§ 1389b.
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§ 1389b. Clean Water Fund audit
(a)On or before January 15, 2023, the Secretary of Administration shall submit to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry, the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, and the House Committee on Environment a program audit of the Clean Water Fund. The audit shall include:
(1)a summary of the expenditures from the Clean Water Fund, including the water quality projects and programs that received funding;
(2)an analysis and summary of the efficacy of the water quality projects and programs funded from the Clean Water Fund or implemented by the State;
(3)an evaluation of whether water quality projects and programs funded or implemented by the State are achieving the intended water quality benefits;
(4)an assessment of the capacity of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to effectively administer and enforce agricultural water quality requirements on farms in the State;
(5)an assessment of the capacity of the Department of Environmental Conservation to effectively administer and enforce agricultural water quality requirements on farms in the State; and
(6)a recommendation of whether the General Assembly should authorize the continuation of the Clean Water Fund and, if so, at what funding level.
(b)The audit required by this section shall be conducted by a qualified, independent environmental consultant or organization with knowledge of the federal Clean Water Act, State water quality requirements and programs, the Lake Champlain Total Maximum Daily Load plan, and the program elements of the State Clean Water Initiative.
(c)Notwithstanding provisions of section 1389 of this title to the contrary, the Secretary of Administration shall pay for the costs of the audit required under this section from the Clean Water Fund, established under section 1388 of this title. (Added 2015, No. 64, § 37, eff. June 16, 2015; amended 2015, No. 97 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; 2019, No. 64, § 19; 2019, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § E.100.1, eff. Oct. 2, 2020.)