House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (03/11/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	03/11/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:11 AM to 03:06 PM	Gardner C.	X
		Hullinghorst	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Labuda	X
		Looper	X
This Meeting was called to order by		McKinley	X
	Representative Curry	McNulty	X
		Pace	*
This Report was prepared by		Solano	X
	Lauren Ris	Sonnenberg	X
		Tipton	X
		Vigil	X
		Fischer	X
		Curry	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB09-016 SB09-165 SB09-147 SB09-016 SB09-125		Amended, Referred to Finance Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to Finance Referred to Appropriations

10:12 AM -- Senate Bill 09-016

Representatives King and Scanlan, prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 09-016 concerning measures to encourage the restoration of forest areas affected by bark beetle infestation. The bill was approved by the Interim Committee on Wildfire issues in Wild Land-Urban Interface Areas, and provides a five-year property tax exemption for business personal property used to harvest, transport, process, or market timber killed by bark beetles. The applicant must meet several criteria to qualify for the tax exemption. The bill also establishes the continuously appropriated Bark-beetle Mitigation Revolving Fund for a new revolving loan program. The bill also requires the state forester to identify areas in Colorado where the bark beetle infestation has resulted in imminent fire danger.

10:25 AM

The committee discussed the revised fiscal note. The committee also discussed language in the bill on page 3, lines 9-14, added by the Senate about the responsibilities of taxpayers in restoration efforts.

10:28 AM

The committee continued to ask questions of the bill sponsors about how the funding would be routed and whether businesses need to be incentivized to use bark beetle timber.

10:35 AM

The committee discussed the reporting requirements in the bill and whether there ought to be a requirement to provide a report to the General Assembly in addition to the Governor, or whether this information ought to be included in the annual State Forester's report.

The following individual testified:

10:39 AM -- Joe Duda, Colorado State Forest Service, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the impact of the pine beetle and the rise of the spruce beetle. He also described some of the costs involved in conducting forest management activities. He suggested a change on page 3 line 5 should include "affected timber" in addition to beetle-killed timber. Mr. Duda answered questions from the committee.

10:49 AM

Mr. Duda continued to answer questions from the committee about forest management projects and how they relate to stewardship plans.

10:54 AM

Representatives King and Scanlan answered questions from the committee about the scope of the fiscal impact. The committee discussed difficulties that entrepreneurs have who whish to utilize beetle kill timber. The committee also discussed whether the repeal date in the bill allows a sufficient amount of time to accomplish the goals of the bill.

11:03 AM -- Andre Roy, Mill Creek Enterprises, spoke in favor of the bill. He described how he has made use of beetle-affected trees by turning the timber into fertilizer. He discussed the amount of money consumers spend on forest products. Mr. Roy described the location of his property and how tax cuts have incentivized his business.

11:11 AM -- Alexis Wheeler, New Era Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. She talked about some of her experiences in becoming aware of beetle killed trees. She also discussed threats that dead trees pose to infrastructure.


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	11:16:03 AM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment A). Duane Gall, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained the amendment. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Fischer
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace	Excused
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	11:21:00 AM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Moved a conceptual amendment to strike lines 9-14 on page 3. The amendment was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Hullinghorst
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: WITHDRAWN

SB 09-016 was laid over until 1:30 PM where it will be the second bill on the calendar.

11:34 AM -- Senate Bill 09-165

Representative C. Gardner and Representative Curry, prime sponsors, presented SB 09-165 concerning the funding of grants to small communities for water quality-related capital projects through allocation of a portion of revenues that would otherwise be credited to the Severance Tax Trust Fund. The bill caps annual income from the tax receipts to the Perpetual Base Account of the Severance Tax Trust Fund at $450 million. The bill then directs a transfer of up to $10 million each year from the Severance Tax Trust Fund to the newly created Small Communities Water and Wastewater Grant Fund. Additional revenue of about $60 million is credited to the Perpetual Base Account. The bill also expands the Grant Program for Drinking Water and Water Treatment Systems in the Department of Public Health and Environment. The sponsors answered questions from the committee.

11:52 AM

The committee continued to ask questions of the sponsors about the definition of small communities and what federal funding is available for water and waste water treatment.

The following individual testified:

11:55 AM -- Kevin Bommer, Colorado Municipal League, spoke in favor of the bill and distributed a booklet produced in October 2008 entitled, Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Challenges to Colorado Municipalities (available at the Colorado Municipal League web pate: http://www.cml.org/pdf_files/water_funding.pdf). He described how federal revolving loan funds are administered and why money is needed for projects in small communities. He described how this bill funds an existing grant program that was last funded in Governor Owen's administration and explained that the program needs a dedicated fund. Mr. Bommer discussed the water treatment needs of small communities. He ended by saying that Colorado Counties, Inc. and the Colorado Contractors Association both support this bill.


