First Regular Session
              Sixty-eighth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                 INTRODUCED
                                                           
                                                           
 LLS NO. 11-1049.01 Esther van Mourik    HOUSE BILL 11-1308
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 Baumgardner,  Becker, Bradford, Brown, Coram, Holbert, Joshi, Kerr J., McKinley,
 Murray, Ramirez, Scott, Swerdfeger
 
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 King S.,  Harvey, White
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 House Committees
 Senate Committees
 
 
 Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                         A BILL FOR AN ACT
       Concerning the distribution of federal mineral leasing
            revenues related to naval oil shale reserves to
            affected counties in Colorado.
       
       
                           Bill Summary
       
            (Note:  This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
       not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted.  If this bill
       passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that
       applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at
       http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.)
       
            The bill specifies that all moneys received by the state from the
       United States treasury out of the anvil points fund shall be directly
       transferred by the state treasurer to the county treasurers of the affected
       counties as follows:
                 40% to Garfield county;
                 40% to Rio Blanco county;
                 10% to Mesa county; and
                 10% to Moffat county.
       
       
       
       Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
            SECTION 1.  34-63-104, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended
       BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read:
            34-63-104.  Special funds relating to oil shale lands - legislative
       declaration.  (3) (a)  The general assembly hereby finds and
       declares that:
            (I)  Colorado is the location of two federal naval oil
       shale reserves (NOSR), numbers 1 and 3;
            (II)  Congress passed the "Transfer Act", codified at 10
       U.S.C. sec. 7439, which transfers administrative jurisdiction over
       NOSR 1 and 3 from the United States secretary of energy to the
       United States secretary of the interior and requires the
       secretary of the interior to manage the transferred lands
       through the federal bureau of land management;
            (III)  The federal "Transfer Act" further specifies that
       royalties collected from NOSR 1 and 3 would be placed in the
       United States treasury and not distributed to the affected
       states until there was enough money in the treasury to
       reimburse the United States for previous costs incurred
       relating to the transferred lands and to provide for cleanup of
       the anvil points site at NOSR 3;
            (IV)  Revenue from oil and gas leases on NOSR 3 generated
       money quickly, and when an accounting of the amount of moneys
       in the fund occurred in August 2008, the anvil points fund
       contained one hundred twelve million two hundred thousand
       dollars;
            (V)  Of the one hundred twelve million two hundred
       thousand dollars in the anvil points fund as of August 2008,
       thirty-nine million four hundred thousand dollars was
       obligated to the federal government to pay for previous costs
       incurred at the site, twenty-four million dollars was obligated
       to pay for the actual cleanup of the site, and the forty-eight
       million eight hundred thousand dollars remaining in the fund
       should go to the state of Colorado for disbursement to the
       counties affected by NOSR 1 and 3 pursuant to section 35 of the
       federal "Mineral Leasing Act", 30 U.S.C. sec. 181 et seq.;
            (VI)  Since the August 2008 accounting, the amount of
       moneys in the anvil points fund has continued to increase far
       beyond what was needed to reimburse the federal government
       and to pay for the cleanup at the anvil points site;
            (VII)  It was understood that once there was enough
       money to reimburse the federal government and to pay for the
       cleanup of the anvil points site, the remaining moneys in the fund
       would be distributed to the affected counties of Garfield, Rio
       Blanco, Mesa, and Moffat;
            (VIII)  Due to an oversight in the federal "Transfer Act",
       the remaining moneys will remain in the United States treasury
       instead of being disbursed to the state of Colorado pursuant to
       the federal "Mineral Leasing Act" unless there is federal
       legislation directing such disbursement; and
            (IX)  In 2009, United States Senators Mark Udall and
       Michael Bennett introduced bills to require the remaining
       moneys in the anvil points fund to be transferred from the
       United States treasury to the affected counties of the state of
       Colorado, but the legislation was never passed.
            (b)  Pursuant to the authority specified in section
       34-63-101, all moneys received by the state from the United
       States treasury out of the anvil points fund shall be directly
       transferred by the state treasurer to the county treasurers of
       the affected counties as follows:
            (I)  Forty percent to Garfield county;
            (II)  Forty percent to Rio Blanco county;
            (III)  Ten percent to Mesa county; and
            (IV)  Ten percent to Moffat county.
            SECTION 2.  Safety clause.  The general assembly hereby finds,
       determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
       preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.