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Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 303.866.9600
E-Mail:
dpilcher@cochamber.com
Friday, March 19, 2010
“Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act” Moves Quickly through the House
The so-called “Clean Air, Clean Jobs” bill, HB-1365, was
introduced Monday, following many months of creation.
The bill essentially seeks to reduce the coal-powered generation
of electricity by investor-owned utilities along the Front Range
by using natural gas or other forms of power on a strategic
basis instead of following a fragmented approach.
The effort is an attempt by the bill’s proponents to get ahead
of the curve of federal regulations cracking down on various
pollutants that might have the Federal Environmental Protection
Agency creating a solution to Colorado’s air pollution and then
mandating state compliance.
Because CACI Energy and Environment Council members have
opposing views on this proposal, John Jacus,
Council Chair, has recommended that
the Council maintain a “neutral” position on the bill, which
will be communicated as a Council recommendation to the CACI
Board of Directors which meets Thursday morning, March 25th.
On Tuesday, a rally of the bill’s supporters was held on the
West Steps of the Capitol followed by Governor Bill Ritter
testifying before the House Committee on Transportation and
Energy in the Old Supreme Court Chamber.
The bill’s prime sponsors are Representatives Ellen Roberts
(R-Durango) and Judy Solano (D-Brighton) and Senators Bruce
Whitehead (D-Hesperus) and Josh Penry (R-Grand Junction).
The Committee amended the bill and sent it along to the
Appropriations Committee, which approved the bill this morning.
Later in the morning, the House approved the bill on Second
Reading, which places it on the House Calendar for final, Third
Reading Monday.
According to the analysis contained in the bill’s fiscal note,
HB-1365 anticipates stricter emission requirements from the EPA
under the Federal Clear Air Act. By August 15th of
this year, all investor-owned utilities that own and operate
coal-fired plants generating electricity must provide an
emissions-reduction plan for these plants to the Colorado Public
Utilities Commission (PUC). The plan must cover 900 megawatts
or 50 percent of the utility’s generating capacity, whichever is
less. And the plan must emphasize conversion of the plants to
natural gas or other “low-emission resources.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
will then be allowed to review the utility’s plan, which must be
implemented by December 31, 2017. The CDPE review will include
how the plan complies with both Federal and State clean air
laws. A new or “repowered” plant could not emit more than 1,100
pounds of carbon dioxide per generated megawatt of electricity.
By December 15th of this year, the PUC must have
completed its evaluation and either approve, modify or deny the
plans by taking into account these factors:
·
Emissions reductions achieved,
·
Use of existing natural gas generation capacity;
·
Promotion of economic development;
·
Potential rate effects,
·
Preservation of reliable electric service for consumers, and
·
Compliance with Federal and State renewable energy requirements.
The bill also requires that the Colorado Air Quality Commission
include reductions resulting from the plans in the regional-haze
element of the State Implementation Plan (SIP). If this
reduction can be achieved before it is mandated by Federal law,
then it will count as a voluntary reduction for the purpose of
achieving an “early reduction credit.”
Each year, utilities will be required to certify the comparative
carbon dioxide emission rate of retired and replacement
electric-generation resources, comparative unit utilizations
rates and the overall reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
The PUC will be granted by the bill the authority to approve
interim-rate hikes taking effect within 60 days of a
rate-increase filing by a utility. The PUC can tell the utility
to rebate rates if the final rate is lower than the interim
rate.
Please
click here to view a copy of the
introduced bill. For more information on the bill,
contact CACI contract lobbyist Donnah Moody at 303.562.4551 or
via e-mail at
capitolcorps@comcast.net
Bill Granting Tax Credits to Companies to Re-Hire Laid-Off
Workers Amended and Approved by Senate Appropriations Committee
SB-133 would grant income-tax credits to employers to
“incentivize” them to re-hire laid-off workers sooner rather
than later. The Senate co-sponsors of the bill are Senator
Rollie Heath (D-Boulder) and Senator Chris Romer (D-Denver).
The Senate Appropriations Committee this morning approved the
bill on a party-line five-to-four vote. The bill now moves to
the Senate Floor for Second Reading.
Senator Heath successfully offered an amendment that disallows
employers from claiming a credit if they rehire a worker one day
earlier than they would have without the credit.
