

H.

For a qualified applicant that uses mainstream Colorado River water or water delivered through the central Arizona project for agricultural irrigation that is impacted by this program, water savings may be used to farm fallowed irrigated acreage or be dedicated to system conservation as approved by the director of the department of water resources.

-5- House Amendments to S.B.

1709 I.

On or before December 31 of each year, the Arizona department of agriculture shall submit a written report to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives describing the activities of the Arizona department of agriculture for the preceding fiscal year related to the agriculture and water innovation fund and shall provide a copy of the report to the secretary of state.

The report shall include an accounting of expenditures from the fund and how the monies were used to improve water efficiency and soil health.

The report shall identify at least the following:

1.

The specific fields where implementation of the innovative technology occurred.

2.

The legal character of the water used on those fields.

3.

The soil type and types of crops produced.

4.

The improvement in water use efficiency resulting from implementing the innovative soil health technology and, if known, the amount of water conserved.

5.

Cobenefits arising from implementing the innovative soil health technology, including yield increases, crop quality improvements and nutrient use efficiencies.

6.

Any other relevant data to better inform future decisions on strategically implementing agriculture and water innovation technologies or programs to use agricultural water more efficiently in this state.

J.

This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2028.

K.

For the purposes of this section:

1.

"Farm unit" means one or more farms that are irrigated with groundwater, surface water, mainstream Colorado River water or water delivered through the central Arizona project and that are contiguous or in proximity to each other with similar soil conditions.

2.

"Innovative technology" means products or services that improve water use efficiency by improving soil health in agriculture without requiring nonnative soil amendments or improvements to irrigation infrastructure.

-6- House Amendments to S.B.

1709 3.

"Qualified applicant" means either of the following:

(a) An agricultural landowner, beneficial owner of trust land or lessee of agricultural land that has actively farmed the land or committed the land to intentional water conservation in three of the five calendar years immediately preceding the date of the application.

(b) An irrigation district established pursuant to title 48, chapter 19, Arizona Revised Statutes, that applies for the benefit of members of the irrigation district." Amend title to conform LEO BIASIUCCI 1709BIASIUCCI.docx 03/20/2025 1:05 PM C:

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