SB 709 — Relating to: creating an office of water policy and making an appropriation. (FE)

15.03.

The office shall be housed within the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey of the Division of Extension of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SECTION 2.

20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes:

at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:

2019-20 2020-21 20.285 University of Wisconsin System (1) UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND PUBLIC SERVICE (ar) Office of water policy GPR A -0- 150,000 SECTION 3.

20.285 (1) (ar) of the statutes is created to read:

20.285 (1) (ar) Office of water policy.

The amounts in the schedule for general program operations of the office of water policy.

SECTION 4.

36.25 (8m) of the statutes is created to read:

36.25 (8m) W ATER QUALITY PROGRAMS.

The Board of Regents shall use the information contained in the report submitted by the director of the office of water quality under s.

36.70 (4) (b) 2.

to avoid program repetition in designing new programs that address the demand for water quality programs.

SECTION 5.

36.70 of the statutes is created to read:

36.70 Office of water policy.

(1) EFINITIONS.In this section:

(a) “Commission” means the Great Lakes commission created by the compact.

(b) “Compact” means the Great Lakes basin compact ratified and enacted by chapter 275, laws of 1955.

- 2020 Legislature - 4 - LRB-5274/1 MDK:klm SENATE BILL 709 S ECTION 5 (c) “Office” means the office of water policy.

(d) “State agency” means any office, department, independent agency, council, commission, or board in the executive branch of Wisconsin state government.

(2) PURPOSE.

The purpose of the office shall be to coordinate efforts to manage, conserve, protect, and enhance the productivity of the state's water resources for domestic, municipal, commercial, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and other private and public uses.

(3) P OWERS AND DUTIES.

(a) The office shall collect, analyze, interpret, and maintain the comprehensive data needed for effective water resource planning and effective review of those plans by the governor and the legislature.

(b) The office shall evaluate statutory requirements, state agency rules, and legislative proposals related to state water policy and, as determined by the office, make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and state agencies for implementing or improving those requirements, rules, or proposals.

(c) The office shall act as a liaison to the commission's Blue Accounting initiative to assist the state in meeting its obligations under the compact.

(d) The office may provide technical assistance to units of government other than the state to assist in planning and implementing water resource policies.

The office may charge for any assistance provided under this paragraph.

The office may request technical and staff assistance from other state agencies in providing technical assistance to those units of government.

(e) The office shall prepare a biennial report of its activities and submit the report to the governor and the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s.

13.172 (2), no later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year.

LRB-5274/1 - 2020 Legislature - 5 - MDK:klm SECTION 5 SENATE BILL 709 (4) D IRECTOR.

(a) Appointment.

Subject to the concurrence of the joint committee on legislative organization, the governor shall appoint as director of the office an individual with experience in managing water resources for a wide range of uses, with a priority on experience with both agricultural and industrial uses.

The director shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.

The board shall create one full-time position for the director to be funded from the appropriation under s.

20.285 (1) (ar).

(b) Duties.

PageThe 1,director lineshall 2:facilitate and make recommendations for sharing information between state agencies, campuses of the system, and other stakeholders and, as soon as practicable but no later than December 31, 2021, create a user-friendly dashboard for the public to easily access municipal water quality reports, private well data, and surface water quality information that is compiled from information from the public service commission, the department of health services, the department of natural resources, campuses of the system, the Division of Extension of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and other other credible organizations.

delete “and making an appropriation".

PageThe 3,director lineshall 2:work with the department of workforce development to analyze demand for public and private sector job opportunities in the area of water quality both nationally and in this state, proactively solicit private sector employers to gather data on prospective job opportunities, and, as soon as practicable but no later than December 31, 2021, submit a report on that data to the board.

deleteThe thereport materialrequired beginningunder withthis “Thesubdivision office"shall include an analysis of undergraduate and endinggraduate withwater “Wisconsin-Madison."programs at colleges and universities around the nation and shall focus on linethe 4.strength and nationwide reputation of those programs.

- 2020 Legislature - 6 - LRB-5274/1 MDK:klm SENATE BILL 709 SECTION 5 3.

PageThe 3,director lineshall 5:divide the state into areas for the purpose of better understanding the diverse and localized water quality issues in each area.

deleteThe linesnumber 5of areas and metrics used to 13.map the areas shall be at the discretion of the director.

As soon as practicable but no later than December 31, 2021, the director shall prepare a report on the unique water quality challenges in each area, the severity of those challenges, and the known level of specific contaminants in those areas.

The report shall also describe the overall success of state and federal water quality programs in each area, including participation in each program, resources spent on each program, and available metrics to determine the success of each program.

PageThe 5,director lineshall 5:work with the department of natural resources, the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, and the department of soil science of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to provide recommendations on how to improve or expand the soil nutrient application planner developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to better address the unique water quality challenges of the areas of the state described in subd.

delete3. the material beginning with “The board" and ending with “(ar).” on line 7.

PageThe 5,director lineshall 10:assess the feasibility of establishing statewide programs for promoting water efficiency and conservation and improving water quality that are similar to the statewide energy efficiency and renewable resource programs established under s.

on196.374 lines(2) 10(a) and1. 21, delete “2021," and substitute “2022,".

6.The assessment shall address the feasibility of establishing a rebate program for purchasing water filtration systems.

PageLRB-5274/1 6,- line2020 4:Legislature - 7 - MDK:klm SECTION 5 SENATE BILL 709 (5) STATE AGENCY ASSISTANCUpon the request of the office, a state agency shall cooperate with the office and assist the office with carrying out its duties and exercising its powers.

delete “2021," and substitute “2022,".

7.

Page 7, line 3:

after that line insert:

“SECTION6m.

Nonstatutory provisions.

LRBa1021/1 - 2020 Legislature - 2 - ARG:cjs (1) There is authorized for the University of Wisconsin System 1.0 FTE GPR position for the director of the office of water policy, to be funded from the appropriation under s.

20.285 (1) (a).

SECTION 7m.

Effective date.

(1) This act takes effect on July 1, 2021.”.