LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Jen Boulton
March 11
TOP PRIORITIES
*SB19 VALUATION OF
HYDROPOWER FACILITIES
(Schwartz,
Fischer) Position:
Support with House amendment Status:
House Floor
CALLS
STILL NEEDED TO MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE – ASKING THEM TO SUPPORT THE AMENDMENT TO
ENSURE THAT LARGE NEW FACILITIES WHICH INCREASE DAMAGE TO OUR RIVERS ARE NOT
CALLED “LOW IMPACT”
As
introduced, SB19 was not a CTU priority. It was merely a reasonably benign
change in tax policy surrounding how hydro plants are evaluated for property
tax purposes.
After
numerous discussions with the sponsors however, we came to agreement on the
concept of creating a low impact standard. Since the current fiscal crisis
precludes creation of a true low impact standard, due to the costs associated
with necessary agency reviews, we agreed to a first step which would encourage
development of new hydro as an incidental use of water already being moved for
other purposes.
Unfortunately,
a few senators wanted to encourage any large new hydro, and a critical piece of
the definition to ensure that new hydro was only produced as an incidental
benefit, was omitted. We have continued to work with both the house and senate
sponsors to correct the problems with the current language. As a result, we now
have an amendment to fix the problem. We still need calls to all members of the
House of Representatives asking them to support the amendment to correct the
definition
*HB1051 DATA COLLECTION
(Pommer,
Whitehead) Position:
Support Status: House Ag
As
introduced, HB1051 requires water providers over a threshold size to provide
additional information to the CWCB as part of their water conservation plans.
In particular, providers must report annually, and must detail the amount of
water saved through implementation of their plans. Additionally, the bill
requires that water conservation plans include consideration of specific
efficiency devices such as high efficiency toilets, and low flow shower
fixtures. Plans must also include the population served by the water provider,
and the amount of water used by various segments of that population
(residential and nonresidential).
Many
water utilities have raised numerous objections to the provisions of the bill.
Most of the objections center on claims that annual reporting will require too
much additional time, or that data is not collected in formats suggested by the
bill, and will, in either case, be cost prohibitive. Other objections include
uncertainty as to the ultimate use of the new data. We, along with other
members of the environmental community, are working on amendments to alleviate
(or at least address) the providers’ concerns.
*HB1159 BASIN OF ORIGIN
PROTECTION
(Pace,
Gibbs) Position: Support Status: Dead
HB1159
bill required that applicants seeking to move water from one water division to
another needed to enter into mitigation agreements with the water conservancy
or conservation districts in the area from which the water was to be moved.
Mitigation plans had to at least consider economic and ecologic consequences
resulting from the movement of the water.
If
the parties could not reach an agreement for mitigation, then the water court
was required to include terms and conditions in the decree to “ensure that
present and future beneficial uses are not increased in cost” for the residents
of the sending area.
We
were able to pass the bill out of committee over the strenuous objections of
most water providers in the state. Unfortunately the bill died on second
reading on the House floor.
*HB1292 TAKINGS
(Murray,
Harvey) Position: Watch Status:
House Floor
HB1292
amends the only takings bill we ever lost. The Regulatory Impairment of
Property Rights Act (RIPRA) requires compensation by local governments for site
specific exactions, as conditions of approval, that do not meet the Nollan and
Dolan standards of essential nexus and rough proportionality; unless the
conditions are legislatively adopted. As introduced, HB1292 clarifies that if
conditions are legislatively adopted, they do not have to meet Nollan and
Dolan. So long as there are NO changes to the bill, we do not oppose, but this
bill could easily become a huge problem.
*WATER SMART HOMES
(Fischer,
Johnston) Position: Recommend Support Status: House T&E
The bill requires
every person that builds new homes to offer a number of water-smart options including: installation of water-efficient
toilets, lavatory faucets, and showerheads;
energy star rated dishwashers or clothes washers and xeriscaping
*HB1361 HABITAT STAMP
(Sonnenberg) Position: Discussion Item Status: House State Affairs
HB1361
was just introduced. Analysis is under way, and we will discuss the bill
tonight.
LOWER PRIORITY (BUT STILL
IMPORTANT) BILLS
SB98 REALLOCATE LOTTERY
MONEY
(Tochtrop,
Sonnenberg) Position: Oppose Status: House Ag
As
introduced, SB98 removed $7.5 million from the local government share of
lottery revenue, and transferred it to the Department of Agriculture. The
Department of Ag was then to redistribute $2.5 million back to local entities
for noxious weed removal, while the other $5 million was used to fund
conservation districts within the department of Ag. Clearly, funding soil
conservation districts was not the intended purpose of lottery proceeds.
SB98
was completely rewritten in Senate Ag. It remains a terrible bill. In its
current form, the bill contains a long legislative declaration which laments
the loss of funding for noxious weed control, mentions the constitutional
amendment creating GOCO, then proceeds to extol the virtues of soil conservation
districts, and finally allows local governments to use their share of lottery
money to contract with soil conservation districts and weed management programs
to accomplish the intended goals of the soil conservation district act.
We
are sympathetic to soil districts, and the hardships they face in this climate.
