Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources (02/11/2010)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	02/11/2010	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:33 PM to 01:57 PM	Brophy	*
		Gibbs	X
Place:	SCR 356	Harvey	*
		Kester	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Schwartz	X
	Senator Hodge	Whitehead	X
		Hodge	X
This Report was prepared by
	David Beaujon
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB10-102 SB10-067 SB10-078		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely Postponed Indefinitely

01:34 PM -- Senate Bill 10-102

Senator Gibbs, prime sponsor, described the provisions of Senate Bill 10-102 concerning the certification of users of proscribed fire according to standards established by the Colorado State Forest Service. He also distributed a brochure from the Colorado State Forest Service concerning the use of proscribed fire in Colorado and responded to questions from the committee about potential certification requirements for becoming a prescribed burner (Attachment A).

The following persons testified on the bill:

01:40 PM -- Richard Homann, Colorado State Forest Service, spoke in support of the bill and described the use of prescribed fire to reduce the threat of wildland fires and benefit the forest ecosystem. He also described how prescribed fires are regulated by local and state governments in Colorado (Attachment B).

01:47 PM -- Justin Whitesell, Colorado Prescribed Fire Council, spoke in support of the bill and described the membership of the Colorado Prescribed Fire Council that includes state regulatory agencies, federal, state, and local land management agencies, and other entities. He also explained that persons would not be required to have a prescribed burner certification in order to conduct a prescribed fire in Colorado.

01:51 PM

Senator Gibbs closed his remarks on the bill.


BILL:	SB10-102
TIME:	01:51:59 PM
MOVED:	Gibbs
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-102 to the Committee of the Whole, without amendment, and with a recommendation that it be added to the consent calendar. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 7 to 0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gibbs	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes
	Whitehead	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:52 PM

Senator Schwartz moved to recommend that Senate Bill 10-102 be added to the consent calendar. The motion passed without objection.

01:53 PM -- Senate Bill 10-067

Senate Bill 10-067 exempts from the Water Rights Determination and Administration Act of 1969 (Article 37-92-101, C.R.S., et seq) irrigation wells owned by pubic schools that pump up to 15 gallons per minute that are located in school districts that serves a population of up to 25,000. Senator Hodge, prime sponsor, requested that the bill be laid over until May 31, 2010 which falls after the end of the 2010 session, also called sine die. Essentially, this is a motion to postpone indefinitely the bill.

There was no testimony on the bill:


BILL:	SB10-067
TIME:	01:54:01 PM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Moved to lay over Senate Bill 10-067, without amendment, to May 31, 2010. Essentially, this is a motion to postpone indefinitely the bill. The motion passed on roll call vote of 7 to 0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gibbs	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes
	Whitehead	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:54 PM -- Senate Bill 10-078

Senate Bill 10-078 authorizes an appropriator to use, reuse, and make a succession of uses of the return flows of reusable effluent in any place for any beneficial use and to dispose of such water by exchange or otherwise. Senator Hodge, prime sponsor, requested that the bill be laid over until June 1, 2010 which falls after the end of the 2010 session, also called sine die. Essentially, this is a motion to postpone indefinitely the bill.

There was no testimony on the bill:


BILL:	SB10-078
TIME:	01:54:54 PM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Moved to lay over Senate Bill 10-078, without amendment, to June 1, 2010. Essentially, this is a motion to postpone indefinitely the bill. The motion passed on roll call vote of 7 to 0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gibbs	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes
	Whitehead	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:56 PM

The meeting adjourned.

12:05 PM -- First Conference Committee

Brita Darling, Office of Legislative Legal Services, distributed a draft conference committee report (Attachment A). Senator Steadman asked about the applicability of the proposal. Members of the committee discussed the applicability. Senator King asked if the section of the report that amends page 18 would limit flexibility for offenders in choosing the appropriate treatment provider. He asked the committee to find a way to provide such flexibility. The committee discussed what sort of process would be required to allow offenders to change treatment providers if a situation is not working. (LISTEN) Rural areas might not have three or more approved providers and Senator King is concerned that might create problems.

12:19 PM

The committee discussed what options an offender is given if, based on a review and determination by his or her supervising agency, a treatment provider is not deemed to be appropriate. The need for the applicability date of July 1, 2010, was discussed. Representative Levy expressed her concern that offenders be provided with options in the process established by the supervising agency in paragraph 3. She suggested language that would require the supervising agency when establishing a process for review to include in the information provided to an offender options available to an offender should it be determined that a change in provider would be appropriate. Ms. Darling made wordsmithing suggestions.

12:31 PM


BILL:	SB10-078
TIME:	12:31:24 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gibbs
	Harvey
	Kester
	Schwartz
	Whitehead
	Hodge

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE