Revision: May 1, 2024, 9:24 a.m.
SB 539-FN-A-LOCAL - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
04/11/2024 1462s
2024 SESSION
24-2854
10/05
SENATE BILL 539-FN-A-LOCAL
SPONSORS: Sen. Murphy, Dist 16; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Rep. Osborne, Rock. 2; Rep. Alexander Jr., Hills. 29; Rep. Mazur, Hills. 44; Rep. C. McGuire, Merr. 27
COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a procedure for the department of environmental services to transfer ownership of a dam and associated property to the municipality in which the dam is located, or to other associations or parties, and includes the authority of the department to make loans from a dam maintenance revolving loan fund.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/11/2024 1462s 24-2854
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Department of Environmental Services; Dams; Transfer Procedures. Amend RSA 482 by inserting after section 51 the following new section:
482:51-a Dams; Transfer to Municipality or Association.
I. In this section "state-owned dam" means any dam owned exclusively by the department.
II. At least one year prior to removing any state-owned dam, the department shall offer to transfer ownership of the dam and associated property to the municipality in which the dam and impoundment created by it are located. Upon notice by the department, the governing body shall cause the legislative body to answer the question of whether the legislative body wants to accept the transfer of ownership of the dam. At the same meeting, the legislative body shall consider the issuance of any long term debt necessary to effectuate the transfer and address any deficiencies. If the legislative body votes to accept the transfer, but denies issuance of the debt, the department shall consider that to be a rejection of the offer. Upon rejection of the offer by the municipality, the department shall offer to transfer ownership of the dam and impoundment created by it to any association of landowners or any interested parties, registered as a public entity in good standing and capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt which have an interest in perpetuating the dam and its impoundment. Those interested parties shall have 90 days to consider whether to accept the transfer of ownership. After those 90 days have elapsed with no accepted offers for a transfer of ownership, the department may proceed with removal of the dam.
III. The procedure in paragraph II shall not apply if, upon receipt of information reasonably believed to be valid, the commissioner of environmental services believes the dam to be in imminent danger of failure and a threat to the lives and property downstream, or unless there is a compelling environmental interest in removal.
IV. When offering a transfer of a dam under paragraph II, the department shall provide to the offerees any existing documentation regarding the dams condition, a good faith estimate of costs of necessary repairs, a list of ongoing maintenance, inspection, or licensing needed, and all other relevant information regarding the costs of taking ownership of the dam with associated property.
V. The department shall develop by administrative rules under RSA 541-A a process by which municipalities, or other interested parties who are capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt, may apply for a loan necessary for the maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement of their non-state-owned dams. Loans shall be funded by moneys in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b.
2 New Section; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund Established. Amend RSA 482 by inserting after section 55-a the following new section:
482:55-b Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund Established.
I. There is established a dam maintenance revolving loan fund to provide loans to fund the maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement of any municipally owned dam or dam owned by other interested parties who are capable of assessing local property taxes or issuing debt, when such maintenance, repair, removal, or improvement is required under this chapter. This fund shall be nonlapsing and shall be continually appropriated to the department for the purposes of RSA 482:51-a. No loans shall be made from this fund until the fund has accrued a balance of at least $2,500,000 II. Loans made from the fund shall be issued at the discretion of the department of environmental services.
III. A sum equal to up to 5 percent or not more than $200,000 of the balance of the fund each year shall be set aside to pay the department costs of administering the fund. The funds set aside shall be deposited into the dam maintenance fund and shall be continually appropriated to the department exclusively for the purposes of this section and RSA 482:51-a.
IV. The department shall adopt rules for the revolving loan fund including the interest rate charged on loans and oversight of the administration of the fund. In providing loans, the department shall evaluate the risk posed by the dam, the public benefit of the dam, the private benefit of the dam to lakefront owners, the ecological impacts of the dam, the potential for contributions to needed maintenance, repair, or reconstruction, the financial resources of the applicant, and the relative cost of maintaining, repairing, or improving the dam as compared to removing or breaching the dam.
V. Sources of revenue that may be accepted and deposited into the dam maintenance revolving loan fund include:
(a) Any funds that may be appropriated from the general fund;
(b) Principal and interest received from the repayment of loans made from the fund;
(c) Grants and awards made to the state by the federal government for the purpose for which the fund was established;
(d) Interest earned from the investment of fund balances;
(e) Private gifts, bequests, and donations made to the state for the purpose for which the fund was established; and
(f) Any other funds from any public or private source intended to be used for the purpose for which the fund was established.
3 New Subparagraph; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b) by inserting after subparagraph (394) the following new subparagraph:
(395) Moneys deposited in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b.
4 Appropriation; Department of Environmental Services; Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund. The sum of $1 is appropriated to the department of environmental services for deposit in the dam maintenance revolving loan fund established in RSA 482:55-b, for the purpose of providing loans under RSA 482:51-a. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
24-2854
Amended 5/1/24
SB 539-FN-A-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2024-1462s)
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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Estimated State Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund
| |||||
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund | |||||
Appropriations | $0 | $1 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund
| |||||
• Does this bill provide sufficient funding to cover estimated expenditures? [X] N/A • Does this bill authorize new positions to implement this bill? [X] No | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Local Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill establishes a procedure for the Department of Environmental Services to transfer ownership of a dam and associated property to the municipality in which the dam is located, or to other associations or parties, and includes the authority of the Department to make loans from the dam maintenance revolving loan fund.
The Department of Environmental Services indicates the State owns 273 dams. This bill would formalize the process of transferring ownership of a dam from the State to a municipality when the State proposes to remove any state-owned dam within that municipality. The Department states there may be costs to the State to assess the condition of the dam, gather the required documentation, and to allocate staff time to facilitate the transfer. These costs are indeterminable. In addition, there will be a cost for the Department to write administrative rules for a new loan program. The program would not be active until at least $2,500,000 was allocated to the fund. The bill as amended appropriates $1 from the general fund in FY 2025. The Department notes it is not possible to know the cost to a locality that may choose to receive a dam from the state and this cost would depend on the condition of the dam.
The Department is unable to estimate the impact on State expenditures and revenues. The potential exists that several of these requests would be initiated simultaneously or none at all. When the Department offers a dam to a municipality, the municipality may expect Department staff to present the offer in a public meeting or attend meetings with the municipality to discuss the dam or transfer. Because the number of such meeting requests is unknown, these additional costs cannot be determined.
While the bill would allow money to be set aside for the Department's costs to administer the Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund, it is not known how many loans will be requested or made each year. Therefore, the impact to the fund to administer the proposed loan program cannot be determined. In addition, the amount of money that will be available to the dam maintenance revolving loan fund from the various sources identified in proposed RSA 482:55-b, is unknown.
The Department indicates the impact on local expenditures and revenues cannot be determined. The proposed Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund would allow for municipalities to apply for loans to repair municipally owned dams. The number of dams that may be transfered and loan amounts are cannot be predicted therefore the local revenue from loan proceeds and the expenditures of municipalities to repay loans is unknown.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill creates a local option and enables a municipality to take ownership of a state-owned dam and have it transferred to their jurisdiction. The Association indicates, because this is a local option, the bill would have no fiscal impact
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Environmental Services and New Hampshire Municipal Association