Section 30940.

(a) The board may award grants to public agencies or nonprofit organizations for the purposes of improving agricultural water quality through monitoring, demonstration projects, research, construction of agricultural drainage improvements, and for projects to reduce pollutants in agricultural drainage water through reuse, integrated management, or treatment. Grants made pursuant to this section may be used to provide matching funds for federal grant programs. The board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and the program advisory review board established pursuant to Section 593 of the Food and Agricultural Code, shall develop criteria for evaluating projects considered for grants under this section.

(b) (1) On or before June 30, 2005, the board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, shall adopt guidelines for a dairy water quality improvement grant program that provides competitive grants for projects, including water quality planning and regional and on-farm projects, and projects undertaken by dairy operators, to reduce threats to, or impairment of, water quality from dairy operations.

(2) In order to be eligible for a grant pursuant to this subdivision, a dairy operator shall have completed the environmental stewardship short course of the dairy quality assurance program, unless the board finds and determines that the operator has taken other similar actions to mitigate adverse environmental effects of its dairy operation.

(c) The board shall specify a matching fund requirement, as a condition of providing grants under subdivision (a) or (b).

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 230, Sec. 16. Effective August 16, 2004.)