House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (01/31/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	01/31/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:35 PM to 03:40 PM	Brophy	X
		Gallegos	X
Place:	HCR 0111	Harvey	X
		Hodge	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Hoppe	X
	Representative Curry	McFadyen	X
		Penry	*
This Report was prepared by		Rose	X
	David Beaujon	Solano	X
		McKinley	X
		Curry	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB05-1123 HB05-1070 HB05-1180		Postponed Indefinitely Laid Over Amended and Referred to the Committee on Finance

01:36 PM -- House Bill 05-1123

Representative McKinley, sponsor, described the provisions of Amendment L. 002 (see Attachment A). He explained that the amendment limits notification requirements for curtailment order to certain wells in Water Division 2 (the Arkansas River Basin). Additional testimony on the bill was provided at the January 24 meeting the committee

The following persons testified on the bill:

01:40 PM -- Frank McNulty, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, spoke in opposition to Amendment L. 002. He explained that the bill creates different notification requirements for different parts of the state and commented on the amendment's fiscal impact.

01:51 PM -- Tom Morris, Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions from the committee about Amendment L.002.

01:55 PM

Testimony was closed.


BILL:	HB05-1123
TIME:	01:55:34 PM
MOVED:	McKinley
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 002. The motion failed on a roll call vote of 2-9.
SECONDED:	Gallegos
		VOTE
	Brophy	No
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	No
	Hodge	No
	Hoppe	No
	McFadyen	No
	Penry	No
	Rose	No
	Solano	No
	McKinley	Yes
	Curry	No
Not Final YES: 2 NO: 9 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB05-1123
TIME:	01:57:54 PM
MOVED:	Penry
MOTION:	Moved to postpone indefinitely HB05-1123. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Hoppe
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gallegos	No
	Harvey	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Yes
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	No
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:58 PM

The meeting recessed.

01:59 PM -- House Bill 05-1070

Representative Weissmann, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill concerning water conservation measures and distributed amendment L. 001 (see Attachment B). He also described the current law pertaining to abandonment of water rights and the ability of the General Assembly to enact retroactive legislation pertaining to restrictive covenants.

The following persons testified:

02:24 PM -- Steve Burton, Rocky Mt. Car Wash Association , spoke in support of Amendment L.002 that pertains to washing of cars during Governor-declared drought emergencies (see Attachment C). He also responded to questions from the committee regarding the potential effect of the amendment and enforcement of its requirements.

02:32 PM -- Elizabeth Gardener, Denver Water, spoke in support of the bill and proposed an amendment to require greater use of efficient irrigation methods to prevent over-watering of landscapes. She also responded to questions from the committee regarding the cause of reduced demand by Denver Water customers during the drought. She also described policies and technologies that help increase water conservation.

02:41 PM -- Sara Duncan, Denver Water Department, responded to a question from the committee regarding the department's plans to satisfy projected growth in demand for water from its customers.

02:43 PM -- Chris Treese, Colorado River Water Conservation District, expressed concern about Section 1 of the bill pertaining to turf grass and Section 3 of the bill pertaining to abandonment of water rights. Committee discussion followed about impacts to other water rights if water saved through increased water conservation is allowed to be transferred to another user.

02:52 PM -- Bart Miller, Western Resources Advocates, spoke in support of the bill.

02:57 PM -- Jeannie Frickey-Sato, Coloradans for Water Conservation and Development, spoke in opposition to the bill. She also explained that blue grass landscapes cause less of a water supply problem than over watering by customers.

03:04 PM -- Garin Bray, Colorado Farm Bureau, commented on the bill and expressed concern about Section 3 of the bill pertaining to abandonment of a water right.

03:05 PM -- Mary Brown, City of Aurora, spoke in opposition to Section 1 of the bill pertaining to restrictive covenants.

03:09 PM

The testimony was closed and Representative Weissmann made closing remarks.

03:10 PM

The meeting was recessed.

03:12 PM

The bill was laid over until Wednesday, February 2, upon adjournment, for action only.

03:13 PM -- House Bill 05-1180

Representative Rose, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill and Amendment L. 001 (see Attachment D) and Amendment L. 002 (see Attachment E).

The following persons testified on the bill:

03:16 PM -- R.J. Hicks, Green CO, spoke in support of the bill and Amendment L. 001 and Amendment L. 002. He said that the bill will help the horticultural and floricultural community be more competitive.

03:21 PM -- John Pinder, Green CO, spoke in support of the bill and identified federal programs that recognize floriculture and horticulture as agricultural operations.

03:25 PM -- Bill Kluth, Green CO, spoke in support of the bill.

03:28 PM -- Mary Kay Hogan, Colorado Counties, spoke in support of Amendment L. 002 concerning property tax classifications for floricultural and horticultural operations.

03:32 PM -- Sheldon Jones, Colorado Department of Agriculture, spoke in support of the bill.

03:33 PM

Testimony was closed and Representative Rose closed his remarks.


BILL:	HB05-1180
TIME:	03:34:31 PM
MOVED:	Rose
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 001. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 8-2.
SECONDED:	Hoppe
		VOTE
	Brophy	No
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Yes
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	Curry	Yes
Not Final YES: 8 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB05-1180
TIME:	03:35:33 PM
MOVED:	Rose
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 002. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6-4.
SECONDED:	McFadyen
		VOTE
	Brophy	No
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	No
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	No
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	Curry	Yes
Not Final YES: 6 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB05-1180
TIME:	03:37:46 PM
MOVED:	Harvey
MOTION:	Moved to refer HB05-1180, as amended, to the Committee on Finance. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:	Hodge
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Yes
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:38 PM

The meeting was adjourned.