The amendment apparently causes a reduction in the estimated
revenue impact because a new fiscal note projects that the state
will lose $3.1 million in both fiscal years 2010-2011 and
2011-2012 for a total of $6.2 million.
The bill’s first fiscal note projected that it would cost the
state $5.5 million in fiscal year 2010-2011 beginning July 1st
and the same amount the following fiscal year for a total of $11
million over two years. The fiscal note acknowledges, however,
that “the degree to which rehires of unemployed workers occur
sooner than otherwise expressly due to the bill is unknown . . .
“ In other words, the bill is built on an assumption for which
there is no data.
With the amendment, SB-133 would:
·
Apply only to firms that laid off workers during 2009;
·
Apply only to firms that rehire the works sooner than they would
have without the tax credit;
·
Apply only when the re-hired worker has been employed for at
least one year after the re-hire;
·
Be available to employers for the tax year beginning January 1,
2011;
The credit would be equal to a percentage of the employer’s
costs for paying the employer’s share of FICA taxes, which is
7.65 percent of an employee’s salary.
An employer who wants to claim the credit would have to submit
an affidavit with his or her tax return saying that:
·
The person rehired during the eligibility period worked for them
a year before being laid off and was laid off during last year;
·
Each person rehired has worked for the company for one year
since the rehire date; and
·
Were it not for the credit, the firm would not have rehired the
individual by the date of re-hire.
The amendment, according to the new fiscal note, mandates that
employers state in the affidavit that—without the tax
credit—they would not have rehired workers:
·
by May 31, 2010, in order to claim the credit equal to 66
percent of the employers Federal Insurance Contributions Act
(FICA) taxes paid for the rehired worker for the year; and
·
after June 1, 2010, and by September 30, 2010, in order to claim
the credit equal to 33 percent of the employer’s FICA taxes.
If the credit amount exceeds the tax liability of the employer,
it cannot be refunded to the employer but it can be carried
forward and used as a credit on future tax returns for up to
five years.
For more information, contact Loren Furman, CACI Vice President
of Governmental Affairs, at 303.866.8642 or via e-mail at
lfurman@COchamber.com
Health-Care Bills Roundup
Note:
the following section was written by Dan Anglin, CACI
Governmental Affairs Representative
CACI HealthCare Council meets Representative Cindy Acree
(R-Aurora)
Representative Cindy Acree appeared as the guest speaker for the
March CACI HealthCare Council meeting. Representative Acree is
a member of the House Health and Human Services and the Local
Government Committees. She discussed her positions on
health-care bills this session, and her concern that the Federal
health-care reform act (H.R. 3200-America’s Affordable Health
Choices Act of 2009) imposes unreasonable mandates for
purchasing insurance and is a violation of the Tenth Amendment
of the United States Constitution.
She expressed disappointment that the House Judiciary Committee
voted to kill HJR-1009--sponsored by Representative Acree and
Senator Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield)--that would have provided
Coloradoans with an opportunity to “opt-out” of any Federal
requirement or obligation to participate in a Federal
health-care reform plan. She believes that “we should have some
say” as to how or whether Colorado participates in federal
health-care reform.
Representative Acree is concerned that most of this year’s
health-care bills being heard by the legislature are designed
to implement mandatory requirements and new regulations on the
health insurance industry but do not address the
“delivery-of-care problem” in Colorado. Her district is largely
rural; therefore she is concerned that many constituents in her
district, and other rural areas throughout Colorado do not have
adequate access to medical care. While she points out that
Colorado has the second largest telemedicine program in the
nation, she believes there is still more work to be done in that
field
Representative Acree informed the Council that she would like to
see health-care reform in Colorado that includes: breaking the
relationship of health insurance from employment; increasing
incentives for the best practices in medicine; an inter-state
purchase of insurance option; tort reform; cost reduction;
better use of patients’ first dollars; and the ability for
patients/consumers to shop for services.
HealthCare Council Reconsiders Opposition to HB-1166
The Council unanimously voted to change its position on HB-1166,
“Plain Language in Insurance Policies,” sponsored by
Representative John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins), from opposed to
neutral. HB-1166, which would mandate “plain language” in
insurance policies, has been amended to address the concerns of
CACI HealthCare Council members who provided Representative
Kefalas with feedback about the bill during his appearance at
the February HealthCare Council meeting.
