Date: 10/30/2015

Final
Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation

WILDFIRE MATTERS REVIEW COMMITTEE

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
The motion passed without objection.
The motion passed without objection.
Amend Bill 5 to strike page 2 lines 1 through 16,
Bill 1 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Revi
Bill 10 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Rev
Bill 4 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Revi
Bill 8 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Revi
Bill 9 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Revi
LLS-173 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Rev
Resolution recognizing firefighters killed in the
Send the draft letter to the Department of Public


FAIL
PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS
TIE



09:48 AM -- Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation

09:53 AM -- Bob Lackner, Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed Bill 1 concerning Wildfire Mitigation Codes (Attachments D and E). Bill 1 requires, no later than January 1, 2017, that counties and municipalities that have adopted a building code, also adopt and enforce a wildfire mitigation code. The wildfire mitigation code must be either the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code or another code that substantially conforms to the international code. The adopted wildfire mitigation code will apply to the construction of, and any renovations or additions to, commercial and residential buildings located within an unincorporated area of a county also located within a fire hazard area, or within municipalities containing fire hazard areas within their boundaries. Further, the building code is only applicable to a building for which a permit application is received subsequent to the adoption of the code. At least 90 days before adoption of the code, or adopting amendments to the code, the local government is required to submit a copy of the proposed code or amendment to the Division of Fire Prevention and Control in the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The division is required to make a determination and inform the local government whether the code or amendment is sufficient, or require modifications in order to obtain division approval.

151030 AttachD.pdf151030 AttachD.pdf151030 AttachE.pdf151030 AttachE.pdf

Senator Merrifield asked whether the bill applies to the entire state or to WUI areas. Mr. Lackner discussed the requirement for the adoption of wildfire mitigation codes by local governments.

Representative Becker discussed the potential costs to local governments for the adoption of wildfire mitigation codes.

09:59 AM -- Josh Abram, Legislative Council Staff, was called to the table. He answered questions regarding the potential fiscal impact to local governments regarding the adoption of wildfire mitigation codes. He discussed the potential increase workload to the state, but said that there is no projected cost impacts.

Senator Jones asked about the potential increase of costs to local fire department districts and the increase of housing in the WUI.

The committee members discussed Bill 1.

10:12 AM

The committee members continued to discuss Bill 1.

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 10:16:37 AM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Bill 1 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion failed on a vote of 4-6.
SECONDED:Becker K.
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
No
Cooke
No
Hamner
No
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
No
Thurlow
No
Baumgardner
No
Singer
Yes
YES: 4 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL



10:17 AM -- Esther van Mourik, Office of Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed Bill 4 concerning a change of the wildfire mitigation tax deduction to a credit (Attachments F and G). Bill 4 eliminates the wildfire mitigation income tax deduction and creates a wildfire mitigation state income tax credit. The tax credit will be available for tax years 2017 through 2019. The amount of the credit is equal to 25 percent of the costs a taxpayer incurs performing wildfire mitigation on their property located in the WUI. The amount of the credit per tax year cannot exceed $2,500. Any amount above the limit can be carried forward for five years. Any remaining credit after five years is nonrefundable.

151030 AttachF.pdf151030 AttachF.pdf151030 AttachG.pdf151030 AttachG.pdf

Ms. van Mourik answered a question from the committee regarding the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit.

Representative Becker discussed Bill 4 as an incentive for property owners to mitigate their property. She shared her opinion on why a tax credit is more valuable than a tax deduction. Representative Becker discussed the cost to the state for implementing a tax credit.

10:22 AM -- Louis Pino, Legislative Council Staff, was called to the table to provide clarification on the implementation of a tax credit. He said that the fiscal note for the bill is based on the Legislative Council Staff economic forecast.

The committee members discussed the bill.

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 10:26:59 AM
MOVED:Becker K.
MOTION:Bill 4 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 6-4.
SECONDED:Jones
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
No
Cooke
No
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
No
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
No
Singer
Yes
YES: 6 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


10:27 AM -- Esther van Mourik, Office of Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed Bill 5 concerning the Division Fire Prevention and Control Advisory Committee recommendations (Attachments H and I). Bill 5 clarifies terms related to the criminal offense of obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, or other emergency response personnel, and transfers or diverts state revenue to firefighter safety and wildfire risk reduction programs in the DPS and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

151030 AttachH.pdf151030 AttachH.pdf151030 AttachI.pdf151030 AttachI.pdf

10:34 AM -- Josh Abram and Amanda Hayden, Legislative Council Staff, spoke for clarification purposes on the potential funding conflicts for Bill 5 and Bill 9.

Bill 5 failed for lack of a motion.

 10:37 AM -- Bob Lackner, Office of Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed Bill 10 concerning auxiliary emergency communications (Attachments J and K). Bill 10 creates the Auxiliary Emergency Communications Unit (unit) in the Office of Emergency Management in the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in the DPS. The unit has the power to:

151030 AttachJ.pdf151030 AttachJ.pdf151030 AttachK.pdf151030 AttachK.pdf

• establish programs for the training and credentialing of auxiliary emergency or disaster communicators across the state; • assume all the duties and responsibilities of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES); and

• ensure that auxiliary emergency communicators are authorized volunteers entitled to the appropriate protections and benefits of emergency volunteers when assisting local governments with the maintenance or demolition of communication facilities.

