Committee replaces grow-site bond with annual fee and creates remediation fund
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Summary
House Bill 3519 would repeal current bond requirements for grow-site remediation, replace them with a $2,000 annual fee collected by OMMA, and establish a revolving remediation fund capped at $5 million; the committee approved the measure after sponsor and members discussed fund use and exemptions.
Representative Marty presented House Bill 3519 as a response to issues identified in an interim study concerning abandoned grow sites. The bill repeals statutory bond language and replaces it with an annual $2,000 fee to be collected by OMMA, with proceeds placed into a revolving fund to pay for site rehabilitation.
"The bond that was required by these grows? Dollars 50,000," a member asked; the sponsor confirmed the prior bond amount and said that the new $2,000 fee is "about average for what the bonds actually cost themselves," and that the fee pools money into a fund that can be used for cleanups that sometimes cost up to $1,500,000.
The sponsor said the fund would be capped at $5,000,000, with amounts above that directed to general revenue, and that owners who held property for more than five years in the same name would be excluded from the fee (the same exemption used for the bond language). Members asked whether the fee is annual and whether fund balances could be used when cleanup needs exceed $2,000; the sponsor said the fee is annual and the pooled fund can be drawn down for larger cleanups.
The committee passed the bill by recorded vote; the clerk announced the result as 8 yays, 1 nay.
The bill will progress to the next committee or floor consideration.
