Flood Disaster Study Committee (01/07/2014)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

FLOOD DISASTER STUDY COMMITTEE

Date:	01/07/2014	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:41 PM to 04:46 PM	Buck	X
		Foote	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Humphrey	X
		Jones	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Kefalas	X
	Representative Young	Lambert	E
		Lundberg	X
This Report was prepared by		Nicholson	*
	David Beaujon	Singer	X
		Sonnenberg	X
		Renfroe	X
		Young	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Call to order and announcements 14-0185 Nonresident Disaster Relief Worker Tax Exemption 14-0536 BEST Money for Flood Damaged Public Schools 14-0729 Tax Credit for Property Destroyed by a Natural Cause 14-0730 Tax Remittance for Local Marketing Districts 14-0546 CDPS Emergency Management Entities & Disaster Assistance 14-0747 Water Infrastructure Natural Disaster Grant Fund 14-0578.2 Relocate Ditch Headgate Without Change Case 14-0728 Emergency Order by Director Affecting Oil & Gas Operations 14-0731 Civil Immunity for Volunteers at Emergencies 14-0748 Flood Recovery Recognition Use of Severance Tax for Water Infrastructure Water Contamination in Floodplains		- Bill adopted Laid over unamended Bill adopted Bill adopted Bill adopted Bill adopted Revised bill adopted Not considered Bill adopted Laid over unamended Briefing only Briefing only

01:42 PM -- Call to order and announcements

Representative Young called the meeting to order and discussed the activities of the Flood Disaster Study Committee.

01:44 PM -- LLS No. 14-0185 - Nonresident Disaster Relief Worker Tax Exemption

Representative Nordberg discussed the provisions of LLS No. 14-0185 concerning Nonresident Disaster Relief Worker Tax Exemption (Attachment A).

0107Attachment A.pdf

01:46 PM

Committee discussion followed on the draft bill.

01:49 PM -- John Vecchiarelli, Director, Division of Taxation, Department of Revenue, responded to questions from the committee about the draft bill and discussed income tax laws in Colorado and other states.


BILL:	14-0185 Nonresident Disaster Relief Worker Tax Exemption
TIME:	01:55:54 PM
MOVED:	Sonnenberg
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS 14-0185, Nonresident Disaster Relief Worker Tax Exemption, unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:	Humphrey
		VOTE
	Buck	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Excused
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:58 PM

Gregg Fraser, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions from the committee about the process for adding cosponsors to the bill.

02:03 PM -- LLS No. 14-0536 - BEST Money for Flood Damaged Public Schools

Representative Young discussed the provisions of LLS 14-0536 concerning Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) money for flood damaged public schools (Attachment B).

0107Attachment B.pdf

02:08 PM

Nicole Myers, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions from the committee about the provisions of LLS 14-0536. Committee discussion followed about current law and the provisions of the bill. Senator Renfroe requested that the BEST Board testify at another meeting to discuss LLS 14-0536.


BILL:	14-0536 BEST Money for Flood Damaged Public Schools
TIME:	02:21:30 PM
MOVED:	Sonnenberg
MOTION:	Moved to lay over LLS 14-0536 BEST money for flood damaged public schools. The motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Buck
		VOTE
	Buck
	Foote
	Humphrey
	Jones
	Kefalas
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg
	Nicholson
	Singer
	Sonnenberg
	Renfroe
	Young

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION:


BILL:	14-0536 BEST Money for Flood Damaged Public Schools
TIME:	02:22:53 PM
MOVED:	Kefalas
MOTION:	Substitute motion to adopt 14-0536. The motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Nicholson
		VOTE
	Buck
	Foote
	Humphrey
	Jones
	Kefalas
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg
	Nicholson
	Singer
	Sonnenberg
	Renfroe
	Young

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION:

02:26 PM

Representative Young announced that he and Senator Renfroe will request permission from Legislative Council for additional meetings to further consider LLS 14-0536, BEST moneys for flood damaged public schools, and other possible legislation.

02:26 PM -- LLS No. 14-0729 -- Tax Credit for Property Destroyed by a Natural Cause

Representative Singer described the provisions of LLS No. 14-0729 concerning a tax credit for property destroyed by a natural cause (Attachment C).