In pursuance of this authority, the DPS may develop and issue photo identification cards to auxiliary communicators, conduct criminal background checks, and reimburse emergency communicators for necessary travel and other expenses incurred in performance of their duties. Finally, the bill increases from 23 to 24 the number of members serving on the Public Safety Communications Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and All-Hazards Senior Advisory Committee in the DPS. The additional member is the section emergency coordinator for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service of the Colorado section of the Amateur Radio Relay League.

Representative Singer discussed the provisions of the bill and shared his opinion on the importance of supporting auxiliary radio communications during wildfire emergencies.

The committee members discussed Bill 10.

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 10:45:49 AM
MOVED:Singer
MOTION:Bill 10 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 6-4.
SECONDED:Becker K.
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
No
Cooke
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
No
Thurlow
No
Baumgardner
No
Singer
Yes
YES: 6 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


10:47 AM -- Thomas Morris, Office of Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed Bill 8 concerning the use of broadcast burning to promote watershed restoration (Attachments L and M). Bill 8 adds broadcast burning to the types of projects and methods for which the Colorado State Forest Service may award grants from the Healthy Forests and Vibrant Communities Cash Fund, and the Forest Restoration Program Cash Fund.

151030 AttachL.pdf151030 AttachL.pdf151030 AttachM.pdf151030 AttachM.pdf

He also summarized and discussed Bill 9 concerning broadcast burns to reduce wildfire risks and to replenish the funds for mitigation programs (Attachments N and O). Bill 9 adds broadcast burning to the types of projects and methods for which the DNR may award grants from the Wildfire Risk Reduction Cash Fund, and authorizes the transfer of a total of $3.0 million into the cash fund: $1.5 million from the General Fund and $1.5 million from the operational fund.

151030 AttachN.pdf151030 AttachN.pdf151030 AttachO.pdf151030 AttachO.pdf
BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 10:52:01 AM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Bill 8 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:Buck
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
Yes
Cooke
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
Yes
Singer
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 10:55:05 AM
MOVED:Roberts
MOTION:Bill 9 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:Baumgardner
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
Yes
Cooke
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
Yes
Singer
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


Senator Jones discussed Bill 5. He spoke on the importance of monitoring and regulating the use of aerial drones during wildfire emergencies.

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 11:02:55 AM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Amend Bill 5 to strike page 2 lines 1 through 16, page 3 lines 1 through 9 and lines 24 through 27, page 4 lines 1 through 27, and page 5 lines 1 through 9. The motion was withdrawn
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Becker K.
Buck
Cooke
Hamner
Jones
Merrifield
Roberts
Thurlow
Baumgardner
Singer
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION:


11:11 AM -- Thomas Morris, Office of Legislative Legal Services, discussed a joint resolution to request that Congress fund the costs for catastrophic wildfire response outside the normal budgets for federal forest management agencies (Attachment P). He discussed the resolution adopted by the Water Resources Committee identified as LLS-173.

151030 AttachP.pdf151030 AttachP.pdf
BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 11:16:33 AM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:LLS-173 be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:Baumgardner
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
Yes
Cooke
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
Yes
Singer
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


11:19 AM -- Ashley Zimmerman, Office of Legislative Legal Services, summarized and discussed the resolution recognizing firefighters killed in the line of duty (Attachment Q).

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 11:19:43 AM
MOVED:Hamner
MOTION: Resolution recognizing firefighters killed in the line of duty be recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee for consideration by Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:Cooke
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
Yes
Cooke
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Jones
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
Yes
Singer
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


11:22 AM

The committee members discussed the draft letter to the DPS concerning feasible alternatives to radio communications in rural areas during emergencies (Attachment R).

11:32 AM

The committee members continued to discuss the draft letter to the DPS.

11:38 AM -- Paul Cooke, Director, Division of Fire Prevention and Control & Jana Locke, DPS, discussed their concerns with the draft letter. Specifically, they said that they didn't know if the letter requests that new research be done on the issue, or if the letter asks the Center of Excellence to look into research work that has already been done. Director Cooke discussed the responsibilities and projects that have been already assigned to the Center of Excellence.

Director Cooke and Ms. Locke answered questions from the committee regarding the Center of Excellence.

BILL:Consideration of and Final Action on Draft Committee Legislation
TIME: 11:48:01 AM
MOVED:Thurlow
MOTION:Send the draft letter to the Department of Public Safety concerning feasible alternatives to radio communications in rural areas during emergencies. The motion failed on a 5-5 vote.
SECONDED:Hamner
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Buck
No
Cooke
No
Hamner
Yes
Jones
No
Merrifield
Yes
Roberts
No
Thurlow
Yes
Baumgardner
No
Singer
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE



11:51 AM

The committee adjourned.