SB 169/a LAND & WATER CONSERVATION FUND CHANGES

Sen Mimi Stewart

Actions: [2] SCC/SCONC/SFC-SCC [4]germane-SCONC [6] DP/a-SFC [7] DP/a [8] PASSED/S (38-0) [13] HRDLC-HRDLC [14] DP [15] PASSED/H (64-0) SGND BY GOV (Feb. 28) Ch. 14.

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 169 (SB 169) amends the State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund by removing the political subdivision fund matching requirement and changing the incorporated municipality population cap. It amends eligible recipients of funds and requires prioritization of funding requests of Indian nations, tribes and pueblos. SB 169 removes a reference to a defunct entity and revising citations. It appropriates ten million dollars ($10,000,000). 

Amendment
2/9/2024
The Senate Finance Committee amended SCONC SB 169A (SFC SB 169AA) by removing the political subdivision fund matching requirement and changing the incorporated municipality population cap in the State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund. It amends eligible recipients of funds and requires prioritization of funding requests of Indian nations, tribes and pueblos. It clarifies the State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund’s usage . SFC SB 169AA removes a reference to a defunct entity and revising citations
 

 Senate Bill 169 (SB 169) amends the State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund by removing the political subdivision fund matching requirement in Section 16-1-3 NMSA 1978 and by requiring matching funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and state and local assistance program funding. It increases the eligibility population cap on incorporated municipalities from less than fifteen thousand persons to less than sixty-five thousand persons and allows eligibility for state parks and other political subdivisions. SB 169 requires prioritization of funding requests of Indian nations, tribes and pueblos and rural communities. It limits what state parks may receive from this fund to not exceed seven percent of the annual apportionment of certain funds and directs that this money be used for outreach to Indian nations, tribes and pueblos and political subdivisions and for technical assistance to prospective applicants. It limits the regulations that are applicable to the process and omits the need of the applicant to demonstrate availability and source of funding for the project. 
Senate Bill 169 (SB 169) appropriates ten million dollars ($10,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and subsequent FYs to carry out the purposes of the fund

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF. 
 

 The Energy, Minerals And Natural Resources Department administers the State Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund including processing of grants which are conditioned, in part, on having at least fifty percent federal funding for the project.  (Section 16-1-2 NMSA 1978)
The US Congress has funded the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) since 1965 with the goals of acquiring land and interest in land to safeguard natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage, and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans.
Congress permanently authorized the LWCF in 2019, and in 2020 enacted full funding of $900 million annually, allocated among the BLM, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and state and local governments. The fund helps strengthen communities, preserve history and protect the national endowment of lands and waters, in part, by providing matching grants to state governments for the acquisition and development of public parks and other outdoor recreation sites. The BLM uses LWCF to support specific conservation and recreation projects and to enhance public access to public land, waters and resources, under the direction of the bureau’s National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships office. 
https://www.blm.gov/programs/land-and-water-conservation-fund 
https://www.doi.gov/lwcf  

 2/1/2024
The Senate Conservation Committee amended SB 169 (SCONC SB 169A) by correcting the name of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund State and Local Assistance Formula Grants Program and making other slight technical changes. It created exclusions from the technical assistance offered in Section 16-1-3 NMSA 1978. It excludes the state park division’s technical assistance in conducting compliance procedures on behalf of applicants for   
the federal 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, processing of permits, producing geographic information systems data, conducting project planning, developing designs or engaging, contracting or directing project management.

2/9./2024
The Senate Finance Committee amended SCONC SB 169A (SFC SB 169AA) by removing the appropriation from the title and content of the bill and by adding clarifying fund usages to the title of the bill.
It makes technical changes and clarifies that the exceptions to technical assistance in Section 16-1-3 NMSA 1978 are a condition of receiving funding from the state Supplemental Land and Water Conservation Fund for certain incorporated municipalities, Indian nations, tribes and pueblos, state parks and other political subdivisions. It removes the exception prohibiting the use of these funds under the technical assistance provision to provide assistance with compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and related project pre-clearances in the event that the US Department of Interior provides fifty percent of the project cost.