13feb03... 0196h

2003 SESSION

03-0297

03/09

HOUSE BILL 519-FN-A

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Permits funds distributed from the conservation number plate trust fund to the department of transportation for the expanded wild flower establishment program to be used for planting lilacs.

II. Distributes from the conservation number plate trust fund $1 for every conservation number plate registration, up to a total of $50,000, to a nonlapsing account for use by the department of resources and economic development to promote the conservation number plate program.

III. Eliminates the grant administration cost cap on transfers from the conservation number plate trust fund to the state conservation committee.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

13feb03... 0196h

03-0297

03/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

126:1 Conservation Number Plate Trust Fund; Distribution of Funds. Amend RSA 261:97-b, I to read as follows:

I. There is hereby established a conservation number plate trust fund under the administration of the state treasurer. The fund shall be used for the promotion, protection, and investment in the state's natural, cultural, and historic resources. The fund shall be nonlapsing. The state treasurer shall distribute the funds annually on July 1, except as provided in paragraph I- a, as follows: $5,000 of every $100,000 received, up to a total of $50,000, shall be distributed to the department of transportation for the expanded wild flower establishment program for use in planting lilacs and native wild flowers; $1 for every new, renewal, and transfer of registration, up to a total of $50,000, shall be placed in a nonlapsing account for use by the department of resources and economic development to promote the conservation number plate program; the remainder shall be distributed equally among the department of cultural resources, the department of fish and game, the department of resources and economic development, the state conservation committee, and the New Hampshire land and community heritage investment authority.

126:2 Use of Funds; Grant Programs. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 261:97-c, III to read as follows:

III. The funds transferred to the state conservation committee, established in RSA 432:10, through the department of agriculture, markets, and food, shall be used to establish 2 grant programs to ensure that communities and statewide not-for-profit organizations have the opportunity to compete for funds provided by this act. [No more than 10 percent of the funds transferred from the conservation number plate trust fund shall be allocated for the cost of administration of the grant programs in each fiscal year.] The grant programs shall be established as follows:

126:3 New Subparagraph; Use of Funds; Resources and Economic Development; Conservation Number Plate Promotion. Amend RSA 261:97-c, IV by inserting after subparagraph (b) the following new subparagraph:

(c) To promote the conservation number plate program.

126:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

(Approved: June 12, 2003)

(Effective Date: July 1, 2003)