Eye on the Legislature

 One down and one to go on Interstate-70 (I-70) - legislative bills that is. Last week, Senator Chris Romer's Senate Bill 209 was postponed indefinitely (killed on a vote of 5-2).
Senator Andy McElhany, R-El Paso, is lead sponsor for Senate Bill 213, which, if enacted, would authorize the Colorado Tolling Enterprise to designate a portion of I-70 as a toll highway.
Point of information: For us "locals," Senate Bill 213 prohibits the imposition of a toll on a motor vehicle registered in Clear Creek, Gilpin or Summit County that is owned by one whose primary residence or business entity has a permanent place of business in any of those counties.
Senate Bill 213, if enacted, would provide authorization for the Colorado Tolling Enterprise to designate "all or any portion of one or more existing or new lanes of I- 70 between Floyd Hill and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel as a toll highway and set tolls for the use of the lanes."
Use of the funds generated from the tolls would be two thirds to expand capacity of all or any portion of I-70 for this designated area, and one-third to administration, planning, financing, operation, maintenance work and repair as authorized by the Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 43-4-804(3) and (4) - all contingent upon the issuance of a Record of Decision by the Federal Highway Administration approving the preferred alternative for the I-70 Mountain Corridor.
The type of toll setup proposed for I-70 was in place on a portion of I-35 in Kansas from Salina south to the Oklahoma state line. Three toll booths were in place for more than 20 years, but only one remains as of this writing. With three or four toll booths in each direction, the set up worked smoothly with no massive delays as opponents of tolls on I-70 fear.
Senator McElhany's number at the Capitol is (303) 866-2318. Lead sponsor in the House is Representative Mike May, R-Douglas, (303) 866-5523.
The types of energy to be designated in "renewable energy resources" will be expanded to include certain types of hydroelectricity - low impact hydroelectricity and pumped hydroelectricity, if House Bill 1222 is enacted. The bill has made its way through both the House and Senate, and received a favorable referral to the Committee on Appropriations.
The bill defines the two types of hydro as:
• "Low-impact hydroelectricity" including pumped hydroelectricity that is generated by an existing or new facility that the Governor's energy office, or its successor, has certified as meeting the following criteria: (1) the facility operator has consulted with the Division of Wildlife in the Department of Natural Resources to determine the facility's effects on aquatic species and to identify and has implemented reasonable measures identified by the Division to minimize and mitigate such effects, including necessary fish passage; and (2) the facility operator has consulted with the Colorado Water Conservation Board in the Department of Natural Resources to determine the measures necessary to protect in-stream flows and has implemented reasonable measures identified by the Board; and
• pumped hydroelectricity means electricity that is generated during periods of high electrical demand from water that has been pumped during periods of low electrical demand from a lower-elevation reservoir or stream to a higher-elevation reservoir.
Other definitions in House Bill 1222 regarding certain types of renewable energy that may be of interest to the reader include:
• "Biomass" means, (1) nontoxic plant matter consisting of agricultural crops or their byproducts, urban wood waste, mill residue, slash or brush; (2) animal wastes and products of animal wastes, or (3) Methane produced at landfills or as a by-product of the treatment of wastewater residual;
• "Eligible energy resources" means recycled energy and renewable energy resources. A fuel cell using hydrogen derived from an eligible energy resource is also an eligible electric generation technology. Fossil and nuclear fuels and their derivatives are not "eligible energy resources;" and
• "Recycled energy" means produced by a generation unit with a nameplate capacity of not more than fifteen megawatts that converts the otherwise lost energy from the heat from exhaust stacks or pipes to electricity and that does not combust additional fossil fuel. "Recycled energy" does not include energy produced by any system that uses energy, lost or otherwise, from a process whose primary purpose is the generation of electricity, including, without limitation, any process involving engine-driven generation or pumped hydroelectricity generation.
Lead sponsor in the House was Representative Frank McNulty, R-Douglas, (303) 966-2936. Lead sponsor in the Senate was Senator Ted Harvey, R-Douglas, (303) 866-4881.
Eminent domain continues providing various government entities with the power to take (steal may be a more appropriate term) private property to turn it over to developers in the name of "economic development generating more taxes."
The 2008 legislative session may be the one that finally puts an end to Super Slab, the private toll road proposed east of the Interstate 25 corridor that has hung over hundreds of property owners for several years.
House Bill 1343, "Concerning Limitations on the Development of Transportation Infrastructure By Non-governmental Entities," if enacted, would apply to highways and railroads. (Super Slab also includes rail in its plan.)
The bill would prohibit a private enterprise from acting as the Super Slab enterprise did - specifying and mapping a transportation corridor in its filed formation document, and voids any three-mile corridor specified and mapped in a filed formation document filed before the effective date of the act.
The bill provides that a company seeking to construct a toll road or toll highway could only do so "pursuant to a public-private initiative and in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in a public-private initiative agreement (agreement) entered into by the company and the department of transportation (department)"
The bill also specifies:
• the department or other government entity does not necessarily have to agree to enter into an agreement with a private enterprise;
• prohibits a company from filing with any county clerk and recorder either a notice or disclaimer of interest and maps as is allowed under current law;
• declares as void and of no other legal effect, a disclaimer of interest, a map or notice properly authorized and legally filed or recorded by a company before the effective date of the act;
• requires a title insurance company to exclude a void disclaimer of interest, map or notice from any documents it prepares after the effective date of the act.
The bill also has a provision that prohibits a corporation formed for the purpose of constructing a railroad line from exercising the power of eminent domain except:
• The corporation was operating rolling stock, carrying passengers or property, and maintaining track on the effective date of the act; or
• The real estate, right-of-way, or easement or other right condemned is necessary solely for the construction of a light rail system.
The recent publicity exposing the Regional Transportation District's conduct in taking property that will, in part, be redeveloped by private developers is partly responsible for House Bill 1343 being introduced.
Representative Debbie Stafford, D-Arapahoe/Elbert, (303) 866-2944, sponsor of House Bill 1343. Senator Tom J. Wiens, R-Douglas/El Paso/Lake/Park/Teller, (303) 866-4869, is sponsor in the Senate.
--Doris Beaver