S.F. No. 5298 Summary

• Increases total clean water fund appropriations from $158,897,000 to $184,925,000, an increase of $26,028,000 across multiple state agencies and programs.

• Allocates additional funding to Department of Agriculture for pesticide monitoring ($350,000 each year), nitrate monitoring ($4,000,000 second year), agricultural best management practices loans ($8,201,000 second year), and Forever Green agriculture initiative ($3,000,000 each year).

• Increases Pollution Control Agency appropriations by $5,327,000 for surface water assessments, chloride pollution reduction ($1,650,000 second year), and a new nitrate sensor network program ($2,000,000 second year).

• Expands Board of Water and Soil Resources funding by $11,433,000 for watershed implementation grants, conservation easements for wellhead protection ($3,500,000 second year), water legacy grant program ($2,500,000 second year), and cover crop adoption assistance.

• Increases Department of Health and University of Minnesota appropriations to support drinking water testing, nitrate well inventory programs in southeast Minnesota counties, county geologic atlases, and stormwater best management practices evaluation.