0107Attachment C.pdf

02:30 PM

Representative Singer responded to questions from the committee about the provisions of the draft bill. Committee discussion followed about the draft bill.

02:37 PM

Nicole Myers, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions from the committee about provisions of the draft bill.


BILL:	14-0729 Tax Credit for Property Destroyed by a Natural Cause
TIME:	02:38:57 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS No. 14-0729, tax credit for property destroyed by a natural cause, unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Nicholson
		VOTE
	Buck	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:44 PM

John Vecchiarelli, Director of the Division of Taxation, Department of Revenue, responded to questions from the committee about federal income tax credits for persons impacted by disasters and discussed provisions of the draft bill.

02:48 PM

Senator Nicholson requested to be the Senate sponsor of LLS No. 14-0729 and senators Kefalas and Jones and Representative Young requested to be co-sponsors.

02:49 PM

Jennifer Berman, Office of Legislative Legal Services, announced that LLS No. 14-0185, concerning nonresident disaster relief worker tax exemption, is open for co-sponsors. Representative Foote and Senator Lundberg requested to be added as co-prime sponsors, and Senator Jones and Representatives Humphrey and Young requested to be added as co-sponsors.

02:51 PM -- LLS No. 14-0730 - Tax Remittance for Local Marketing Districts

Representative Singer discussed the provisions of LLS No.14-0730 concerning tax remittance for local marketing districts (Attachment D).

0107Attachment D.pdf

02:54 PM

Nicole Myers, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions from the committee about provisions of the draft bill.


BILL:	14-0730 Tax Remittance for Local Marketing Districts
TIME:	03:04:29 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Moved to adopt 14-0730, tax remittance for local marketing districts, unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Lundberg
		VOTE
	Buck	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:06 PM

Representatives Young, Humphrey, and Seine, and Senators Kefalas and Nicholson requested to be added as co-sponsors of the bill.

03:06 PM -- LLS No. 14-0546 - CDPS Emergency Management Entities & Disaster Assistance

Representative Foote described the provisions of LLS 14-0546 concerning the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) Emergency Management Entities & Disaster Assistance (Attachment E).

0107Attachment E.pdf

03:11 PM

Kevin Klein, Director, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, responded to questions from the committee about the draft bill and the roles of the affected boards under current law.


BILL:	14-0546 CDPS Emergency Management Entities & Disaster Assistance
TIME:	03:26:59 PM
MOVED:	Foote
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS 14-0546 CDPS Emergency Management Entities & Disaster Assistance to the Committee of the Whole, unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Nicholson
		VOTE
	Buck	No
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	No
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:29 PM -- LLS No. 14-0747 -- Water Infrastructure Natural Disaster Grant Fund

Representative Young described the provisions of LLS No. 14-0747 concerning the Water Infrastructure Natural Disaster Grant Fund (Attachment F).

0107Attachment F.pdf

03:30 PM -- Steve Gunderson, Director, Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, discussed flood impacts to water infrastructure related to the September 2013 floods and discussed the provisions of the draft bill. He also distributed a handout that describes flood impacts to water infrastructure (Attachment G) and a handout that describes the results of a water sampling program to identify water quality in flood impacted areas (Attachment H).

0107Attachment G.pdf

0107Attachment H.pdf

03:35 PM -- Michael Beck, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, discussed the provisions of the draft bill.


BILL:	14-0747 Water Infrastructure Natural Disaster Grant Fund
TIME:	03:48:55 PM
MOVED:	Young
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS No. 14-0747, Water Infrastructure Natural Disaster Grant Fund (Attachment F), unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 8-3.
SECONDED:	Jones
		VOTE
	Buck	No
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	No
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	No
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 8 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:50 PM

Senator Jones requested to be a prime sponsor for the bill. Senators Kefalas and Nicholson requested to be added as co-sponsors of the bill.

03:50 PM

Representative Young announced that he forgot to ask for co-sponsors for LLS No. 14-0731 concerning civil immunity for volunteers at emergencies. Representative Singer and Senator Lundberg requested to be added as co-sponsors for this bill.

03:52 PM -- LLS No. 14-0578.2 - Relocate Ditch Headgate Without Change Case

Representative Sonnenberg discussed the provisions of LLS No. 14-0578.1 concerning the relocation of ditch headgates without change case that was adopted at the December 20 meeting of the Flood Disaster Study Committee. He explained that after additional consideration of the bill he recommends that the committee adopt a revised version of the bill, OLLS No. 14-0578.2 (Attachment I).

