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HB0045 • 2021

Changes to water right - notice requirements for hearing.

AN ACT relating to water; modifying notice requirements for a hearing on a petition to change a point of diversion or means of conveyance; and providing for an effective date.

Land
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Water
Last action
2021-02-09
Official status
enrolled
Effective date
7/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details about newspaper publications and specific mailing methods which were either partially supported or not explicitly stated in the official summary.

Changes to Water Rights Notice Requirements

The bill modifies how notices for hearings on changes to water rights are provided.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the petitioner to notify affected parties via certified mail with return receipt requested when there are fewer than twenty (20) such users or landowners.
  • Allows the State Engineer or Board of Control to permit notice by regular mail and publication in a newspaper if there are over twenty (20) affected users or landowners.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who want to change their water rights
  • Landowners and users of ditches or facilities affected by changes in water rights

Terms To Know

Point of diversion
The place where water is taken from a river, stream, or other source.
Means of conveyance
How water moves from the point of diversion to its destination, like ditches or pipes.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if fewer than twenty affected parties are notified by regular mail.
  • It is unclear how this change will affect the number of appeals related to water rights changes.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB0045H2001

2nd reading • Representative Brown

Withdrawn

Plain English: The amendment removes specific notice requirements for a hearing on water rights petitions and simplifies the notification process.

  • Removes detailed instructions after 'mail' in line 9 of page 2.
  • Deletes lines 10 through 14 entirely from page 2.
  • Eliminates all new language added to line 15 on page 2.
  • The amendment text does not provide details about what specific content is being removed, making it hard to know exactly how the notice requirements will change in practice.
HB0045H3001

3rd reading • Representative Brown

Failed

Plain English: The amendment removes specific notice requirements for hearings on water rights petitions and changes how notices are mailed.

  • Removes the detailed notice requirements that were previously specified in the bill.
  • Deletes the requirement to include certain information when mailing notices.
  • The amendment does not specify what new language or procedures will replace the deleted content, leaving some uncertainty about how notice requirements will be handled after these changes.
HB0045HS001

Standing Committee • House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment changes the way notices for water right hearings are sent by requiring certified mail with a return receipt instead of registered mail.

  • Replaces 'registered' with no replacement text in certain sections.
  • Changes 'mail' to 'certified mail with return receipt requested' in multiple places.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if the recipient does not sign for the certified mail.
HB0045S2001

2nd reading • Senator Boner

Failed

Plain English: The amendment changes the wording of a bill to modify how notices are given for hearings on water rights petitions, making it clearer who can provide notice.

  • Removes 'the' after 'If' and replaces it with 'there are'.
  • Deletes an entire line that was previously part of the text.
  • Removes 'that' from another section of the bill.
  • Adds 'who' after 'facilities', changing who can provide notice.
  • The exact impact of these changes on how notices are given is not fully explained in the amendment text.

Bill History

  1. 2021-02-09 LSO

    Assigned Chapter Number 18

  2. 2021-02-09 Governor

    Governor Signed HEA No. 0010

  3. 2021-02-05 Senate

    S President Signed HEA No. 0010

  4. 2021-02-05 House

    H Speaker Signed HEA No. 0010

  5. 2021-02-04 LSO

    Assigned Number HEA No. 0010

  6. 2021-02-04 Senate

    S 3rd Reading:Passed 30-0-0-0-0

  7. 2021-02-03 Senate

    S 2nd Reading:Passed

  8. 2021-02-02 Senate

    S COW:Passed

  9. 2021-02-02 Senate

    S Placed on General File

  10. 2021-02-02 Senate

    S05 - Agriculture:Recommend Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0

  11. 2021-01-29 Senate

    S Introduced and Referred to S05 - Agriculture

  12. 2021-01-29 Senate

    S Received for Introduction

  13. 2021-01-29 House

    H 3rd Reading:Passed 57-3-0-0-0

  14. 2021-01-28 House

    H 2nd Reading:Passed

  15. 2021-01-27 House

    H COW:Passed

  16. 2021-01-27 House

    H Placed on General File

  17. 2021-01-27 House

    H05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 9-0-0-0-0

  18. 2021-01-12 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H05 - Agriculture

  19. 2021-01-12 House

    H Received for Introduction

  20. 2021-01-06 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Official Summary Text

Bill Summary - 21LSO-0078
Bill No.:

HB0045

Effective:

7/1/2021 12:00:00 AM

LSO No.:

21LSO-0078

Enrolled Act No.:

HEA No. 0010

Chapter No.:

18

Prime Sponsor:

Select Water Committee

Catch Title:

Changes to water right - notice requirements for hearing.

Subject:

Allowing for notification via publication for changes to water rights that may affect many interested parties.

Summary/Major Elements:

This bill allows the State Engineer or Board of Control to allow a petitioner for a change in point of diversion or means of conveyance to notify landowners with intervening points of diversion between the old and new proposed point of diversion or users of ditches and facilities to be affected via regular mail and publication in a newspaper when there are over twenty (20) such users or landowners. The petitioner previously had to provide individual notice to each owner or user via registered mail.

The bill also changes the required method of providing notice for under twenty (20) owners or users from registered mail to certified mail.

The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent.

While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-0078

ORIGINAL House

Bill No
.
HB0045

ENROLLED ACT NO. 10,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2021 General Session

AN ACT relating to water; modifying notice requirements for a hearing on a petition to change a point of diversion or means of conveyance; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 41
‑
3
‑
114(f) is amended to read:

41
‑
3
‑
114.

Petition to change point of diversion or means of conveyance.

(f)

The state engineer or the superintendent shall set a hearing on the petition and
give
require the petitioner to provide
thirty (30)
days notice
by
registered mail
certified mail with return receipt requested
of the time and place of the hearing to
the petitioner and
any
owners of appropriations which divert between the old and new points of diversion and any owners or users of ditches or facilities to be affected by the proposed change.
If the state engineer or the state board of control determines that at least twenty (20) owners of appropriations or owners or users of ditches or facilities require notice of the hearing, the state engineer or the state board of control, in lieu of requiring notice by certified mail with return receipt requested, may allow the petitioner to provide notice of the hearing by regular mail and publication. Notice by publication under this subsection shall be accomplished by publishing notice for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the new point of diversion is located. The last date of publication shall occur not less than ten (10) days and not more than thirty (30) days prior to the hearing.
The petitioner shall provide the superintendent with a record of the proceedings which shall be transmitted to the state board of control with the superintendent's report. The state board of control or the state engineer may make such other regulations as may be found necessary. No petition shall be granted if the right of other appropriators will be injuriously affected.

The attorney
general shall represent the state board of control or the state engineer in any appeal.

Section 2
.

This act is effective July 1, 2021
.

(END)

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