HB306 (2015) Detail

Relative to membership of the wetlands council and the water council.


CHAPTER 67

HB 306 – FINAL VERSION

4Mar2015… 0133h

04/09/2015 1231s

2015 SESSION

15-0735

06/05

HOUSE BILL 306

AN ACT relative to membership of the wetlands council and the water council.

SPONSORS: Rep. Gottling, Sull 2; Rep. Spang, Straf 6

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

ANALYSIS

This bill reduces the membership of the wetlands council and the water council.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

4Mar2015… 0133h

04/09/2015 1231s

15-0735

06/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen

AN ACT relative to membership of the wetlands council and the water council.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

67:1 Wetlands Council; Membership. Amend RSA 21-O:5-a, I and II to read as follows:

I. There is established a wetlands council for the purpose of implementing the provisions of law conferring on the department authority to decide matters relative to resources of the state, including, but not limited to, excavating, dredging, and filling waters of the state as well as activities occurring within the state’s regulated shoreland under RSA 483-B. Appointees and officials shall have voting rights as members of the wetlands council; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting other duties of the department with reference to dams, water levels, and administration of the department of environmental services. The wetlands council shall be composed of the following:

(a) The executive director of the department of fish and game or designee.

(b) The commissioner of transportation or designee.

(c) The commissioner of resources and economic development or designee.

(d) The director of the office of energy and planning or designee.

(e) The commissioner of the department of agriculture, markets, and food, or designee.

(f) [The commissioner of safety or designee.

(g)] Eight members of the public appointed by the governor and council for a term of 3 years or until a successor is chosen. One of these shall be a member of a municipal conservation commission at the time of appointment, and be one of 3 nominees submitted by the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions; one shall be a supervisor, associate supervisor, former associate supervisor, or former supervisor, of a conservation district at the time of appointment, and be one of 3 nominees submitted by the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts; one shall be [an elected] a municipal official other than a member of the conservation commission at the time of appointment, and be [one of 3 nominees submitted] nominated by the New Hampshire Municipal Association; one shall be a natural resource scientist and be one of 3 nominees submitted by the New Hampshire Association of Natural Resource Scientists; one shall be a member of the construction industry and be one of 3 nominees submitted by the Associated General Contractors of New Hampshire; one shall be a member of the marine industry and be one of 3 nominees submitted by the New Hampshire Marine Trades Association; one shall have experience in environmental protection and resource management at the time of appointment and be one of 4 nominees submitted, 2 each, by the New Hampshire Audubon Society and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests; and one shall be a farm or forest landowner and be one of 2 nominees submitted, one each, by the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation and the New?Hampshire Timberland Owners Association. One member of the council shall be elected annually as chairperson by the members of the council.

II. The 8 members appointed under subparagraph [I(g)] I(f) shall be entitled to expenses and $50 compensation per diem. The other members of the council shall receive no additional compensation for their service as members of the council, other than their regular salaries from their respective state departments, but shall receive mileage and other expenses paid at the rate set for state employees.

67:2 Water Council. Amend RSA 21-O:7, I to read as follows:

I. There is established a water council which shall consist of [16] 15 members:

(a) [Eleven] Thirteen of the members shall be public members appointed by the governor, with the consent of the council, who shall serve for terms of 4 years. Of these members, 2 shall represent the industrial interests of the state; one shall represent the vacation home or private recreational interests of the state; one shall represent the agricultural interests of the state; one shall be an employee of any municipal or privately-owned waterworks in the state; one shall be a representative of the septage hauling industry, nominated by the New Hampshire Association of Septage Haulers; one shall be a member of a statewide nonprofit conservation or environmental organization; one shall be a treatment plant operator; [and] one shall be a designer or installer of septic systems, nominated by the Granite State Designers and Installers Association; one shall represent New Hampshire rivers, nominated by the New Hampshire Rivers Council, and one shall represent New Hampshire lakes, nominated by the New Hampshire Lakes Association. The 2 remaining members shall be appointed and commissioned respectively as the chairman and vice chairman of the council;

(b) The remaining [5] 2 members shall include:

(1) [The commissioner of the department of health and human services, or designee;

(2)] The executive director of fish and game, or designee; and

[(3)] (2) The director of parks and recreation, or designee[;

(4) The director of the office of energy and planning, or designee; and

(5) The commissioner of safety, or designee].

(c) Each member of the council, before entering upon his or her duties, shall take an oath to administer the duties of office faithfully and impartially, and such oath shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state.

67:3 Repeal. RSA 4-C:6, II(b), relative to participation of the director of the office of energy and planning in the water council, is repealed.

67:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: June 2, 2015

Effective Date: August 1, 2015