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From YouTube: 2/18/2021 - Senate Committee on Natural Resources
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A
B
D
A
I
am
here,
thank
you
so
much
for
that.
Seeing
that
reached
quorum,
welcome
everyone
to
the
senate
committee
on
natural
resources.
Before
we
begin,
we
have
some
daily
housekeeping
that
we
must
take,
and
I
would
like
to
explain
to
you
how
our
virtual
committee
meetings
will
work,
since
this
is
a
new
process
for
all
of
us.
As
you
know,
the
legislative
building
is
currently
close
to
the
public,
so
all
committee
meetings
will
be
held
virtually
this
means
that
committee
members
staff
and
everyone
else
will
participate
either
through
zoom
video
conference
or
by
telephone.
A
There
are
still
ways
that
you
can
all
engage
as
a
pub
as
members
of
the
public
with
us
and
participate
throughout
this
process
and
in
previous
sessions,
all
community
related
information
is
available
on
nellis,
which
can
be
accessed
through
the
legislature's
website.
The
four
main
ways
that
you
can
engage
with
our
committee
is
either
by
registering
to
participate
in
a
committee
meeting
through
the
mail
system
and
that's
how
you
can
get
in
line
to
testify
on
a
bill
or
provide
your
public
comment
during
the
meeting.
A
You
can
also
submit
your
written
testimony
to
the
committee's
email.
Address
share
your
opinion
on
the
legislature's
opinion,
application
on
nellis
or
view
committee
meetings
online
through
nellis
or
on
the
legislators,
legislature's
youtube
channel.
If
you
want
to
testify
on
a
bill
or
provide
public
comment
to
during
this
session
or
today,
members
of
the
public
must
first
register
for
the
meeting
that
you
would
like
to
participate
in,
and
there
are
several
places
that
you
can
register
on.
A
Just
as
a
note
that,
while
you
register
that
does
not
guarantee
you
for
a
place
to
speak
and
when
you
are
on
the
phone
line,
please
remember
to
pay
attention
to
what
bill
is
being
considered
and
the
order
that
we're
going
and
then
they
will
bps
will
go
ahead
and
call
you
once
it
is
your
turn:
senate
bills,
53
and
65
on
the
agenda
today
to
be
heard
and
bps
staff
will
call
on
you
when,
by
the
last
three
digits
of
your
phone
number,
there
are
detailed
instructions
on
the
nellis
page.
A
If
you
need
any
help,
and
of
course,
if
you
ever
need
any
assistance
with
any
of
these
processes
or
if
you'd
simply
like
to
give
us
a
notification
of
the
committee's
agendas
and
minutes,
always
feel
free
to
please
contact
our
committee
manager
at
the
committee
email
listed
on
the
agenda
so
with
that
we
can
proceed
forward
with
our
first
build
that
we're
hearing
today
senate
bill
53
and
we
are
ready
to
open
the
hearing
on
sb53.
A
E
E
Please
allow
me
to
provide
a
bit
of
backstory
to
explain
why
sb
53
is
critical
to
the
operation
of
nevada,
state
parks,
nrs
407
06765
establishes
a
utility
surcharge
account
that
the
nevada
division
of
state
parks
utilizes
to
make
repairs
to
water
sewer
and
electrical
systems
within
various
state
parks.
The
utility
surcharge
account
is
funded
through
a
portion
of
the
park,
entrance
fees
and
annual
permit
sales
that
occur
at
a
specific
part.
E
Currently,
the
utilities
surcharge
and
cow
are
park
specific
accordingly
parks
with
high
visitation,
like
valley
of
fire
and
sand
harbor
generate
a
lot
of
fees,
a
lot
of
fee
revenue
which
in
turn
generates
a
higher
balance
in
their
utility
surcharge
account
for
maintenance
and
repairs.
Likewise,
parks
and
remote
locations
with
lower
visitation,
like
norman
station
and
berlin
ichthyosaur,
generate
minimum
revenue.