The fact remains, however, that the people of Colorado have voted three times
to create lottery as a dedicated funding source for parks, recreation and open
space. Water delivery, range protection, energy conservation and small acreage
management are NOT, and were NEVER intended to be valid uses of lottery money.
HB1348 URANIUM PROCESSORS
CLEANUP
(McFadyen,
Kester) Position: Support Status: House T&E
HB1348
requires that uranium processors demonstrate compliance with environmental laws
before receiving upgrades to their permits. Processors must also provide
reports to those whose wells are within one mile of contaminated groundwater.
They must also report to the legislature regarding progress of cleanup.
SB25 EXTEND FUNDING FOR
WATER EFFICIENCY GRANT PROGRAM
(Whitehead,
Baumgardner) Position: Support Status: House Ag
SB25
extends the water efficiency grant program until 2020. It also extends the
current funding mechanisms until 2012, at which time the funding shifts to the
operational account from severance tax.
SB27 FINES FOR ILLEGAL
DIVERSION OF SURFACE WATER
(Sandoval,
Roberts) Position: Support Status:
House Floor
SB27
creates a fine of $500 per day for illegal diversions of surface water. This
fine currently exists for illegal diversion of groundwater, and the bill merely
imposes the same sanctions for surface water violations.
SB67 EXEMPT SCHOOL WELLS
FROM PRIOR APPROPRIATION
(Hodge) Position: Oppose Status:
Dead
SB67
declared that irrigation wells producing less than 15 gallons per minute that were
owned by small school districts or schools within those districts were exempt
from the prior appropriation system. While there were likely not many wells
that met the criteria in the bill, we were concerned by the fact that each time
a category of water use is allowed to bypass water law the pressures on
remaining water supplies are increased.
HB1060 PENALTY FOR FAILURE
TO WITHHOLD SEVERANCE TAX
(Kagan,
Steadman) Position: Support Status: House Approp
Under
current law, a producer who disburses funds to an interest owner, must
generally withhold 1% of the gross income and remit it to the Department of
Revenue. HB1060 creates a penalty (10% of the amount owed, plus interest) for
failure to make such payment. The bill also creates a penalty for failure to
file annual reports of payments made.
HB1001 RENEWABLE ENERGY
STANDARDS
(Tyler,
Schwartz) Position: Neutral Status:
Awaiting Governor’s Signature
HB1001
was the administration’s number one priority for the 2010 session. It required
utilities to produce 30% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. It
also required a graduated percentage of that energy to be from distributive
generation technologies (individual home systems).
Unfortunately,
there was no change to the size based hydro standard. We have suggested for a number of years that
an impact standard is a more appropriate measure for hydropower projects, and
will continue to work to change the perception of hydropower in the
legislature.
HB1006 MAKE DIVISION OF
WATER RESOURCES A TIER I ENTITY
(Curry,
Brophy) Position: FYI Status: Dead
As
introduced, HB1006 funded the division of water resources with up to 5% of the
operational account of severance tax as a tier 1 entity. The bill removed the
5% from the division of wildlife in order to keep the tier 2 programs in the
same fiscal shape they previously had.
In
committee, Rep Curry amended the bill to allow DOW to retain its authority to
receive severance tax money, but to transfer a portion of the funding received
for the next two years to the division of water resources. The amendment raised
consternation among several legislators for a variety of political reasons. As
a result, the bill died, and Rep. Curry pledged to seek a late bill if
necessary to address the funding situation for the division of water resources.
OTHER BILLS OF POTENTIAL
INTEREST
HB1086 LIMITED LIABILITY
(Curry,
Hodge) FYI Status: Dead
HB1086
declared that water rights structures, such as ditches, flumes, headgates etc. were
not attractive nuisances. The bill also expanded the list of recreational activities
for which a landowner was not liable to participants for injury that occurs
while the participant is on the landowners’ property, unless the injury was
willfully caused by the landowner.
HB1188 RIGHT TO FLOAT
(Curry,
Hodge) Position: Not involved – NO POSITION Status:
Senate Judiciary
Colorado Trout
Unlimited has no position on HB1188. It is included here solely for
informational purposes. As introduced, the bill is summarized by legislative
drafting as follows:
Current law is
unclear regarding the scope of the existing right of navigation.
Section 1 of
the bill recognizes that the state's adoption of the common law of England
established the right of navigation.
Section 2
- Clarifies that a guide employed by a
licensed river outfitter and the guide's passengers may float on waterways that
have historically been used for commercial float tripswithout committing civil or criminal
trespass if they gain access to the waterway from public land or from private land
with consent and make only incidental contact with the beds and banks of the waterway while
floating and portaging;
- Limits a landowner's liability to such
persons to damages willfully or deliberately caused by the
landowner unless the person is an invitee or licensee of the
landowner;
- Specifies that such a person who damages
private property is liable for the damage; and
- Specifies that nothing in the law
regulating river outfitters
- Affects water rights.
Section 3 makes
a conforming and clarifying amendment to the criminal
trespass statute.
If you have additional questions, please contact Jen. If you’d like to be included on the legislative updates list, email Jen Boulton at jenboulton@msn.com or ctuadmin@tu.org.