(1) GENERAL. The
department may award an annual grant to each eligible county to finance county
cost-share grants to landowners. The department shall award the grant to the
county land conservation committee. The committee may make cost-share grants to
landowners for conservation practices needed to comply with any of the
following:
(b)
State or local regulations identified in the county's land and water resource
management plan under s.
ATCP
50.12(2) (b).
Note: The committee may use funds for
recording fees and other related costs allowed under this chapter, but may not
award funds under this chapter to cover state or local permit fees.
(c) Objectives identified in the
county land and water resource management plan under s.
ATCP
50.12.
(d)
Any applicable requirements or provisions in ch. 92, Stats.
Note: The department may award grants under
sub. (1) from applicable appropriations under s.
20.115(7),
Stats., or from the bond revenue appropriation under s.
20.866(2)
(we), Stats. Bond revenue grants may only be
used for the purposes identified in sub. (4).
(2) GRANT CONTRACT. The department shall make
grant payments under sub. (1) according to an annual grant contract with the
county. The contract shall comply with s.
ATCP 50.36, and
shall include all of the following:
(a) The
total amount awarded under sub. (1).
(b) The subtotal amount awarded from each
relevant fund source under s.
ATCP 50.28(1)
(a).
Note: Grant contracts, including grant
amounts, grant purposes, and fund sources, must conform to the grant allocation
plan under s.
ATCP
50.28. Grant contracts may specify the use of funds,
as necessary, to implement the terms of the grant allocation plan. Bond
revenues may only be used for purposes identified in sub. (4).
(c) Project funding extensions
under sub. (6), if any.
(d) Grant
terms and conditions, including terms and conditions required under this
section.
(3) GRANT
PAYMENTS. The department shall make grant payments under sub. (1) on a
reimbursement basis. The department shall reimburse the county after the county
certifies that the cost-shared practice has been properly installed and paid
for. To obtain reimbursement for a cost-shared practice, a county land
conservation committee shall do all of the following on forms provided by the
department:
(a) File with the department a
copy of the county's cost-share contract with the landowner and the supporting
documentation specified in department forms to be submitted to obtain
reimbursement. The cost-share contract shall comply with s.
ATCP 50.40(8) and
(9).
Note: The department must approve any
cost-share contract that exceeds $50,000. See s.
ATCP
50.40(8).
(b) Certify the amount of reimbursement
due.
(c) Certify, based on
documentation possessed by the county, that all applicable conditions in s.
ATCP 50.40(10) to
(12) and (14) are met.
Note: Department forms will specify the
documentation a county must provide under par. (a) with its reimbursement
request, or in lieu of documentation, the information the county must certify
under par. (c). When a county land conservation committee is not required to
submit documentation and provides, instead, its certification under par. (c),
it must keep that supporting documentation on file as required by sub. (7). The
committee must make the documentation available to the department and grant
auditors upon request.
(d)
File all reimbursement requests, required cost-share contracts, and supporting
documentation by February 15 of the year following the grant year.
(4) USE OF BOND REVENUES.
(a) Bond revenue funds awarded under sub. (1)
may be used for the following purposes, subject to par. (b) and the grant
contract:
1. To finance cost-shared practices
identified in subch. VIII, except that bond revenue funds may not be used to
finance practices identified in s.
ATCP 50.67,
50.68,
50.78,
50.79,
50.82, or
50.89.
2. To finance engineering services provided
in connection with a cost-shared practice for which bond revenues may be used
under subd. 1.
Note: See s.
ATCP
50.40(7).
(b) The department may not use
bond revenue funds to reimburse a county for services provided by county
employees, or by independent contractors working for the county.
Note: Bond revenue funds are those
appropriated under s.
20.866(2)
(we), Stats. The Wisconsin constitution
limits the use of bond revenue funds. Bond revenue funds must be used to
finance capital improvements, not short-term practices. Bond revenue funds may
not be used to finance county operations. The grant contract between the
department and the county will identify the purposes for which grant funds may
be used.