Accordingly,
the
utility
surcharge
accounts
in
these
parks
is
not
adequate
to
cover
costly
repairs
when
they
occur.
E
The
original
intent
of
this
structure
was
to
ensure
that
the
smaller
parts
didn't
have
their
accounts
emptied
by
the
larger
parks
that
have
the
bigger
utility
infrastructure
and
that
are
subject
to
higher
use
and
more
wear
and
tear.
But
the
opposite
has
proven
to
be
the
case
as
it
turns
out,
because
the
funds
can
only
be
spent
at
the
park.
They're
collected
in
smaller
parts
never
really
build
big
enough
balances
to
handle
the
large
utility
infrastructure
failures.
E
So
it's
absolutely
critical
to
maintain
the
balances
and
to
build
flexibility
into
the
utility
surcharge
account,
although
it's
impossible
to
predict
when
or
where
a
catastrophic
failure
will
happen,
such
as
when
a
septic
system
will
fail.
It
is
certain
that
such
failures
are
going
to
occur
during
the
busiest
time
of
the
year,
making
it
making
it
even
more
crucial
to
make
the
immediate
repairs
sp53
will
allow
the
division
to
utilize.
This
utility
surcharge
account
to
make
repairs
within
the
region
within
the
within
which
the
fees
are
collected
rather
than
at
the
individual
park.
E
Sp
53
will
allow
regional
managers
and
facility
managers
to
better
utilize
the
resources
to
make
the
immediate
repairs
at
any
of
the
parks
within
their
region.
Not
just
the
larger
parks
with
the
bigger
utility
surcharge
account
balances.
E
Sb
53
includes
language
that
making
it
clear
that
the
division
will
collect
fees
at
all
areas
that
the
division
manages.
The
current
language
calls
out
parks
specifically
when
the
reality
is.
The
division
manages
recreation
areas,
historic
sites,
historic
parks
as
well
as
region
offices
and
the
division
office
that
also
sell
annual
permits.
E
Maintaining
adequate
communications
at
a
state
park
are
every
bit
as
critical
to
the
park
operations
as
water
sewer
and
electric
telecommunications,
internet
and
radio
systems
are
essential
to
park
operations
so
to
ensure
that
that
the
staff
can
provide
adequate
public
safety
to
park
visitors,
communication
systems
can
be
expensive
to
fix
and
require
immediate
repair
when
they
do
go
down.
Since
these
types
of
system
failures
aren't
a
regular
occurrence,
funding
doesn't
exist
in
the
division's
operating
budget
to
make
the
necessary
repairs
when
there
are
issues
with
communications.
E
A
Thank
you
so
much,
mr
morgell,
for
your
presentation
at
this
time.
Are
there
any
questions
from
the
committee?
Let's
go
first
with
senator
gokujia.
F
Thank
you,
mr
chair.
Just
a
couple
questions,
mr
magellan
bob.
If
you
don't
mind
anyway,
how
many
regions
are,
do
you
anticipate
creating.
E
F
And
lake
tahoe
would
be
a
stand
alone.
I
assume
that
would
generate
a
lot
of
money,
I'm
kind
of
concerned
and
I'm
sure
my
colleague
from
southern
nevada
as
well.
You
know
like
the
valley
of
fire
in
those
parks,
has
some
of
those
higher
use
parks
in
in
the
south.
How
far
north
are
you
going
to
go?
F
Are
you
going
to
pick
up
say
cathedral
gorge
or
you
know,
we've
got
the
school
hosted
elements
and
some
of
those
I
assume
they're,
all
in
the
southern
or
are
they
in
the
eastern
it'll,
have
a
huge
impact
on
what's
available.
