Bill Summary for Bill Number SB09-165

Date: 02/19/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-165

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Amendment L. 002. The motion passed without objec Moved Amendment L. 001. The motion passed without Moved to refer SB 09-165 to the Committee of the W	Pass Without Objection Pass Without Objection PASS

04:23 PM -- Senate Bill 09-165

Senator Isgar, sponsor, described the provision of Senate Bill 09-165 . Starting July 1, 2009, the introduced bill caps income to the Perpetual Base Account of the severance tax trust fund at $50 million per year and transfers up to $10 million per year that would otherwise be credited to the perpetual base account to the Small Communities Water and Wastewater Grant Fund. These moneys are continuously appropriated to the Department of Public Health and Environment. The bill directs the department to make grants from the fund to governmental and not-for-profit public water systems and counties representing unincorporated areas that serve a population of not more than 5,000 people for the planning, design, and construction of drinking water or water treatment systems. He also distributed Amendment L. 001 (Attachment H) and Amendment L. 002 (Attachment I). He explained that these amendments would eliminate the bill's fiscal impact (Attachment J).

04:26 PM

Senator Penry, sponsor, described the need to provide severance tax revenue for public drinking and wastewater projects.

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:29 PM -- Jim Moody, Colorado Contractors Association, spoke in support of the bill.

04:29 PM -- Levi Lowell, T. Lowell Construction, spoke in support of the bill and described the potential benefits to his company and communities that need help paying for drinking and wastewater infrastructure improvements.

04:33 PM -- Chris Treese, Colorado River Water Conservation District, spoke in support of the bill and described the challenge facing the Town of Red Cliff in Eagle County as it seeks to pay for a mandated wastewater treatment facility.

04:40 PM -- Shanna Koenig, Northwest Colorado Council of Government, spoke in support of the bill and described public drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs in northwest Colorado communities.

04:41 PM -- Kevin Bommer, Colorado Municipal League, spoke in support of the bill and described prior attempts to pass legislation to provide additional funding for public drinking water and wastewater infrastructure (Attachment K, Attachment L, and Attachment M). He also explained that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment administers state grant programs for drinking and domestic wastewater projects to communities with less than 5,000 people. Drinking water grant funds are used to plan, design, construct, upgrade, or consolidate water systems. Domestic wastewater treatment grant funds are used to construct or upgrade wastewater treatment facilities. Funding for these grants is prioritized annually by the Capital Development Committee and appropriated by the Colorado General Assembly. Both grant programs received an appropriation of $1.5 million for FY 2006-07. However, the grant programs has not received funding in FY 2002-03 through FY 2005-06 and FY 2007-08. Mr. Bommer also responded to questions from the committee about the bill.


BILL:	SB09-165
TIME:	04:49:58 PM
MOVED:	Isgar
MOTION:	Moved to refer SB 09-165 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0 with a recommendation that it be added to the consent calendar.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Excused
	Gibbs	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Isgar	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB09-165
TIME:	04:51:34 PM
MOVED:	Isgar
MOTION:	Amendment L. 002. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gibbs
	Harvey
	Kester
	Schwartz
	Hodge
	Isgar

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-165
TIME:	04:50:06 PM
MOVED:	Isgar
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 001. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gibbs
	Harvey
	Kester
	Schwartz
	Hodge
	Isgar

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

04:52 PM

Mr. Bommer returned to answer questions about Amendment L. 001.

04:55 PM

The meeting adjourned.