Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29; Section 5-9-106; Section 6-58-104; Title 43, Chapter 14; Title 43, Chapter 34; Title 64 and Title 69, Chapter 6.

This bill renames the "Soil Conservation Districts Law" as "Soil and Water Conservation Districts Law" and makes various technical and substantive changes and additions to present law concerning soil conservation districts. TENNESSEE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION Under present law, the state soil conservation committee consists of seven representatives and three ex officio members, as follows: (1) One farmer and one member of the governing body of a soil conservation district (a "supervisor") from each grand division; (2) One supervisor from the state at-large; (3) The dean of the college agricultural sciences and natural resources of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville; (4) The commissioner of agriculture; and (5) The commissioner of environment and conservation. This bill renames the committee as the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission and revises the commission's membership as follows: (1) Authorizes appointment of "agricultural industry representatives" as an option to appointing farmers to the representative seats. Generally, an "agricultural industry representative," as defined by this bill, includes any person engaged in a business that serves farmers, employed by a government agency that assists farmers, or who possesses a graduate-level degree in certain fields of agricultural studies; (2) Authorizes the commissioners to appoint designees to serve in their stead; (3) Replaces the dean of the college agricultural sciences and natural resources of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with the senior vice president and senior vice chancellor of the university of Tennessee institute of agriculture; and (4) Adds the elected president of the Tennessee association of conservation districts as an ex officio member. The governor will continue to be the appointing authority for all seven representative commission members. The members of the committee as of the effective date of this bill will continue to serve on the commission until the expiration of terms. This bill specifies that all commission meetings are subject to the open meetings law. Present law grants the committee several duties and powers. This bill adds as an additional duty of the commission, collaborating with the state and national associations of conservation districts to leverage their advice, financial assistance, and consultation to assist the supervisors and employees of the districts with providing services to landowners and land occupiers to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality. SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS This bill renames "soil conservation districts" as "soil and water conservation districts". The process for creating a district will be substantially similar to the process under present law. One difference between the present process and the process under this bill is that the commission, when determining whether the operation of the district within the defined boundaries is administratively practicable, will no longer be required to give due weight to the approximate wealth and income of the landowners and occupiers of the proposed district. The commission will retain authority to consider economic and social factors, which may include wealth and income, when making the determination. This bill also makes some technical changes to the application that must be presented to the secretary of state following the naming of a new district. GOVERNING BODIES OF DISTRICTS This bill adds a requirement that all candidates for election or appointment to the office of district supervisor, and serving supervisors, must maintain their primary residence in the district of their candidacy. This bill adds a candidate nominating procedure for elections and appointments subsequent to the first election and appointment of supervisors for each district. Upon notification by the commission, the county extension agricultural and natural resources agent of the University of Tennessee must convene and chair a meeting of the local nominating committee to nominate candidates for election or appointment as supervisors. A local nominating committee must include, but is not limited to, local representatives from agricultural organizations. In the case of elections for supervisor, a person who is nominated by petition, rather than by the nominating committee, will still appear on the ballot and may be elected. In the case of appointments, this bill requires the commission to consider all local nominating committee nominees and appoint supervisors by vote of the commission. Under present law, supervisors are compensated $30.00 per day for attending district meetings. This bill limits eligibility for the $30.00 compensation to attendance of meetings where a quorum is present. This bill specifies that persons employed by the supervisors of a district must comply with the Tennessee State Employees Uniform Nepotism Policy Act of 1980. Present law authorizes the commission to remove a supervisor for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. This bill specifies that it is neglect of duty for a supervisor to miss four consecutive, regularly scheduled district governing body meetings without cause. This bill authorizes supervisors to designate persons as emeritus or associate members of the district and to form youth boards to assist in carrying out the district's purpose. Under present law, if there is a vacancy in the officer of a supervisor, the selection of a successor is made in the same manner as which the retiring supervisor was selected. Under this bill, a vacancy must be filled by the remaining supervisors, with the advice and consent of the commission. If the majority of a district's offices of supervisor are vacant, the commission will fill the vacancies by appointment. Present law authorizes district supervisors to formulate proposed land-use regulations for submission to their district's voters at a referendum. This bill removes such authority. This bill also removes the private cause of action under present law whereby a landowner may sue another landowner for violation of a district's land-use regulation. DISCONTINUING DISTRICTS Under present law, a district may be dissolved under a petition and referendum process substantially similar to the process for creating a district. The process is initiated by 25 land owners petitioning the committee asking that the district's operations be terminated and the district's existence be discontinued. Under this bill, the dissolution process will be initiated by the district supervisors unanimously adopting a motion to dissolve the district and filing a petition with the commission. Under present law, following a referendum on the question of dissolving a district, the committee must determine whether the continued operation of the district is administratively practicable and feasible. Present law prohibits the committee from determining that the continued operation of the district is administratively practicable and feasible, unless at least a majority of the votes cast in the referendum are cast in favor of the continuance. Under this bill, the commission may not determine that the operation of the district is administratively practicable and feasible if a majority of the votes cast in the referendum upon the proposition of termination of the district were cast in favor of termination of the district. Present law provides that following the committee's determination that the continued operation of a district is not administratively practicable or feasible, the supervisors must terminate the affairs of the district, including disposing of all property belonging to the district at a public auction and paying over the proceeds of the sale to be covered into the state treasury for the discontinuance of the district. Such disposal and payment of proceeds must be recited on the application filed with the secretary of state, pursuant to present law. This bill instead requires payment of proceeds be paid to the department of agriculture and the application submitted to the secretary of state to reflect the proceeds paid to the department of agriculture. Under present law, when a district is dissolved, the district's contracts remain in force until the end of the contracts' periods with the committee substituted for the district as a contracting party. Under this bill, all contracts to which the district or its supervisors are parties must be terminated in writing as provided in the contract following dissolution of a district. MISCELLANEOUS This bill adds a general standard for proving notice under the Soil and Water Conservation Districts Law, whereby notice must be published twice, with an interval of at least seven days between two publication dates, in a newspaper or publication of general circulation within the appropriate area. If general circulation is not available, notice may be posted at a reasonable number of conspicuous places within the appropriate area. Adjournment at any hearing, held pursuant to the notice, may be made from time to time without the necessity of renewing the notice for the adjourned dates. This bill removes the present law provisions relating to the state's adoption of the federal Soil and Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. This bill authorizes the commission to enter into agreements with the United States department of agriculture or its agencies to optimize the delivery of federal programs to landowners and land occupiers in the district, reduce erosion, and improve the condition of related natural resources in the district, and clarify the roles and responsibilities of each entity. This bill also removes several provisions of present law concerning authorization for county soil conservations associations to purchase equipment for terracing, manufacturing pulverized lime, and analyzing soil for lime and phosphate content. ON MARCH 25, 2021, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 719 FOR HOUSE BILL 764, ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 719, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 revises the meeting provisions to require the commission to conduct at least two meetings each year and strive to conduct four meetings each year. This amendment also clarifies that rules will be "promulgated" instead of "issued" or "prescribed." AMENDMENT #2 adds that a duly organized local soil conservation district in existence on the effective date of the bill will continue to exist as such district, and supervisors of a district serving on the effective date of the bill will continue to serve as such supervisors until the expiration of their terms.