BILL:	SB09-165
TIME:	12:08:34 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-165 to the Committee of the Whole. Committee members discussed their positions on the bill. The motion passed on a 9-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Gardner C.
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	McNulty	Excused
	Pace	Excused
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Excused
	Vigil	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:38 PM -- Senate Bill 09-147

Representative Priola, prime sponsor, presented SB 09-147 concerning the authorization of substitute water supply plans for the replacement of out of priority depletions caused by historic diversions from wells included in decreed augmentation plans entered by the water court for Water Division 1. The bill authorizes the State Engineer in the Division of Water Resources to approve substitute water supply plans for the replacement of out-of-priority depletions caused by pre-January 1, 2003, diversions from wells included in decreed augmentation plans. The bill repeals this authorization on July 1, 2018. Representative Priola distributed a packet of information (Attachment B).

The following individuals testified:

01:40 PM -- Greg Hertzke, Central Colorado Water Conservation District, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the collaborative effort that led to this bill and listed a number of entities that worked on the bill and amendments. He stated that the Colorado Water Congress, the Northwest Council of Governments and Colorado Farmers Union support the bill. He answered questions from the committee.

01:49 PM -- Julie McKenna, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, spoke in support of the bill. She explained how the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District worked with others on this issue. She explained that the intent of the bill was not to create a precedent.

01:50 PM -- Scott Cuthbertson, Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Water Resources, spoke in support of the bill. He discussed the flexibility that the bill would provide the Division of Water Resources and explained the division's involvement in working on the bill.

01:52 PM -- Chris Treese, Colorado River District, took a neutral position on the bill. He explained that the bill does not affect the western slope positively or negatively. He answered questions from the committee about how this neutral impact was calculated.

02:00 PM -- Brad Grasmick, legal council to the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, discussed the costs associated with using water in response to questions from the committee.

02:03 PM

The committee discussed the timing of depletions in reference to the depletions chart in Attachment B.

02:05 PM -- Becky Brooks, Colorado Corn Growers Association and Rio Grande Water Conservation District, spoke in favor of the bill and stated that both organizations support the bill.

02:06 PM -- Garin Vorthmann, Colorado Farm Bureau, stated that her organization supports the bill.

02:07 PM -- David Pettrocco, a farmer from Brighton, spoke in favor of the bill. He explained that the bill would help relieve some of the financial burden of farming.


BILL:	SB09-147
TIME:	02:09:21 PM
MOVED:	Sonnenberg
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-147 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 10-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Gardner C.
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Excused
	McNulty	Yes
	Pace	Excused
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Excused
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:13 PM

The committee recessed.

02:25 PM -- Senate Bill 09-016

The committee took up SB 09-016 from earlier in the day.


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	02:25:13 PM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.005 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

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


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	02:29:13 PM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-016, as amended, to the Committee on Finance. The motion passed on a 12-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Looper
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Excused
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	McNulty	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:30 PM -- Senate Bill 09-125

Representative Curry, prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-125 concerning the funding of Colorado Water Conservation Board Projects. The bill appropriates funds from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) Construction Fund for a variety of water-related projects. It creates the continuously appropriated Wild and Scenic Rivers Fund for the CWCB to use in developing a state alternative to the wild and scenic river designation under federal law for river preservation. Finally, two loans authorized by the General Assembly in 2007 are extended two years. She answered questions from the committee.

02:36 PM

Jennifer Gimbel, CWCB, discussed wild and scenic river designation in response to questions from the committee.

02:39 PM -- Ms. Gimbel, spoke in support of the bill. She indicated that the bill is also supported by the Colorado Water Congress. She explained that the list of projects is vetted further after the bill is passed. She described some of the projects on the list and explained how money for the projects is leveraged. Ms. Gimble answered questions from the committee.

02:47 PM -- Dan McAuliffe, Colorado Water Conservation Board, discussed a dust-on-snow study project included in the project list.

02:50 PM -- Jim Broderick, Southeastern Water Conservancy District, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the Arkensas Valley conduit project, which received funding in 2007. He discussed how the funding provided in this bill would help meet the requirement for match funding on this project and answered questions from the committee.

03:00 PM -- Tom Easley, Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, spoke in favor of the bill. He described the results of a panel that came up with recommendations for the state to deal with climate change and how a number of the projects on the list work in concert with their recommendations. He distributed Attachment D.


BILL:	SB09-125
TIME:	03:03:55 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-125 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 12-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Looper
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	McNulty	Excused
	Pace	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS