161A.71 Conservation practices revolving loan fund.

1. The division may establish a conservation practices revolving loan fund composed of any money appropriated by the general assembly for that purpose, and of any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the committee from the federal government or private sources for placement in that fund. Except as otherwise provided by subsection 3, the assets of the conservation practices revolving loan fund shall be used only to make loans directly to owners of land in this state for the purpose of establishing on that land any new permanent soil and water conservation practice which the commissioners of the soil and water conservation district in which the land is located have found is necessary or advisable to meet the soil loss limits established for that land. A loan shall not be made for establishing a permanent soil and water conservation practice on land that is subject to the restriction on state cost-sharing funds of section 161A.76. Revolving loan funds and public cost-sharing funds may be used in combination for funding a particular soil and water conservation practice. Each loan made under this section shall be for a period not to exceed ten years, shall bear no interest, and shall be repayable to the conservation practices revolving loan fund in equal yearly installments due March 1 of each year the loan is in effect. The interest rate upon loans for which payment is delinquent shall accelerate immediately to the current legal usury limit. Applicants are eligible for no more than twenty thousand dollars in loans outstanding at any time under this program. “Permanent soil and water conservation practices” has the same meaning as defined in section 161A.42 and those established under this program are subject to the requirements of section 161A.7, subsection 3. Loans made under this program shall come due for payment upon sale of the land on which those practices are established.

2. The general assembly finds and declares the following:

a. The erosion of topsoil on agricultural land by wind and water is a serious problem within the state and one which threatens to destroy the natural resource most responsible for Iowa’s prosperity.

b. It is necessary to the preservation of the economy and well-being of the state to encourage soil conservation practices by providing loans for permanent soil and water conservation practices on agricultural land within the state.

c. The use of state funds for the conservation practices revolving loan fund established under subsection 1 is in the public interest, and the purposes of this section are public purposes and uses for which public moneys may be borrowed, expended, advanced, loaned, or granted.

3. The division may:

a. Contract, sue and be sued, and promulgate administrative rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, but the committee shall not in any manner directly or indirectly pledge the credit of the state of Iowa.

b. Authorize payment from the conservation practices revolving loan fund and from fees for costs, commissions, attorney fees and other reasonable expenses related to and necessary for making and protecting direct loans under this section, and for the recovery of moneys loaned or the management of property acquired in connection with such loans.

4. This section does not negate the provisions of section 161A.48 that an owner or occupant of land in this state shall not be required to establish any new soil and water conservation practice unless public cost-sharing funds have been approved and are available for the land affected. However, the owner of land with respect to which an administrative order to establish soil and water conservation practices has been issued under section 161A.47 but not complied with for lack of public cost-sharing funds, may waive the right to await availability of such funds and instead apply for a loan under this section to establish any permanent soil and water conservation practices necessary to comply with the order. If a landowner does so, that loan application shall be given reasonable preference by the committee if there are applications for more loans under this section than can be made from the money available in the conservation practices revolving loan fund. If it is found necessary to deny an application for a soil and water conservation practices loan to a landowner who has waived the right to availability of public cost-sharing funds before complying with an administrative order issued under section 161A.47, the landowner’s waiver is void.

83 Acts, ch 207, §53, 93

CS83, §467A.71

85 Acts, ch 67, §46; 85 Acts, ch 170, §1; 86 Acts, ch 1244, §58; 86 Acts, ch 1245, §661; 87 Acts, ch 23, §44; 91 Acts, ch 260, §1234

C93, §161A.71

2013 Acts, ch 15, §1; 2017 Acts, ch 159, §14