For information on health-care bills, contact Dan Anglin, CACI
Governmental Affairs Representative, at 303.866.9641 or via
e-mail at
danglin@COchamber.com
Bill to Increase Regulation of Uranium-Processing Facilities
Passes First Committee Hurdle
HB-1348 sharply constricts the ability of a uranium-processing
facility to apply for a license or amend a license until all
underlying causes of a release-violation have been remedied.
The CACI Energy and Environment has voted to oppose the bill
because it believes that a company can’t continue the cleanup of
a site without being able to stay in business.
Uranium milling operators are concerned that the prohibition on
bringing in additional “classified material” until all material
violations and their underlying causes are corrected will cause
them to cease operations, which will mean that no funds will be
available for additional cleanup efforts.
Although it initially appeared that the prohibition impacted
license renewals, it actually affects license applications or
amendments, which is where the prohibition on new materials
comes in to bear.
The test for applying for a license or amending a license must
meet the four extremely difficult standards contained in the
bill:
(A) All notices of violation have been cured and the underlying
causes remediated;
(B) The operator is not aware of any current license violation
at the facility;
(C) There are no current releases to the air, ground, surface
water, or groundwater that exceed permitted limits; and
(D) No person has conducted activities that will adversely
affect the Department of Energy’s receipt of title to the
facility pursuant to the Federal “Atomic Energy Act of 1954”, 42
U.S.C. Sec. 2113;
Water quality violations, many of which may have existed prior
to current milling operations, can take 50 to 100 years to
remedy.
HB-1348 is sponsored by Representative Buffie McFadyen (D-Pueblo
West). Yesterday, the House Transportation and Energy
Committee, which is chaired by Representative McFadyen,
unanimously amended and approved HB-1348, sending it to the
House Floor for Second Reading.
Click here to view HB-1348.
Currently, a company is required to obtain a license to receive,
possess, use, transfer or acquire most radioactive materials.
HB-1348 is aimed at uranium mills, uranium processing
facilities, and disposal facilities that have caused a release
that exceeds groundwater standards. HB-1348 increases the
state’s regulatory authority in the following ways by requiring
a company to:
·
Submit an annual report to owners of wells located within one
mile of the contaminated groundwater plume;
·
Submit an annual report to the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment pertaining to the adequacy of the firm’s
financial assurance warranties.
The bill also adjusts the applicable hearing procedures relating
to the warranties. It amends the Decommissioning Fund to
explicitly allow it to be used for uranium processing and
disposal facilities. The bill also modifies other procedural
requirements for the CDPHE and the company regarding license
applications, notice requirements and public hearings.
One amendment included the following:
·
Clarifies that groundwater standards are those identified under
the Water Quality Control Commission.
·
Clarifies that the provisions of the statute are applicable to
releases identified in a corrective-action monitoring plan.
·
Clarifies that public comments on bonding will not imply a right
to an administrative appeal.
·
Clarifies that bonds could include any form approved by the
CDPHE.
·
Clarifies applicability to only those license violations that
are material violations having to do with the environment and
public health instead of technical violations.
·
Strikes the reference to CDPHE guidance because there is no
guidance document adopted by the Department.
·
Changes the requirement to list all notices of violations for
ten years to “the term of the license.”
Another amendment clarifies that the applicability to “in situ”
leach mining is limited to coordination of regulatory
interpretations between relevant regulatory agencies.
For more information on the bill, contact CACI contract lobbyist
Donnah Moody at 303.562.4551 or via e-mail at
capitolcorps@comcast.net
And The Denver Post carried an article Wednesday about
the bill:
http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_14688559
Upcoming CACI Council Meetings
Council meetings will be held at the CACI Office beginning at 12
Noon. Council members who would like to sponsor lunches for
Council meetings should contact Misty Fox, CACI Office Manager,
at 303.866-9652 or via e-mail at
mfox@COchamber.com
·
Labor and Employment Council,
Wednesday, March 24; lunch sponsored by Mark Moses, Outback
Steakhouse, whose website is
www.outback.com
·
Governmental Affairs Council,
Tuesday, March 23; lunch sponsored by
Marie Patterson, AngloGold Ashanti N.A., whose website is
www.anglogoldashanti.com
For the complete meeting schedule of CACI Councils during the
legislative session, visit the CACI Web site:
http://www.cochamber.com/newsandevents_calendar.asp
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