County Soil and Water Program
This subchapter of the rule details requirements for county soil and water conservation programs. The rule details requirements for land and water resource management plans, annual reporting, annual grant applications, and accounting and recordkeeping. The rule describes requirements for adopting county ordinances and requirements related to the farmland preservation program.
This rule no longer specifically mentions the county land information and modernization program and instead requires coordination with other county departments more generally.
This rule updates and clarifies requirements for development of county land and water resource management plans. These updates delete repetitive language and updates language to request identification of priority areas of resource concern in addition to identification of priority farms. The updates also simplify requirements for work planning and estimating needs to implement the plan. This rule provides recommendations for the scope of individuals to appoint or consult with as part of a local advisory committee when developing a plan.
This rule requires landowners who claim farmland preservation tax credits to comply with the Silurian bedrock performance standard beginning April 1, 2027, if applicable.
This rule simplifies annual reporting requirements by removing a provision that requires counties to submit their financial contribution toward staffing. This information is already collected through the staffing grant application process.
Grants to Counties
This subchapter of the rule details the process for counties and other project cooperators when applying for grants for staffing and grants for conservation practices for landowners. The subchapter describes the process the department uses to award grants through an annual allocation process.
This rule clarifies the process to apply for grants and establishes a timeline for the department to provide the application form to the county land conservation committees. This rule adds the requirement for the department to share a copy of the environmental assessment related to the allocation plan and incorporates into rule the requirements to allow additional time to review the allocation plan if material changes are made during the drafting of the allocation plan following initial review.
This rule updates the grant priorities list for the annual grant allocation plan by removing examples of state priorities. The list is not exhaustive list of what the priorities of the state shall and may be interpreted to imply that there are specific, individual farms that would meet these criteria as opposed to a category of possible priorities. In addition, the allocation plan application provides more detail about state priorities and s. ATCP 50.30 (3) (a-r) maintains a comprehensive list of other factors for consideration when determining priorities. This rule updates provisions related to reimbursement requests for consistency with current practice and to eliminate redundancy with the contract. This rule includes language that the first, second, and subsequent staff may differ from those identified in the application to acknowledge that, with the two-year lag between application and funding awards, staff turnover may occur.
This rule is updated to allow counties to use grant funds awarded through the allocation process for financial assistance for conservation practices. “Financial assistance” may include cost-share, incentives, performance payments and other uses not prohibited by statute. This rule states that reimbursement for financial assistance requires documentation to show payment conditions are met.
Language updates include revisions to update “cost-share practice” to “conservation practice” and “cost-share funds” to “grant funds” to account for the expanded use of funds for financial assistance.
This rule clarifies that funds awarded for staffing are non-transferable.
Cost-Share Grants to Landowners
This subchapter of the rule details how a county land conservation committee may use grant funds awarded to the county under ss. ATCP 50.34 or 50.35 to provide financial assistance to landowners. This rule updates the section from “Cost-share Grants to Landowners” to “Financial Assistance to Landowners” to add options to support landowners in implementing conservation practices. This rule creates a new section, s. ATCP 50.38, to outline the general requirements that apply when counties distribute any type of financial assistance to landowners. This rule creates section s. ATCP 50.41, to describe requirements for offering financial assistance to landowners in forms other than as cost-share. This rule allows registered architects to certify practice compliance if the practice includes a roof structure.
This rule clarifies that cost-share funds can be used to record any contract authorized under this chapter.
This rule clarifies that the rule does not limit the use financial assistance from other non-state sources, including other sources that are authorized under state law but are not considered state funds.
This rule updates maximum rates to better reflect actual costs and updates the language around maximum rates to remove specific reference to “cost-share” to allow the rates to apply when any type of financial assistance offered under this subchapter. This rule clarifies that financial assistance from government sources cannot exceed 100% of the project costs.
