Agriculture and Natural Resources details ARPA water grants, riparian buffers and proposed CAFO fee increases

Hunter Roberts, secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), told the Joint Appropriations Committee that the department has distributed large amounts of ARPA funds for drinking‑water and wastewater infrastructure and is proposing program changes to manage growing permitting workloads.

Roberts said the 2022 and 2024 legislatures provided roughly $689 million in federal ARPA dollars to the department to support infrastructure projects eligible under the State Revolving Fund rules and other programs; he said those grants have leveraged about $1 billion in low‑interest loans and that more than $403 million of the ARPA grants had been expended through Jan. 10, 2025. Roberts said roughly 200 projects across the state have received awards, from small municipal upgrades to studies for the Western Dakota Regional Pipeline.

DANR described a $3 million riparian‑buffer pilot in the Big Sioux River watershed that funds voluntary 10‑year buffer contracts with landowners. Roberts said the buffer program restricts tillage and grazing during nesting season and requires perennial vegetation strips of 50–120 feet; 39 contracts are in place in the Big Sioux watershed and the department has started a $5 million statewide buffer program using ARPA funds.

On concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), the department proposed a staged fee increase to better cover program costs. Roberts said CAFO permit fees have not been meaningfully updated since the program’s 1997 start and currently cover about 5 percent of program costs. The department provided a three‑year fee schedule in its budget materials and said revenues would phase in (roughly $350,000 in year one to about $705,000 once fully implemented) to pay for permitting and oversight resources the agency needs given industry growth (from 15 permitted operations in 1997 to 436 today, and from about 56,900 permitted animal units to nearly 9.8 million, the latter number heavily driven by turkey operations).

Roberts described state fair capital projects: the state fair has a new 150,000‑square‑foot livestock and multi‑use “decks” facility in operation and is building a 40,000‑square‑foot covered shed with classroom and pens; the shed construction was underway but a wind event damaged a west wall during construction and the department is working with insurers. Roberts said the department will hold a ribbon cutting during the state fair for the new shed.

The committee asked about a planned Sioux Falls one‑stop office and staffing; DANR said the cost impact across divisions is roughly $65,840 in general funds and modest federal and other authority increases to relocate or consolidate certain front‑line services in Sioux Falls. The department said it will provide the committee with more detailed four‑digit budget‑unit information on request.

Ending: The department asked lawmakers to consider its omnibus water funding bill (SB 33) and CAFO fee adjustments; lawmakers requested further budget detail and tracking of ARPA‑funded projects.