E
Sure
again,
bob
mcgill
for
the
record,
our
eastern
region
stretches
from
lincoln
county
up
through
white
pine
county
into
elko
county,
so
basically,
parks
like
south
fork
cathedral
gorge,
that
bring
in
more
revenue
for
those
parks
in
that
region
will
be
able
to
help
out
like
beaver
dam
and
elgin
schoolhouse.
For
instance,
the
western
region
is
kind
of
the
the
washoe
carson
lyon
county
churchill
county.
E
Those
kind
of
areas
so
lahontan
that
brings
in
quite
a
bit
of
revenue,
will
be
able
to
help
out
the
parks
like
berlin,
ichthyosaur
lake
tahoe
has
four
parks
up
there.
So,
yes,
we
have
sand
harbor,
but
we
also
have
vansicle,
which
is
a
new
park
that
that
doesn't
currently
have
a
whole
lot
of
visitation
and
therefore
it
doesn't
collect
fees
actually
right
now.
E
So
any
infrastructure
that
had
issues
there
would
be
able
to
rely
on
sand
harbor
and
the
southern
region
is
pretty
much
all
of
the
parks
in
in
clark
county,
so
valley
of
fire
will
be
able
to
help
out
parks
like
old,
las
vegas,
warm
and
fort.
That
really
only
collect
an
entrance
fee
for
the
museum
tour,
but
they
still
have
a
lot
of
infrastructure
that
can
still
fail.
So
every
region
has
some
parts
that
are
big
in
them
that
are
going
to
be
able
to
help
out
those
smaller
parts.
F
Just
to
follow
up,
if
I
may,
mr
chair,
then
where
do
we
plug
ny
county
esmeralda?
You
know,
I
know,
we've
got
some
facilities
there.
E
F
I'm
sorry,
then,
okay,
so
we
don't
have
anything
in
ny
county
other
than
the
one
at
berlin.
F
A
You
thank
you
senator
gokuchi,
senator
hansen.
I
think
you
were
next.
D
Thanks
jer,
actually
bob,
I
just
want
to
say
hi,
first
of
all
and
say
I
actually
read
the
bill
backwards.
I
thought
you
guys
were
going
to
actually
end
up
starving
the
smaller
parks
to
subsidize
the
bigger
ones
based
on
how
you
draw
it.
Now
that
I've
heard
your
testimony,
I
just
want
to
make
sure
that
I
think
what
senator
kokuchi
is
getting
to
when
you
do
draw
these
boundaries.
That
sounds
like
you're
already.
On
top
of
it,
we
want
to
make
sure.
D
There's,
basically,
you
know
a
bread
winning
park
to
help
subsidize
those
that
are
less
popular,
so
it
sounds
like
you
you're
on
that
sounds
like
a
good
idea.
You
know
you
know
the
berlin's
like
one
of
the
only
ones
in
my
district
in
those
in
those
rural
pockets.
D
So
I
was
very
concerned
to
make
sure
that
when
you
guys
do
start
divvying
up
the
money
that
those
little
parks
don't
get
squeezed
out,
but
it
sounds
like
you're
actually
doing
the
exact
opposite
in
this.
So
I
want
to
thank
you
for
that,
because
I
hate
to
see
those
little
parks
you
know
receive
minimal,
use,
essentially
kind
of
push
to
the
back
burner
when
it
comes
to
maintenance
and
things
like
that.
So
thank
you
for
the
bill.
D
I
think
it's
a
great
idea
and
make
sure
you
draw
those
boundaries
right
thanks
bob.
A
All
right
great,
thank
you.
Senator
hansen,
any
other
questions
from
any
of
the
committee
members.
G
Right
yeah.
Thank
you,
mr
merkel,
for
your
presentation,
I'm
assuming
that
before
you
wrote
the
bill
or
had
the
bill
drafted
that
you
guys
did
some
projections
as
to
where
you
would
be
implementing
the
new
fees,
how
much
they
would
be,
how
much
they
would
bring
in
where
they
would
go.
