S E N A T E A M E N D M E N T

   AMENDMENT NO. _____

310896031496000/SM

CREATEDATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT April 22, 2025

ADOPTED		TABLED	CARRIED OVER	FAILED	RECONSIDERED

Clerk of the Senate

   ADOPTION NO. _____

BILL NO: H.4025  (Reference is to Printer's Date 04/22/25-S.)

04572000 

 Senator DAVIS proposes the following amendment (SM LAND ACQUISITION ):

 Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 117, GENERAL PROVISIONS, proviso 117.164, page 558, lines 11-22, by amending the proviso to read:

/ (GP: Land Acquisitions) (A) Prior to entering into contracts to utilize funds appropriated or authorized by the General Assembly to acquire interests in land for natural resource protection and rural land preservation, including conservation easements (Land Protection Projects), the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, the Office of Resilience, and the Forestry Commission, and the SC Conservation Bank (Resource Agencies) shall coordinate and collaborate with each other the SC Conservation Bank to maximize the most cost effective options available for the acquisition with the greatest public benefit. The Conservation Bank Resource Agencies shall coordinate with each other the Resource Agency to ensure that the funds are used for projects that support the agency's objectives, and do not substantially encroach upon another agency's objectives, the State's broader conservation objectives, and that demonstrate a satisfactory degree of financial leverage, partnerships, and other indicators of quality as determined by the Bank and Resource Agency Agencies.

 (B) In addition to the requirements set forth above, collaboration and coordination shall include but are not limited to:

  (1) Quarterly collaboration and planning meetings to coordinate on projects and ensure compliance with this Proviso,

  (2) Consideration of easement versus acquisition strategies for a proposed project,

  (3) Consideration of a proposed project's importance in terms of natural conservation, historic resource protection, flood mitigation, agricultural resource protection, or other applicable co-benefits, 

  (4) Consideration of public access, and

  (5) Consideration of funding sources for the potential project.

 (C)(1) Along with its statutorily required annual budget requests, each one of the Resource Agencies shall certify in writing to the Executive Budget Office that its budget requests for Land Protection Projects will conform with the requirements of this proviso, with a copy of that written certification being contemporaneously provided to the Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

  (2) By August 15th of the fiscal year, the Executive Budget Office shall prepare a report to the General Assembly of the properties acquired in prior fiscal year, the funding sources for the acquisition, the identification of any reductions in the state's basis in the property including owner agreement to sell below market value and any grants applied to the acquisition, and the intended agency for long-term management of the acquisition.

 (D) Where required, the acquisitions process shall follow the existing JBRC and SFAA approval processes. The Resource Agency acquiring the interest in land, any Resource Agency directly participating in the acquisition financially or otherwise, and the Conservation Bank shall continue to submit a Proviso compliance certification document when submitting a project. / 

 Renumber sections to conform.

 Amend sections, totals and title to conform.