This rule removes conservation planting in riparian buffers from the maximum rate section for cropping practices and instead allows financial assistance associated with these practices to be provided at a 70% cost-share rate, or 90% in the case of economic hardship, or provided as an incentive payment. The rule adds rates for single species and multi-species cover crops. This rule removes field stripcropping as a specific cropping practice with a maximum rate and instead considers this cropping practice to fall under stripcropping. This rule allows for a maximum rate for a one-time update of a nutrient management plan to meet the Silurian bedrock performance standard. This rule establishes a delayed implementation for achieving compliance with the Silurian bedrock performance standard. This rule establishes a maximum rate for installing harvestable buffers.
Soil and Water Professionals
This subchapter of the rule establishes the requirements for certification as a conservation engineering practitioner, qualifications to become a qualified nutrient management planner, and certification requirements for soil and manure testing laboratories. The subchapter also describes the role of the department with respect to training for county staff.
This rule allows for architects to certify roof construction. This rule clarifies that department field engineers must consult with a person with appropriate certification levels to provide a job certification approval level at a level higher than their own. This rule removes language that requires certification levels to automatically match job approval authority under the federal system. This rule updates requirements related to nutrient management planning and clarifies reasonable documentation to show a plan complies with the nutrient management standard. This rule also clarifies and specifies the records a qualified nutrient management planner shall keep and outlines minimum documentation requirements.
Standards for Cost-Shared Practices
This subchapter of the rule outlines the applicable standards for conservation practice implementation that are required when financial assistance is received.
This rule updates language to indicate that conservation practices for which financial assistance is received must meet the conservation practice standards or technical standards described in rule. This rule updates cost-shared practice to conservation practice. This rule updates the use of the phrase technical standard to conservation practice standard with respect to practices in the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field office technical guide. NRCS no longer uses the phrase technical standard. DNR and the department still have technical standards.
This rule updates the effective date for NRCS conservation practice standards referenced in the subchapter developed or revised since the last rule revision.
This rule incorporates notes to clarify requirements for implementing practices under this section.
With respect to manure storage system, require the landowner to submit to the county a completed nutrient management checklist to receive a cost−share payment for this practice and to submit an updated checklist for each year of the maintenance period.
With respect to a barnyard runoff control system, require the system to comply with one or more of the practices contained in the rule.
For access road and trails and walkways, require compliance with the section of the rule specific to stream crossing, if applicable.
For contour farming, require maintenance of the contour farming system for each cropping season for which cost-sharing is providedThis rule updates and clarifies the conservation practice standards for cover crops to the current terminology, reflect the practice’s application in an agricultural setting, and the practice’s purpose for improved soil health, water quality, and management of excess nutrients.
This rule expands the use of a diversion to control runoff and prevent contamination.
This rule expands the eligible costs allowed under prescribed grazing.
This rule limits eligible costs under residue management to no-till, strip till or similar practices and eliminates ineligible costs.
This rule updates the definition section of roofs to include a definition of animal housing, refine the definition of roof and eliminate the definition of wall. The rule limits ineligible costs to those that pay for a roof over feed storage, machinery storage or animal housing unless otherwise considered eligible.
This rule expands the components allowed for inclusion under streambank or shoreline protection and allows the costs for lunkers as eligible costs for reimbursement through a cost-share grant as part of this practice.
This rule allows ford crossing to be considered a stream crossing.
This rule expands eligible costs for subsurface drains and expands the ability to cost-share the use of the practice as part of other systems including feed storage runoff control system or as part of a nitrate nitrogen or phosphorus removal system.
This rule expands the definition of a wastewater treatment strip to include use from feed storage areas.
This rule expands the definition of a wetland development to the creating or restoring hydrologic or other conditions suitable for wetland vegetation and/or other important wetland functions and to include the types of common practices to implement this conservation practice.
This rule adds conservation practices and a technical standard to Subchapter VIII for Standards for Practices Receiving Financial Assistance.
Conservation crop rotation
Habitat diversification
Nutrient treatment systems
DATCP 01 Verification of depth to bedrock