So
can
you
give
us
kind
of
the
numerical
overview
understanding
that
the
point
of
the
bill
is
to
allow
flexibility
into
the
future,
but
once
it
passes,
what's
the
plan.
E
Thank
you
for
the
question
bomber
gale
again
for
the
record.
This
bill
actually
doesn't
introduce
any
new
fees.
These
fees
are
already
being
collected,
and
so
the
what
we
have
is
we
have
account
balances
at
every
park
throughout
the
state,
because
we've
already
been
collecting
these
utility
surcharge
fees.
So,
for
instance,
when
somebody
goes
to
a
park
and
they
pay
their
five
or
ten
dollar
entrance
fee.
One
dollar
out
of
that
fee
gets
set
aside
as
a
part
of
this
utility
surcharge.
E
So
every
park
has
some
amount
of
money
in
their
account,
but
parks
like
berlin,
for
instance,
will
only
have
2
000
or
thereabouts
in
their
account
and
so
they're
really,
if,
if,
if
their
solar
panels
go
out
or
their
batteries
explode
and
we
have
to
replace
them,
two
thousand
dollars
isn't
going
to
buy
you
a
lot
of
solar
equipment.
However
lahontan,
who
is
in
that
same
region
has
several
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
their
utility
surcharge
account.
E
So
what
we're
looking
to
do
is
to
be
able
to
allow
parks
like
lahontan,
to
be
able
to
help
buy
berlin
batteries
if
that's
what
they
need
in
order
to
stay
operational.
So,
there's
no
additional
new
fees
associated
with
this
bill.
It's
just
how
we're
able
to
spend
that
money
is
all
we're
trying
to
clarify
hope
that
answers
your
question.
E
Bob
mcgill
for
the
record,
the
the
issue
that
I
that
I
brought
up
with
berlin
with
their
batteries
needing
replaced
is
a
is
a
real-time
issue.
We
absolutely
their
their
batteries,
have
come
to
the
end
of
their
life
and
they
can't
afford
new
ones.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
that
question
senator.
I
believe
mr
amburn
wanted
to
give
a
clarification.
If
you
would
like
at
this
moment.
H
Thank
you,
chair,
gennady,
allen,
ambroun
for
the
record.
I
just
wanted
to
point
out
so
in
section
two
of
the
bill
we
are
ex.
There
is
a
fiscal.
A
D
Actually
chair,
I
don't
know
if
you
missed
it,
but
senator
brooks
wanted
to
ask
the
question.
I
don't
know
if
he's
still
interested
or
not,
but
he
had
his
little
yellow
hand
thing
up,
but
I
guess
we
missed
it.
So
I
just
want
to
bring
that
to
your
attention.
B
Actually,
I
did
alan
or
mr
amber
and
answered
it
for
me
right.
It
was
about
the
two-thirds
piece,
and
so
I
appreciate
that.
Thank
you.
Senator
hansen,
great.
A
Thank
you,
sir.
Any
other
questions,
mr
mcgill,
the
only
thing
that
I
would
ask
for
you
at
this
time
is:
if
you
can
go
ahead
and
provide
my
committee
members
with
a
map
to
visualize
the
four
regions.
That
would
be
definitely
helpful
and
it's
just
for
clarification
purposes,
but
thank
you
again
for
your
time.
Seeing
that
there
are
no
more
questions
from
the
committee
members.
A
We
are
ready
to
go
ahead
and
move
on
to
testimony.
So
next
we
will
hear
testimony
in
support
of
sp53.
As
a
reminder,
we
will
be
limiting
all
testifiers
to
two
minutes.
Each
testifiers
are
encouraged
to
summarize
their
positions
and
submit
more
comprehensive
testimony
in
writing.
Dps
is
there
anyone
on
the
line
that
right
now
that
would
like
to
wish
to
provide
support
testimony.
C
A
Great
thank
you
for
that.
Next,
we
will
hear
testimony
in
opposition.
