h_agr_2016a_2016-01-11t13:03:11z2 Hearing Summary

Date: 01/11/2016

02:56 PM -- Department of Natural Resources SMART Act



Mike King, Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), introduced himself to the committee and briefly explained what DNR would be discussing during the hearing. He explained the main challenges that DNR is currently facing, including water supply, youth and natural resources, and operating within Colorado's LEAN principles.



03:02 PM



Bill Levine, Budget Director, DNR, introduced himself and distributed DNR's FY 2016-17 budget request and summary to the committee (Attachment E). Mr. Levine explained the reasoning behind the budget requests and responded to questions from the committee concerning the DNR budget and specifically land acquisitions made by the State Land Board. As part of the budget request, DNR is requesting an increase of $87,515 Cash Fund spending authority and 1.0 FTE to hire a West Slope Asset Manager to help manage the board's assets in the western part of the state. DNR is also requesting a transfer of 3.0 FTE from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Wildlife Operations to CPW's Habitat Partnership Program.



160111 AttachE SMART Act.pdf



Mr. Levine described the DNR performance plan, which was distributed to the committee (Attachment F). He also discussed the fact that Director King will be leaving DNR within the next year.



160111 AttachF SMART Act.pdf



03:19 PM



Bob Broscheid, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), introduced himself to the committee and described the duties of CPW. He explained how CPW supports hunting, species management programs, and other fishing and wildlife resources and explained the benchmarks and actual numbers in programs that support those programs. Mr. Broscheid responded to questions from the committee regarding benchmark numbers for big game being harvested and the benchmark numbers for species being listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Mr. Broschied discussed CPW's strategy to manage state parks, state recreation areas, and state wildlife areas to promote outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing. He discussed the registration of off-highway vehicles, the registration of snowmobiles, and recreational trail grant funding. Mr. Broschied answered questions from the committee regarding the park passes. Director King answered a question from the committee regarding off-highway vehicle registrations, and committee discussion ensued.



03:43 PM



Bill Ryan, Director, Colorado State Land Board (board), introduced himself and described the board and the main beneficiaries of the board. The board manages approximately 3 million surface acres of land, which are leased for agricultural, recreational, commercial real estate, rights-of-way, renewable energy, and other uses. Additionally, the board manages approximately four million acres of mineral estate, which are leased for oil, natural gas, coal, and other solid mineral extraction uses. He stated the board is governed by a five-member board of commissioners as well as Director King and briefly described the goals and metrics of the board. Mr. Ryan responded to questions from the committee regarding the inspections of land leased by the board and the price of land that the board leases versus the market value of similar privately owned land. Committee discussion ensued.



03:56 PM



Dick Wolfe, Director, Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR), introduced himself to the committee and briefly described DWR and its programs -- Water Administration and Dam Safety. Generally DWR is responsible for the supervision and control of water resources in the state and is funded primarily through the General Fund. Water Administration within DWR consists of two sub-programs: administration of intrastate water rights and interstate compact enforcement. It is the statutory responsibility of DWR to verify that stream diversions are per decree, wells are operated in compliance with their permits, augmentation plans or substitute water supply plans are replacing stream depletions, and interstate compact flows are delivered to downstream states.



04:07 PM



James Eklund, Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), introduced himself and distributed the executive summary of the Colorado Water Plan to the committee (Attachment G). The CWCB's performance plan is divided into two sections: water management and planning and environmental programs. Director Eklund described the accomplishments and future goals of the CWCB. Director Eklund responded to questions from the committee regarding the South Platte, the monetary impact of the CWP, and the effectiveness of the Severance Tax Fund in funding water projects. He also estimated the cost of building water projects to meet growing demand by 2050.



160111 AttachG SMART Act.pdf



04:16 PM



Matt Lepore, Director, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), introduced himself to the committee and described the OGCC and its programs. The regulation of oil and gas exploration and production is the single major program managed by the OGCC. Mr. Lepore described the ways in which the OGCC has improved its relationship with the public by responding to and addressing complaints from the public. Mr. Lepore discussed the price of oil and gas commodities and the production of oil in the state. Mr. Lepore responded to questions from the committee regarding the amount of time that passes in responding to and resolving complaints from the public, the number of water quality samples on the OGCC website, the number of inspections completed, the amount of severance tax money being collected by the state from oil production. Mr. Levine informed the committee of the amount of money the state collected from severance taxes and how this will change due to the decline of oil and gas prices.



04:33 PM



Ginny Brannon, Director, Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS), introduced herself and described the mission of the division. Ms. Brannon explained the importance of mine reclamation and discussed the high percentage of coal mine site compliance with state regulation in the state. Ms. Brannon also discussed the DMRS mineral program and the economic impact of the mining of minerals in the state. She stated that DMRS is evolving the inspection policy in order to conduct more inspections. Ms. Brannon discussed the Inactive Mine Reclamation Program and explained the accomplishments of the program. She explained that over the next five years, hazardous-feature reclamation outputs are expected to decline due to planned decreases in federal funding. Ms. Brannon responded to questions from the committee regarding steps being taken to resolve the problems that arose out of the Gold King Mine Spill during the summer of 2015 and how DRMS will go forward in reclaiming abandoned mines. MS. Brannon discussed a draft bill concerning Good Samaritan legislation at the federal level.



04:49 PM



Mr. Levine concluded the presentation from DNR. The committee made comments regarding Director King and his leaving the department.



The chair asked if there was public testimony and saw none.





04:55 PM



The committee adjourned.