92.14(2)(h)(h) Encouraging innovative local strategies, regulations and incentives to address soil and source water conservation activities.

92.14(2)(j)(j) Enhancing the administration and coordination of state nonpoint source water pollution abatement activities by the department and the department of natural resources, including providing a single process for grant application, funding allocation, reporting and evaluation.

92.14(3)(3) Basic allocations to counties. To help counties fund their land and water conservation activities, the department shall award an annual grant from the appropriation under s. 20.115 (7) (c), (qe), or (qf) or s. 20.866 (2) (we) to any county land conservation committee that has a land and water resource management plan approved by the department under s. 92.10 (4) (d), and that, by county board action, has resolved to provide any matching funds required under sub. (5g). The county may use the grant for land and water resource management planning and for any of the following purposes, consistent with the approved land and water resource management plan:

92.14(3)(a)1.1. Compliance with soil and water conservation requirements applicable to persons claiming farmland preservation tax credits under subch. IX of ch. 71.

92.14(3)(a)5.5. Other conservation activities determined by the county to be necessary for conservation and resource management in that county.

92.14(3)(b)(b) Grants to farmers for implementing best management practices required under a shoreland management ordinance enacted under s. 92.17, including reimbursement for all of the following:

92.14(3)(b)2.2. The cost of providing a well for livestock if, as a result of complying with the ordinance, the livestock does not have adequate access to water for drinking purposes.

92.14(3)(d)(d) Implementing land and water resource management projects undertaken to comply with soil and water conservation requirements applicable to persons claiming farmland preservation tax credits under subch. IX of ch. 71.

92.14(3)(e)(e) Construction of a facility or system related to animal waste management by a farmer who has received a notice of discharge under ch. 283 or management practices required under a notice to a farmer under s. 281.20 (3). The amount of a grant for management practices required under a notice to a farmer under s. 281.20 (3) shall be based on the cost of the method of controlling nonpoint source pollution that the department determines to be the most cost-effective.

92.14(3)(f)(f) Training required under s. 92.18 or any other training necessary to prepare personnel to perform job duties related to this section or s. 281.65.

92.14(3)(g)(g) Technical assistance, education and training, ordinance development or administration related to this chapter or s. 281.65.

92.14(5g)(5g) Matching funds.

92.14(5g)(a)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), if a grant under sub. (3) provides funding for salary and fringe benefits for more than one county staff person, a county shall provide matching funds, as determined by the department by rule, equal to 30 percent of the cost of salary and fringe benefits for the 2nd staff person and 50 percent of the cost of salary and fringe benefits for any additional staff persons for whom the grant provides funding.

92.14(5g)(b)(b) For a grant awarded for a year before 2010, the department shall require a county to provide matching funds for priority watershed project staff equal to not less than 10 percent nor more than 30 percent of the staff funding that was provided to the county for 1997 for a priority watershed that was designated before July 1, 1998. This paragraph does not apply to matching funds for priority watershed project staff after the termination date that was in effect on October 6, 1998, for the priority watershed project.

92.14(5r)(5r) Annual grant request. Every land conservation committee shall prepare annually a grant request that describes the land and water resource staffing needs and activities to be undertaken or funded by the county under this chapter and ss. 281.65 and 281.66 and the funding needed for those purposes. The grant request shall be consistent with the county’s plan under s. 92.10. The land conservation committee shall submit the grant request to the department.

92.14(6)(6) Administration of grants.

92.14(6)(b)(b) The department and the department of natural resources shall prepare an annual grant allocation plan identifying the amounts to be provided to counties under this section and ss. 281.65 and 281.66. In the allocation plan, the departments shall attempt to provide funding under this section for an average of 3 staff persons per county with full funding for the first staff person, 70 percent funding for the 2nd staff person and 50 percent funding for any additional staff persons and to provide an average of $100,000 per county for cost-sharing grants. The department shall submit that plan to the board.

92.14(6)(c)(c) When preparing an annual grant allocation plan under par. (b), the department and the department of natural resources shall consider the existence and location of impaired water bodies that the department of natural resources has identified to the federal environmental protection agency under 33 USC 1313 (d) (1) (A) and agricultural enterprise areas designated under s. 91.84, and shall give priority to providing cost-sharing for nutrient management planning projects that are in or near, or that affect, those areas.

92.14(6)(d)(d) The board shall review the annual allocation plan submitted to it under par. (b) and make recommendations to the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection and the department of natural resources on approval, modification or disapproval of the plan.

92.14(6)(g)(g) Every grant awarded to a county under this section and s. 281.65 shall be consistent with the plans under s. 92.15, 1985 stats., and under this section and ss. 92.10 and 281.65.

92.14(6)(gm)(gm) A county may not provide cost-sharing funds using funds provided under this section in an amount that exceeds 70 percent of the cost of a project, except in cases of economic hardship, as defined by the department by rule.

92.14(6)(h)1.1. A county may not provide cost-sharing funds using funds provided under this section for the construction of any facility or system related to animal waste management unless all of the following conditions are met: