Room W125, West Office Building, State Capitol Complex
February 20, 2007
Members Present: Rep. Roger E. Barrus, Chair
Rep. Kerry Gibson, Vice Chair
Rep. Sylvia Andersen
Rep. Mel Brown
Rep. Glenn Donnelson
Rep. Jack Draxler
Rep. Carl Duckworth
Rep. James Gowans
Rep. Neal Hendrickson
Rep. John Mathis
Rep. Mike Noel
Rep. Patrick Painter
Rep. Phil Riesen
Rep. Steve Sandstrom
Members Absent: Rep. Richard Wheeler Staff Present: Brian Allred, Policy Analyst
Carrie Griffith, Committee Secretary
Note: List of visitors and a copy of handouts are filed with committee minutes
Rep. Barrus called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m.
MOTION: Rep. Hendrickson moved to approve the minutes of the February 16, 2007
meeting. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Andersen, Rep. Donnelson,
Rep. Draxler, Rep. Noel, and Rep. Painter absent for the vote.
H.B. 421 Suspension of Hunting or Fishing Privileges for Illegal Vehicle Use (Rep. F.
Hunsaker)
Rep. Hunsaker, assisted by Martin Bushman, explained the bill to the committee. (handout)
Spoke to the bill: Martin Bushman, Division of Wildlife Resources
Spoke for the bill: Ernie Perkins, Cache Deer Working Group
MOTION: Rep. Riesen moved to pass the bill out favorably.
SUBSTITUTE
MOTION: Rep. Gibson moved to proceed to the next item on the agenda. The motion passed
with Rep. Draxler, Rep. Riesen and Rep. Sandstrom voting in opposition.
1st Sub. H.B. 422 Prerequisites for Utah Entering an Agreement to Divide
Groundwater with Another State (Rep. J. Biskupski)
Rep. Biskupski explained the bill to the committee.
Spoke for the bill: Mike Styler, Director Department of Natural Resources
John Cooper, Millard County Commissioner
Todd Bingham, Utah Farm Bureau
Tim Hawkes, Attorney, Trout Unlimited
Terry Maresko, Snake Valley property owner
Gerald McDunna, Salt Lake County citizen
MOTION: Rep. Brown moved to amend the bill as follows and renumber accordingly:
1. Page
4, Line 110
:
110
(b) review the inventory and assessment
.
{
required by Section
73-29-201
;
}
2. Page
4, Line 114 through Page 6, Line 157
:
{
114
Section 4.
Section
73-29-201
is enacted to read:
115
Part 2. Agreement Requirements
116
73-29-201. Inventory and assessment required.
117
(1) Before the executive director may sign the agreement, as authorized by
Section
118
73-29-202
, the department shall complete the inventory and assessment required by
this
119
section.
120
(2) The state engineer, in cooperation with other divisions within the
department, shall:
121
(a) inventory the vested water rights in the area affected by the interstate
groundwater
122
flow system; and
123
(b) obtain current information on surface water and groundwater resources,
including:
124
(i) springs;
125
(ii) seeps;
126
(iii) water flows;
127
(iv) water tables; and
128
(v) vegetation.
129
(3) The state engineer, as authorized by Sections
73-2-15
and
73-2-17
, may
enter into
130
agreements to investigate the surface water and groundwater resources as required
by this
131
section.
132
(4) (a) The Utah Geological Survey shall use the information collected under
133
Subsection (2) along with data from any test wells to predict and assess the impacts
the project
134
will have on:
135
(i) Utah water rights;
136
(ii) the agricultural industry and other business development in the area;
137
(iii) air quality;
138
(iv) water quality; and
139
(v) Utah's ecosystem, including:
140
(A) plant life;
141
(B) wildlife; and
142
(C) sensitive or endangered species.
143
(b) The Department of Environmental Quality shall cooperate with the
department in
144
making the assessment required by this section.
145
Section 5.
Section
73-29-202
is enacted to read:
146
73-29-202. Executive director to sign agreement -- Legislature to ratify.
147
The executive director may not execute the agreement until:
148
(1) the inventory and assessment required by Section
73-29-201
is complete;
149
(2) the water resources study required by the Lincoln County Conservation,
Recreation,
150
and Development Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-424, is complete; and
151
(3) the agreement has been approved by the governor and the Legislature in a
152
concurrent resolution.
153
Section 6. Intent language.
154
It is the intent of the Legislature that if this bill and H.B. 134, School and
Institutional
155
Trust Lands Amendments, both pass that the money appropriated to the Geological
Survey in
156
Subsection
53C-3-203
(4) for test wells and hydrologic studies in the West Desert be
used by
157
the Geological Survey to satisfy its responsibilities under Section
73-29-201
.
}
The motion passedwith Rep. Duckworth, Rep. Hendrickson, Rep. Gibson, Rep. Mathis,
Rep. Riesen, and Rep. Sandstrom voting in opposition. MOTION: Rep. Brown moved to pass the bill out favorably as amended. The motion passed
unanimously.