2021 WACO Fall Meeting: Agriculture, Water, State & Public Lands, and Energy & Environment Committees Meeting

Agriculture, Water, State & Public Lands, and Energy & Environment Committees

2021 WACO Fall Meeting

CAM-PLEX Wyoming Center

Gillette, Wyoming

Roll Call:

Lloyd Thiel, Dru Palmer, Terry Wolf, Bruce Jolley, Paul Bertoglio, Rob Hendry, Colleen Faber, DG Reardon, Dave Neves, Robert Short, John Espy, Jeanne Whalen, Rick Grant, Tony Lehner, David North, Mary Thoman, Joel Bousman, and Pat Wade

Approval of the May 2021 minutes.

Beth Calloway – Executive Update:

• Update on the 30 x 30 Initiative. There needs to be more of an explanation on a path going forward and they are monitoring the situation.

• Sage grouse: BLM going back to look at 2015 plan. Forest Service has not issued their final plan. They will monitor it.

• Gateway West oversight group: Project moving forward.

• Migration Corridors: Two corridor reports have been finished and there is one more report to complete.

• EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are going back to the previous WOTUS rule.

• Governor is petitioning the Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the grizzly. There is a petition in other states to list wolves again.

• FNRPA: There have been some budget cuts. There are limited funds for the remainder of the biennium.

• The moratorium on oil and gas leasing and the lawsuit that was filed by the State were discussed.

• A potential increase to royalty rates was discussed.

• Renewable energy: BLM is holding public listening sessions.

• Joel Bousman gave an update on what the NACo Public Lands Steering Committee is doing in regards to the 30 x 30 initiative and a letter they are putting together.

Esther Wagner: Update from Congresswoman Cheney’s Office

• Reconciliation

• Royalty rates

• Leasing moratorium

• Carbon capture

• 30 x 30 plan

• Working to reform the NEPA process and infrastructure bill.

Holly Kennedy

• Discussed the Meat Processors Act.

• The House only had 24 hours to review the Reconciliation Act.

• Department of Labor is looking at occupational heat exposure and a possible federal heat standard.

• WSA’s – Following up on the WCCA’s effort.

Kate Farr and Bryn Stewart with Senator Barrasso’s office gave an update.

• Carbon capture update.

• Onshore moratorium.

• Discussed were two forestry bills that they hope to get bipartisan support regarding replanting trees and active management.

Adam Stewart: Senator Lummis’s office

• Navigable Waters.

• Grizzly bear delisting bill.

• Stop Catastrophes Act bill.

Orphaned Water Rights – David Schroeder with State Board of Control

• Discussed how they become orphaned.

• Rights become defunct mainly because of development.

• People moving into what use to be farmland.

Effects of orphaned water rights.

• Interstate water compacts – Wyoming is subject to downstream obligations.

• Towns need more water to expand.

• Makes it difficult for appropriators to change right when there are orphaned rights.

Solutions

• The board is looking at various options to possibly move these rights and be able to put them to beneficial use elsewhere. With the current statute, their hands are somewhat tied.Try to keep it from happening going forward.

• Keep the water rights active.

• Detach rights into a bank and they need to be moved to new lands within five years.

• Proposed legislation was discussed.

National Association of Counties Update – John Espy

• WIR in Salt Lake: 10/12/21 to 12/15/21.

Meeting adjourned at 1700 hours.