0107Attachment I.pdf


BILL:	14-0578 Relocate Ditch Headgate Without Change Case
TIME:	03:54:55 PM
MOVED:	Sonnenberg
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS No. 14-0578.2 (Attachment I), relocate ditch headgate without change case, to the Committee of the Whole, unamended. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Jones
		VOTE
	Buck	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Representative Saine requested to be added as a co-sponsor of the bill.

03:56 PM -- LLS No. 14-0728 - Emergency Order by Director Affecting Oil and Gas Operations

Representative Foote announced that he will not move LLS No. 14-0728, concerning emergency orders by the director affecting oil and gas operations, and may request that it be considered at a later committee meeting. LLS No. 14-0728 was not distributed to the committee.

03:58 PM -- LLS No. 14-0731 - Civil Immunity for Volunteers at Emergencies

Senator Kefalas discussed the provisions of LLS No. 14-0731 concerning civil immunity for volunteers at emergencies (Attachment J).

0107Attachment J.pdf

04:00 PM

Committee discussion followed about the bill and whether it should be amended to include a safety clause.


BILL:	14-0731 Civil Immunity for Volunteers at Emergencies
TIME:	04:02:51 PM
MOVED:	Kefalas
MOTION:	Moved to adopt LLS 14-0731, civil immunity for volunteers at emergencies, as amended by the addition of a safety clause. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:	Sonnenberg
		VOTE
	Buck	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Jones	Excused
	Kefalas	Yes
	Lambert	Excused
	Lundberg	Yes
	Nicholson	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Renfroe	Yes
	Young	Yes

YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Representative Foote and Senator Lundberg requested to be prime sponsors for the bill. Senators Jones and Nicholson and Representatives Humphrey, Singer, and Young requested to be added as co-sponsors.

04:05 PM -- LLS No. 14-0748 -- Flood Recovery Recognition Resolution

Representative Singer described the provisions of LLS No.14-0748, a resolution concerning the recognition of flood recovery efforts (Attachment K).

0107Attachment K.pdf

04:07 PM

Committee discussion followed on the resolution and possible amendments to it. The resolution was not moved to allow time for additional amendments and consideration.

04:11 PM -- Use of Severance Tax for Water Infrastructure

James Eklund, Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), explained that 50 percent of severance tax revenues are credited to the Severance Tax Trust Fund and 50 percent of the revenues are credited to the Department of Local Affairs for grants and distributions to local governments impacted by mining activities. Of the revenue credited to the Severance Tax Trust Fund, 50 percent is allocated to the Perpetual Base Fund of the Severance Tax Trust Fund (or 25 percent of total severance tax revenues) for use by the CWCB to build waterprojects. The other 50 percent of Severance Tax Trust Fund revenues (or 25 percent of total severance tax revenues) are allocated to the Operational Fund to fund programs that "promote and encourage sound natural resource planning, management, and development related to minerals, energy, geology, and water."

04:13 PM

Mr. Eklund also discussed the CWCB's flood mitigation efforts and distributed a handout that summarizes its flood mitigation efforts (Attachment L). He also described the CWCB's emergency loan program.

0107Attachment L.pdf

04:16 PM

Tim Feehan, Deputy Director, Resource Management, CWCB, respond to questions from the committee about the cost of loans for flood impact mitigation, interest rates for these loans, and the intended use of revenue from loan repayments.

04:20 PM -- Water Contamination in Floodplains

Tom Browning, Colorado Water Conservation Board, discussed efforts to revise the floodplain map in response to the September 2013 flood. He explained that the floods substantially altered streambeds and increased the flood threat for certain persons. He responded to questions from the committee about the flood plain mapping process and the role of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) in the development of this map.

04:31 PM

Steve Gunderson, Director, Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, discussed water quality sampling conducted by the division to identify potential contaminants from the 2013 September floods (Attachment H). He also discussed flood impacts to agricultural facilities and the regulation of the location of wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities in flood plains.

04:39 PM

Brett Icenogle, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, responded to questions from the committee about lessons learned from the recent flood and potential measures to better prepare for future floods.

04:39 PM

Representative Young announced that no additional persons signed up to testify. The meeting was adjourned.