C
A
C
I
Afternoon,
mr
chairman,
members
of
the
committee,
stephen
cohen,
for
the
record
stephen
with
a
v
cohen
as
in
the
assemblywoman,
but
no
known
relation
that
we're
familiar
with
just
real
quick.
I
came
at
this
from
a
different
lens,
having
worked
for
south
region,
albeit
short
term,
but
I
just
wanted
to
address
one
quick
issue
specific
to
sub
065
sub
1
sub
sub
d,
specifically
sub
sub
2
would
like
to
see
some
reworking
of
the
structure
so
that.
I
I
So
that's
how
I
come
at
this,
but
just
kind
of
have
some
have
some
concerns
but
happy
to
work
with
the
committee
and
or
the
agency
to
kind
of
flush
that
out
with
that.
Mr
chairman,
thank
you
and
I
yield.
A
Great
thank
you,
mr
murgeld.
Seeing
that
mr
amburn
spoke
last.
Do
you
have
any
other
clarifications
or
anything
else
that
you
would
like
to
mention
before.
E
A
A
J
Good
afternoon,
chairman
and
members
of
the
committee,
my
name
is
jennifer
odd,
I'm
the
director
for
the
department
of
agriculture.
It
is
my
pleasure
to
appear
before
you
today
to
present
to
you
senate
bill
65,
which
updates
provisions
relating
to
the
department
of
agriculture
to
provide
background.
After
the
2019
legislative
session,
the
department
of
agriculture
developed
a
five-year
strategic
plan
to
establish
clear
goals
for
the
department's
future
goal
number.
One
of
that
plan
is
to
modernize
our
statutory
and
regulatory
framework
senate
bill.
J
J
The
proposed
division
names
were
selected
by
a
poll
of
staff
that
work
within
those
divisions
with
the
most
knowledge
of
those
activities.
The
revisions
are
intended
to
provide
staff
ownership
and
involvement
on
the
divisions
that
they
represent
and
to
describe
the
duties
of
the
division
more
accurately
and
clearly
to
the
public.
J
A
D
Thanks
chair
jennifer
great,
to
see
you
again
a
couple
of
concerns.
First,
I
don't
know
I
thought
the
division
of
consumer
equitability,
that's
a
pretty
cool
sounding
name.
I
don't
know
equitability.
That
sounds
like
a
politician
type
word
or
something
so
anyway,
a
little
bad
humor
there,
the
bigger
question
I
do
have
the
appointment,
the
ability
of
you
as
the
director
to
get
rid
of
people
because
they
serve
at
the
pleasure
of
the
director.
D
J
Thank
you
senator
hansen.
Through
you,
chair
to
senator
hansen.
This
is
jennifer
ott
for
the
record.
I
appreciate
that
we
might
have
to
rely
on
legal
on
this,
but
we
are
not
changing
any
of
that
language.
As
far
as
the
abilities
of
the
director,
the
the
administrators
serve
and
unclassified
positions
of
the
state
which
are
handled
similarly,
so
that
I
don't
believe
that
those
changes
are
are
being
made.
D
H
Thank
you.
Thank
you
trader.
Not
today,
alan
ambron
for
the
record
in
regards
to
unclassified
service
statute,
provides
that
the
officers,
employees
and
the
executive
department
receive
an
annual
salary
and
who
satisfy
other
list
conditions
are
serving
in
such
unclassified
service
in
regards
to
whether
or
not
this
is
changing
the
effects,
I
don't
know
that
to
my
head,
but
I
can
look
into
that
senator
and
get
back
to
you
on
that
issue.
D
Okay,
because
that
would
be
a
concern.
Obviously
I
I
always
kind
of
feel
sorry
for
guys
that
serve
exclusively
at
the
at
the
swim
of
a
chair,
and
if
there
was
a
merit
requirement
before
a
violation,
I
guess
I
would
say
of
a
merit
requirement
before
they
can
be
terminated.
