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Minutes for HB2452 - Committee on Water and Environment
Short Title
Limiting the duration of certain conservation easements.
Minutes Content for Thu, Jan 18, 2018
The Vice-Chair opened the hearing for HB2452.
Staff Nick Myers reviewed the provisions of the bill (Attachment 1). He provided background on the bill: the Corps of Engineers requires a permit for projects that impact the Clean Water Act; the permit must specify what type of long-term protection is offered for the site. The bill amends K.S.A. 58-3811 in order to limit the duration of conservation easements to "the life of the project."
Mr. Myers responded to members' questions:
- Rules will be promulgated that provide enforcement and allow variance in certain circumstances.
- The Division of Water Resources determines the life of the project.
- The effective date will be July 1, 2018.
Herb Graves, Executive Director, State Association of Kansas Watersheds (SAKW), testified in support of the bill (Attachment 2). He commented that the term "life of the project" might be an indeterminate period of time, and he noted that SAKW presented the Corps with a similar bill some years back that was rejected.
Rob Reschke, Executive Director, Division of Conservation, Kansas Department of Agriculture, spoke in support of the bill; he said that third-party mitigation would be a viable option for Kansas Watershed Districts as a condition for receiving federal permits to construct watershed dams (Attachment 4). He noted that the Corps' language "easements in perpetuity" creates a barrier that this bill would remove. He offered suggestions to modify the bill's language: replace the Division of Conservation with the Department of Water Resources, and note that all costs associated with this legislation be assumed by the watershed district. He also noted that since 2014 no structures have been built; the bill would help remove obstacles so that the permitting process can move forward.
Mr. Reschke answered members' queries:
- The bill is necessary in that the Corps' terminology is a barrier to landowners.
- Research might provide other kinds of easements, but the Corps' language would still be an impediment.
- "Life of the project" is defined in relation to the structure. When the structure is gone, the "life of the project" is no longer applicable.
- If the Corps refuses to change "in perpetuity," there will not be any negotiations.
- Even if a landowner builds a dam on his own property, a permit is still required.
The Vice-Chair noted two written-only documents, the first in support of the bill and the second in opposition to the bill:
Kent Askren, Kansas Farm Bureau (Attachment 3);
Kansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (Attachment 5).