(5)
UNSPENT FUNDS. The department may not use grant funds awarded to a county under
sub. (1) to reimburse the county for costs that the county incurs after
December 31 of the grant year, or pays after January 31 of the following year.
Unspent funds remain with the department, for distribution under a future
year's allocation plan.
(5m)
INTER-COUNTY TRANSFERS. The department may approve an agreement between
counties to transfer uncommitted bond revenue or other cost-share funds if all
of the following apply:
(a) The grant funds
subject to the transfer were not previously extended by the transferring
county.
(b) The county transferring
the cost-share funds certifies to the department that it has an uncommitted
portion of its cost-share allocation equal to or greater than the transfer
amount, and has approval of its land conservation committee to make these funds
available for transfer.
(c) The
county receiving the cost-share funds has made a commitment to use the
transferred funds on one or more specific projects, and has the approval of its
land conservation committee to accept the transferred funds for cost-sharing on
the specific projects.
(d) The
counties apply for the transfer of cost-share funds on a form provided by the
department. The department may require any information on the form reasonably
necessary for the department to approve the transfer of funds.
Note: Transferred funds may be extended by the
receiving county into the subsequent grant year for the same project, subject
to sub. (6).
(6)
EXTENSIONS.
(a) If a grant under sub. (1)
funds a landowner cost-share contract that is signed by December 31 of the
grant year but not completed by December 31 of that year, the department may
extend funding for that contract in the next year's grant allocation to the
county if all of the following apply:
1. The
county properly contracts with the landowner by December 31 of the initial
grant year.
2. The landowner has
not taken any action in violation of the cost-share contract.
3. The county land conservation committee
files with the department, by December 31 of the initial grant year, a written
request that identifies the cost-shared projects for which the extended funds
will be used, and the total funds to be extended. The department may, for good
cause, accept an extension request filed between December 31 of the initial
grant year and February 15 of the subsequent grant year.
Note: Good cause may include the long-term
absence or loss of critical staff, or the damage or destruction of
records.
4. The department
has not previously extended funding for the same contract from one grant year
to another.
Note: The department will normally approve
extensions by April 30 of each year, as a supplement to the annual grant
allocation plan for that year. See s.
ATCP
50.28(5).
(b) A county may transfer a
funding extension under par. (a) from one landowner cost-share contract to
another provided that the department approves an extension of both projects.
Extended funds may not be used on new cost-share contracts. Extended funding,
if not spent for the designated cost-share contract in the year of the
extension, remains with the department for distribution under a future year's
allocation plan.
Note: A county may make partial payments for
completed portions of a cost-shared practice, as provided in s.
ATCP
50.40(12).
(7) COUNTY RECORDS.
(a) A county land conservation committee
shall keep all of the following records related to grants under sub. (1):
1. Copies of all county cost-share contracts
with landowners, including any provisions related to operation and maintenance
of installed practices.
2.
Documentary proof of all information that the county land conservation
committee certifies to the department under this section.
3. Documentation of all county receipts and
payments under this section.
4.
Other records needed to document county compliance with this section and the
grant contract.
(b) A
county land conservation committee shall retain cost-share records under par.
(a) for at least 3 years after the committee makes its last cost-share payment
to the landowner, or for the duration of the maintenance period required for
the cost-shared practice under subch. VIII, whichever is longer. The committee
shall make the records available to the department and grant auditors upon
request.
Notes
Wis. Admin.
Code Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection
§
ATCP
50.34
CR 01-090: cr.
Register September 2002 No. 561, eff. 10-1-02; CR 08-075: am. (6) (a) (intro.)
and 1. Register April 2009 No. 640, eff. 5-1-09; CR 13-016: am. (1) (b), cr.
(1) (d), am. (3) (a), (d), cr. (5m), am. (6) (a) 3., (b) Register February 2014
No. 698, eff. 5-1-14.