Section 461.33. Soil conservation and water protection account — allocations.

  1.  A soil conservation and water protection account is created in the trust fund. Twenty percent of the moneys credited to the trust fund shall be allocated to the account.

  2.  The account shall be used by the department of agriculture and land stewardship to support all of the following initiatives:

  a.  Soil conservation and watershed protection, including by supporting the division of soil conservation and water quality within the department of agriculture and land stewardship and soil and water conservation district commissioners. The department may provide for the installation of conservation practices and watershed protection improvements as provided in chapters 161A, 161C, 461A, 466, and 466A.

  b.  The conservation of highly erodible land. The department of agriculture and land stewardship may execute contracts with private landowners who agree to reserve such land only for uses that prevent erosion in excess of the applicable soil loss limits as established in section 161A.44.

  c.  Soil conservation or crop management practices used on land producing biomass for biorefineries, including cellulosic ethanol production.

  3.  The department of agriculture and land stewardship may use the account to provide financial incentives or technical assistance to landowners.

2010 Acts, ch 1158, §11, 17

; 2015 Acts, ch 103, §49

Subsection 2, paragraph a amended