That's
kind
of
a
fairness
factor
to
me,
but
if
it's
already
that
way
under
state
law
and
I'm
misinterpreting
that
that
that
would
obviously
it
doesn't
change
anything.
So
I
wouldn't
have
any
problem
with
the
existing
law.
Thanks
chair.
F
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
and
miss
odd.
I
just
have
a
couple
questions.
As
I
read
this,
it
doesn't
appear
that
you're
the
ag
board
would
have
any
input
into
the
selection
of
any
of
these
people
at
all.
J
Thank
you,
senator
gokujia,
through
you,
chair
to
the
senator.
This
is
jennifer
ott,
correct
they
currently
don't
now,
and
that
has
not
changed.
F
All
right
and
then
one
other
question,
if
I
may
mr
chair,
where
did
gary
plug
in
I
think
that
was
583.
Wasn't
it
the
statute
to
govern
gary,
as
I
went
through
this,
I
just
want
to
make
sure.
F
Are
they
going
to
be
in
animal
industry?
They're
truly
typically,
gary
isn't
part
of
animal
industry,
but
you
know,
since
we
took
the
commission
away
and
were
using
their
money,
I
was
just
curious
where
they
landed.
J
Thank
you
senator
through
you,
chair
to
the
senators
is
jennifer
ought
for
the
record.
I
believe
senator
derry
is
584
and
it
is
currently
it
is
currently
under
animal
industries.
Yes,.
F
Okay,
did
I
missed
it
as
I
looked
at
the
sections
of
nrs,
but
if
I
believe
you,
if
you
knew
it
was
584
instead
of
583,
because
I
was
wrong
too.
Thank
you.
A
Great,
thank
you.
Do
any
other
senators
have
any
other
questions.
A
None,
I
think
we
can
go
ahead
and
proceed
great
next.
We
will
hear
testimony
in
support
of
sp65
again
as
a
reminder,
we
will
be
limiting
all
testifiers
to
two
minutes.
Each
testifiers
are
encouraged
to
summarize
their
positions
and
submit
more
comprehensive
testimony
in
writing.
Eps
is
there
anyone
on
the
line
wishing
to
provide
support
testimony
at
this
time.
C
B
All
right,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
chair
members
of
the
committee
for
the
opportunity
to
speak
with
you
today
for
the
record.
My
name
is
elliott
mallon
e-l-l-I-o-t,
last
name,
mallon
n
m-a-l-I-n.
I
represent
the
nevada,
petroleum,
marketers
and
convenience
store
association.
B
B
The
part
that
senator
hansen
brought
up
and-
and
we
put
us
in
line
with
the
rest
of
the
states
and
allowed
us
to
get
back
to
an
understanding
of
what
that
agency
does,
and
this
is
really
about
scrolling
through
sorry.
B
C
A
Great
thank
you.
Next,
we
will
hear
testimony
in
opposition.
C
A
Thank
you,
bps
for
guiding
us
through
that
miss.
I
did
the
same
thing
for
the
other
presenter.
Do
you
have
any
other
last-minute
comments.
J
A
Well,
at
this
time
I
will
now
close
the
hearing
on
sb65.
We
will
not
be
taking
any
action
on
these
bills
today
and
we
may
bring
them
back
for
a
future
work
session,
fair
notice
to
you
all
watching
at
this
time
we
can
go
ahead
and
move
on
to
public
comment.
I
will
not
call
for
public
comment.
Please
remember
to
limit
your
comments
to
two
minutes:
dps
staff.
Is
there
anyone
any
public
comments.
C
A
A
Being
none
okay:
our
next
meeting
is
tuesday
february
23rd
at
3,
30
p.m,
and
we
will
be
hearing
two
bills.
Those
bills
are
senate
bills,
34
and
54.,
and
thank
you
all
for
your
cooperation
and
I
now
declare
this
meeting
adjourned.