Download as PDF
151.611 Stream Restoration and Mitigation Authorities -- Powers -- Limitation
on authority -- Legislative preferences on funding uses.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
A Stream Restoration and Mitigation Authority may be established for any HUC
10 watershed in the Commonwealth. Each authority formed under this section
shall be a public body corporate and politic with the authority to:
(a) Sue and be sued;
(b) Enter into contracts with public and private individuals and corporations
and engage in cooperative agreements with federal, state, and local
governments or agencies, utilities, special districts, and nonprofit
organizations for the performance of its duties and functions under KRS
151.610 to 151.615;
(c) Employ personnel as needed, as its fiscal resources may allow, and use
the services of volunteers individually or through agreement with
governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, or foundations;
(d) Receive and expend funds from any source, including but not limited to
private donations, charitable contributions, public grants, 404 In-lieu Fee
Program, and appropriations from the General Assembly; and
(e) Acquire, sell, and hold real interests in property.
Nothing in KRS 151.610 to 151.615 shall be construed to empower or
authorize an authority established under KRS 151.610 to 151.615 to exercise
regulatory powers with respect to water resources or water quality. An authority
established under KRS 151.610 to 151.615 shall not be vested with the power
of eminent domain.
It is the preference of the General Assembly that funds contributed by a
permittee under a Section 404 Permit into an in-lieu fund for a project designed
for stream restoration and mitigation be utilized within the watershed where the
adverse effects occur. The General Assembly recognizes that conservation
and protection of the water resources of the Commonwealth, including
streams, rivers, wetlands, and riparian habitats, may involve, in addition to
restoration and enhancement of aquatic and riparian habitat, proper
management of wastewater and stormwater, and abatement of pre-existing
sources of pollution. Where an authority has been qualified by the USACE to
manage an in-lieu fee or other compensatory mitigation arrangement that is
approved after July 15, 2008, under Section 404, and to the extent that the
USACE and the Mitigation Review Team has approved the use of such funds
for elimination of pre-existing sources of pollution, the authority may expend a
portion of the funds for those purposes, provided that the:
(a) Funds spent on water quality improvements are a component of a stream
or wetland restoration plan for replacement of aquatic resource functions
and values; and
(b) Project has been reviewed and approved by the USACE and the Division
of Water as being consistent with Sections 404 and 401 of the Clean
Water Act.
Nothing in KRS 151.610 to 151.615 shall preclude the authority, when acting
as an approved qualified organization managing an in-lieu fee arrangement
approved after July 15, 2008, from combining funding from other sources with
in-lieu fees in order to achieve efficiencies in stream restoration or mitigation.
Effective:July 15, 2008
History: Created 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 97, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2008.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Kentucky may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.