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SPONSOR: |
Herrera |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
949/aHENRC |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Potable Water as Geothermal Resource Use |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Valenzuela |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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See Narrative |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Office
of the State Engineer
Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HENRC amendment
The
House Energy and Natural Resources Committee (HENRC) amendment to House Bill
949 would set an upper limit for the heat of potable water, where its user
would be required to pay royalties under the Geothermal Resources Conservation
Act. The threshold would be 250° F or less.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 949
proposes a new section be added to the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act.
The new section would exempt, from royalty payment, the incidental use of heat
from potable water applied to beneficial use is not a geothermal resource and
therefore does not give rise to an obligation to pay royalties.
Significant
Issues
The State Land Office has two properties in
A second provision of the bill is that a
non-geothermal use would be governed by Chapter 72 which deals with beneficial
use and water rights generally. EMNRD
reports the following issue with the bill:
To the extent that any facility would be removed from EMNRD jurisdiction by this bill, it is unclear by what law it would be governed and who would have jurisdiction over that facility's discharge permit under the Water Quality Act, and, if the facility employed a discharge plan involving injection, who would be responsible for insuring compliance with the Underground Injection Control (UIC) requirements under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. A facility currently permitted by EMNRD/OCD might require a permit from the Environment Department, and the state's EPA-approved UIC program might need to be amended.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
House Bill 949 does
not contain an appropriation. Depending on the applicability of the bill, the
State Land Office may lose royalty revenue from its two properties in
MFV/prr