Relates to the Appropriation to the Department of Environmental Quality for fiscal year 2020.

This is the FY 2020 original appropriation bill for the Department of Environmental Quality. It appropriates a total of $68,415,600 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 389.00. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP; provides a 5.5% increase for the employer's share of PERSI contributions; and temporarily reduces the rate agencies pay the Division of Human Resources for its services. Funding for replacement items includes $425,800 for computers, network equipment and software, three trucks, and scientific equipment. For statewide cost allocation, $240,700 is provided. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 3% change in employee compensation for permanent employees, with a minimum increase of $550 for each employee and the remaining amount to be distributed based on merit. Funding for a 3% upward shift in the compensation schedule is also included. The bill funds seven line items, which provide: 3.00 FTP and $757,300 for the Idaho Pollution Discharge Elimination System (IPDES), which Idaho assumed primacy over in June of 2018; a transfer of $1,500,000 from the Water Pollution Control Fund for the Triumph Mine; a reduction of $1,345,300 from the Water Pollution Control Fund and an increase of $1,050,400 in the General Fund for a total decrease of $294,900 to shift the Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program and the Lakes Management Plan back to the General Fund; a net reduction of $100,000 in federal funds and an object transfer of $100,000 from operating expenditures to personnel costs for the Environmental Remediation Match; $167,200 for water quality monitoring to establish naturally occurring background levels for arsenic; $50,100 for a boat and trailer to monitor and respond to time-critical issues such as harmful algal blooms and provide access to the Snake River for water quality monitoring; and $340,000 onetime for remediation project co