Appropriates $66,620,100 to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2019; limits the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions to 386.00; transfers $1.5 million from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund; provides legislative intent regarding the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund and requires an annual report; provides legislative intent regarding uses of the Water Pollution Control Fund; provides legislative intent regarding certain moneys appropriated for agricultural best management practices; and provides reappropriation authority for moneys associated with agricultural best management practices.

This is the FY 2019 original appropriation bill for the Department of Environmental Quality. It appropriates $66,620,100 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 386.00. For benefit costs, the bill removes $1,450 per eligible FTP to bring the annual employer contribution for health insurance down to $11,650 by including a two-month employee and employer premium holiday, adds a 6.8% increase for life insurance, and adjusts funding for workers' compensation in amounts that vary by agency. Funding for replacement items includes $620,600 for monitoring equipment, three vehicles, and computer equipment. For statewide cost allocation, $89,500 is provided, as Attorney General fees will increase by $99,000, risk management costs will decrease by $9,100, and State Controller fees will increase by $8,600. The bill also provides funding for a 3% ongoing merit-based salary increase for permanent employees, to be distributed at the discretion of the agency director, and a 3% increase in the compensation schedule. The bill includes funding for five line items, which provide 4.00 FTP and $546,000 for the fifth year of funding for the Idaho Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; $5,500,000 as the first portion of the settlement with the Volkswagen Auto Group over cheating on diesel emissions to fund nitrogen oxide mitigation projects; a transfer of appropriation from operating expenditures to personnel costs to increase state support to meet the obligations for cleanup of the Coeur d'Alene basin; a transfer of $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Fund as the state's Superfund match for cleanup projects in the Coeur d'Alene Basin; and $200,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to provide additional statewide water quality monitoring. Section 3 transfers $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund to the Environmental Remediation Basin Fund. Section 4 of the bill requires an annual report regarding reme