Joint Committee Committee on Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources (02/17/2010)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	02/17/2010	ATTENDANCE

Time:	07:33 AM to 08:49 AM	Baumgardner
		Brophy
Place:		Curry
		Gardner C.
This Meeting was called to order by		Gibbs
	Representative Fischer	Harvey
		Hullinghorst
This Report was prepared by		Kester
	David Beaujon	Looper
		McKinley
		Pace
		Ryden
		Schwartz
		Solano
		Sonnenberg
		Tipton
		Vigil
		Whitehead
		Hodge
		Fischer
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Environmental Agriculture Program Ntirogen Stakeholder Process Ethanol Production		Briefing only Briefing only Briefing only

07:34 AM -- Environmental Agriculture Program

The Water Quality Control Division’s Animal Feeding Operations Program was merged on August 1, 2005 with the department’s Air Quality Agricultural Program to become the Environmental Agriculture Program. Phyllis Woodford, Environmental Agriculture Program Manager, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), explained that House Bill 09-1330 increased fees on confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and housed confined swine feeding operations (HCSFOs) and required the department to provide an annual report on the Environmental Agriculture Program. This report is required to include information about the number of CAFO permits, inspections conducted, and other information. She explained that 19 new CAFO permits and no new HCSFOs were issued in 2009. She also identified the number of inspections conducted by the department for CAFOs and HCSFOs (Attachment A).

07:42 AM

Ms. Woodford responded to questions from the committee concerning the complaint process for CAFOs and HCSFOs.

07:45 AM -- Ntirogen Stakeholder Process for Rocky Mountain National Park

Phyllis Woodford, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), described the Rocky Mountain Initiative to study the impact of nitrogen deposition in Rock Mountain National Park. She explained that the CDPHE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Interior signed a memorandum of understanding called the Rocky Mountain National Park Initiative Nitrogen Deposition Reduction Plan on August 17, 2007. The Plan identifies potential emission control options and air quality management alternatives to reduce nitrogen compound emissions including ammonia emissions from agricultural operations. Ms. Woodford described the involvement of the agriculture industry to implement the nitrogen reduction plan including the development of best management practices (BMPs).

07:55 AM

Dr. Jessica Davis, Colorado State University (CSU) Institute for Livestock and the Environment, identified BMPs to control ammonia emission from livestock producers (Attachment B).

08:02 AM

Dr. Jay Ham, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, CSU, described the ammonia cycle and how nitrogen enters the atmosphere and is deposited in Rocky Mountain National Park (Attachment C and Attachment D). He also identified CAFOs along the Colorado front range that are contributing some of the nitrogen in the park. He also responded to questions from the committee regarding how diet and other conditions in cattle feed lots contribute to nitrogen deposition. He described studies to measure ammonia emission in Colorado from feed lots and other sources and needs for additional research and federal grants for these studies.

08:28 AM

Mike Silverstien, CDPHE Air Quality Control Division, described efforts to identify other sources of nitrogen emissions and voluntary efforts to reduce nitrogen emissions.

08:31 AM

Ms. Woodford responded to questions from the committee about manure management alternatives and their effect on nitrogen emissions. She also described research at CSU to improve anaerobic digestion for dairies and the effect of land application of manure on nitrogen emissions.

08:37 AM -- Ethanol Production

Steve McNinch, Growth Energy, described efforts to obtain a waiver for E-15 fuels to be burned in certain vehicles. He also described the benefits of ethanol production for the agriculture economy (Attachment E). He responded to questions from the committee about efforts to develop economic cellulosic ethanol and butanol. He also discussed research on automotive engines and efforts to increase milage for vehicles that use ethanol.

08:48 AM

The meeting adjourned.