House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (04/14/2010)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	04/14/2010	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:36 PM to 02:36 PM	Baumgardner	X
		Curry	*
Place:	HCR 0107	Gardner C.	X
		Hullinghorst	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Looper	X
	Representative Fischer	McKinley	E
		Ryden	X
This Report was prepared by		Solano	E
	Lauren Ris	Sonnenberg	E
		Tipton	X
		Vigil	E
		Pace	X
		Fischer	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB10-1398 HJR10-1019		Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:38 PM -- House Bill 10-1398

Representative Fischer, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 1398, which appropriates money from both the Operation and Maintenance Account and the Capital Account of the Species Conservation Trust Fund (SCTF) for programs submitted by the executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. These programs are designed to conserve native species that are listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal law, are candidate species, or are likely to become candidate species as determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bill also transfers funding between the Capital and the Operation and Maintenance Accounts of the SCTF and transfers funding to these accounts from Tier 2 of the Operational Account of the Severance Tax Trust Fund.

The following individuals testified on the bill:

01:43 PM -- Jennifer Gimbel, Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, spoke in support of the bill and explained the importance of the Platte River Recovery Program and the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program, both projects funded in the bill. She answered questions from the committee.

01:46 PM -- Jeff Ver Steeg, Colorado Division of Wildlife, spoke in support of the bill and discussed the importance of funding wildlife related projects in the bill and the importance of keeping sage grouse off the federal endangered species list.

01:48 PM -- Diana Orf, Colorado Water Congress, spoke in support of the bill.

01:50 PM -- Julie McKenna, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, spoke in support of the bill and discussed how the projects benefit water providers. She also indicated that Denver Water also supports the bill.

01:51 PM -- Jen Boulton, Colorado Trout Unlimited, spoke in support of the bill.

01:52 PM -- Mikk Anderson, Ducks Unlimited Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. He discussed some of the projects that have been funded in the past from the Species Conservation Trust Fund and how they have benefited wildlife in Colorado.

01:56 PM

Representative Fischer explained that the Colorado River Water Conservation District also supports the bill but could not be here today to testify.


BILL:	HB10-1398
TIME:	01:56:31 PM
MOVED:	Fischer
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 10-1398 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0.
SECONDED:	Curry
		VOTE
	Baumgardner	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	Ryden	Yes
	Solano	Excused
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Excused
	Pace	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:59 PM -- House Bill 10-1019

Representative Baumbgardner, resolution sponsor, presented House Joint Resolution 1019 concerning the distribution of federal mineral lease (FML) revenues to counties in Colorado. He explained that FML revenue was generated from oil and gas leases on Naval Oil Shale Reserve 3 in Garfield County and that the diversion of FML money to pay for environmental restoration and waste management is required by federal legislation. He continued that there have been two bills introduced by U.S. Senators Udall and Bennet to have the state portion of FML revenue distributed to Colorado, however these bills have not been scheduled to receive a committee hearing. This resolution requests that the moneys be disbursed to the state. Representative Baumgardner distributed letters from county commissioners to the committee (Attachment A).

02:06 PM -- Ken Parsons, Rio Blanco County Commissioner, spoke in support of the resolution. He discussed the energy and mineral industry growth in the county and how the industry impacts the infrastructure and local government services. He explained the need for the FML moneys and how these would help the communities of northwest Colorado. Mr. Parsons answered questions from the committee.

02:11 PM

The committee discussed a memo prepared by Jason Schrock, Legislative Council Staff, (Attachment B) that provides background information on the diversion of FML revenue and the federal legislation.

02:17 PM -- Mike Samson, Garfield County Commissioner, spoke in support of the resolution.

02:20 PM -- Aron Diaz, Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, spoke in support of the bill, and explained the need for the resolution.

02:25 PM

Representative Baumgardner distributed a letter of support for the resolution from Scott McInnis (Attachment C).

02:29 PM

The committee discussed the differences between the two bills in Congress and whether the resolution should express support for one bill over the other.


BILL:	HB10-1019
TIME:	02:33:34 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved a conceptual amendment on page 2 of the printed resolution to add language to send copies of the resolution to the governor, the Department of Local Affairs, and the Department of Natural Resources.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Baumgardner
	Curry
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Looper
	McKinley	Excused
	Ryden
	Solano	Excused
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Tipton
	Vigil	Excused
	Pace
	Fischer
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB10-1019
TIME:	02:35:15 PM
MOVED:	Baumgardner
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Joint Resolution 10-1019, as amended, to the House for final action. The motion passed on a vote of 8-0.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Baumgardner	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	Ryden	Excused
	Solano	Excused
	Sonnenberg	Excused
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Excused
	Pace	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
Final YES: 8 NO: 0 EXC: 5 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:36 PM

The committee adjourned.