August 28 and 29, 2006
Representative Thomas A. Lockhart,
Co-Chairman
Senator Hank Coe
Senator Kit Jennings
Senator Charles Townsend
Senator Bill Vasey
Representative Bob Brechtel
Representative Floyd Esquibel
Representative Debbie Hammons
Representative Elaine Harvey
Representative Becket Hinckley
Representative Erin Mercer
Representative Lorraine Quarberg
Representative Doug Samuelson [August 28
only]
Senator Bill Hawks, Co-Chairman
Maxine Weaver, Staff Attorney
Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the
Committee Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.
Co-Chairman Lockhart called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. The following sections summarize the
Committee proceedings by topic. Please
refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.
The Committee will
consider bill drafts on tax incentives for clean coal technology and existing
industrial facilities, the DEQ LUST program, the tourism board, constitutional
amendments for the pipeline authority and the infrastructure authority.
The Committee appointed a Subcommittee of Co-chairman Lockhart, Senator
Vasey, Senator Townsend, Representative Hammons and Representative Samuelson to
address the workforce housing infrastructure issue.
The Committee
passed the repeal of the sunset date on the Wyoming Business Council with no
amendments and passed the electric utilities resources bill with one
housekeeping amendment.
Mark Doelger, Chairman and Bryan Hassler,
Executive Director of the Wyoming Pipeline Authority (WPA), updated the Committee on the current status on
Rockies Express Pipeline and on oil pipeline take away capacity [Appendices 3
through 6]. Mr. Hassler will provide a
white paper to the Committee.
Senator Jennings gave an update on the Coalbed
Methane Water Task Force and will continue to report to the Committee [Appendices 7 and 8].
Rob Hurless
presented a letter from the Governor's office regarding options to build environmentally
friendly refineries [Appendix 9].
Mr. Doelger and Steve Waddington, Executive
Director
LSO staff was directed to draft separate constitutional
amendment bills for the pipeline authority and the infrastructure authority for
the Committee's review at the next meeting.
Mr. Waddington
updated the Committee on the FutureGen experience, the status of Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle (IGCC), the status of the Frontier line and the status of the TransWest
Express line [Appendices 12 and 13].
Wendy Lowe
representing the Powder River Coal Company, Matt Grant with the Wyoming Mining
Association and Bill Stafford with the Basin Electric Power Cooperative
presented updates to the Committee and proposed two (2) draft bills on
incentives for clean coal technology and existing industrial facilities [Appendices 14 through
19]. Bob Tarantola with PacifiCorp,
presented information on the definition of pollution control equipment
[Appendix 20].
LSO staff was directed to
draft these two (2) proposals for discussion at the next meeting.
John Corra, Director, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality,
LeRoy Feusner, Solid and Hazardous Waste
Administrator, Tom Schroeder Industrial Siting Administrator and Jim Uzzell
Administration Administrator presented information regarding DEQ's storage tank
program and discussed options to speed up the tank clean-up program [Appendices
21 through 23].
Senator Vasey moved and Representative Esquibel seconded to put the
proposed language into LSO bill format for the next meeting. Following discussion, the motion passed.
Co-Chairman Lockhart noted that the Committee has spent a lot of time
on LUST issues and some issues have been left open, such as a July 31 report
and a report to governor, to be considered before the next meeting.
Lynne Boomgaarden,
Director Office of
Sharon Garland, Deputy Treasurer, Tucker Fagan, Chief
Executive Officer Wyoming Business Council and George Axlund, Executive Director, Wyoming Community Development
Authority presented an update on the status of the bill draft on workforce
housing infrastructure [Appendices 32
through 35].
Senator Jennings moved to appoint a Subcommittee of Co-chairman
Lockhart, Senator Vasey, Senator Townsend, Representative Hammons and
Representative Samuelson to address the workforce housing infrastructure
issue. The motion was seconded by
Representative Esquibel and passed. The
Subcommittee will report back to the full Committee.
Mr. Fagan presented a summary of the business
ready communities and community facilities grant and loan program and asked to
have the sunset date on the business council repealed [Appendices 36 through
38].
Senator Vasey moved
to sponsor the sunset repeal bill. The
motion was seconded by Representative Mercer.
Representative Hammons
moved to amend the bill to have the tourism board appointed by the Governor and
approved by the senate. Senator Jennings
seconded the amendment. The amendment
failed.
With no amendments
to the sunset repeal bill, the bill passed 12-0-2 with Co-chairman Hawks and
Representative Samuelson absent.
Representative
Hammons moved to draft a bill for the tourism board seconded by Representative
Mercer. The motion passed.
Kathleen Lewis, Public Service Commissioner and
Steve Oxley attorney for the Public Service Commission explained the proposed
bill on electric utility resources [Appendices 39 and 40]. Ms. Lewis asked for a housekeeping amendment
on Page 3-line 13 after "utilized;" to insert "and". Bob Tarantola, PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power, Thor
Nelson, Wyoming Industrial Energy Consumers and Chris Petrie, Office of
Consumer Advocate spoke in favor of the bill and the efforts the workgroup have
put into this bill draft.
Senator Vasey moved a
do pass on the bill, including the insertion of "and" on page 3-line
13. Representative Quarberg seconded the
motion. Following discussion on the
bill, the bill passed 12-0-2 with Co-chairman Hawks and Representative Samuelson absent.
Rick Miller, VP for Governmental, Community & Legal Affairs and Myron
Allen, VP for Academic Affairs,
Bill Gern, Vice President for Research Economic Development, University
of
Senator Michael Von Flatern presented information
on the
Shelly Reams, Aeronautics Administrator
presented the report on Air Service Enhancement [Appendices 50 and 51].
DEQ had submitted copies of their reports on
recommendations for integrated solid waste management planning areas and the
clean water state revolving fund 2006 intended use plan [Appendices 52 and 53].
The Committee received an updated list of reports
due [Appendix 54].
Dan Neal with the
George Parks, Executive Director with the Wyoming Association
of Municipalities commented on impacted communities and expressed concern with
the amount of money already awarded and asked the legislature to revisit the
process.
Pat Sweeney from
The next meeting was scheduled for October 4, 2006 in
Respectfully submitted,
Representative Thomas A. Lockhart, Co-Chairman