HB0242 • 2021

State land leases-amendments.

AN ACT relating to state lands; authorizing leases of state lands for residential purposes; specifying lease requirements for residential leases of qualified state lands; amending and specifying lease terms; amending the scope of regulations concerning leases of state lands; providing definitions; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor: Representative Harshman
Last action: 2021-03-22
Official status: inactive
Effective date: 3/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

The bill did not pass and was not considered by the Committee of the Whole, which limits its impact.

Amending State Land Leases for Residential Use

This bill changes the rules for leasing state lands in Wyoming to allow residential use and sets new requirements for these leases.

What This Bill Does

Allows the board of land commissioners to lease state lands for up to 99 years for residential purposes.
Requires that residential leases be limited to portions of land not exceeding eight acres.
Sets a variable annual lease rate based on Wyoming's cost-of-living index.
Specifies that leased land must have access from a public road.
Makes lessees responsible for fence and fencing requirements to avoid grazing conflicts.

Who It Names or Affects

The board of land commissioners
People who want to lease state lands for residential use

Terms To Know

qualified state lands: State lands with an assessed value exceeding 250% of the average assessed value of taxable real property in Wyoming.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill did not pass and was not considered by the Committee of the Whole.
It is unclear how many people will be affected by these changes to state land leasing rules.
The specific details about rulemaking are left to the board of land commissioners.

Amendments

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

HB0242HS001

Standing Committee • House Appropriations Committee

Filed

Plain English: The amendment removes specific details about lease requirements and definitions from the bill text.

Removes language specifying lease requirements for state lands.
Deletes provisions related to providing definitions in the bill.
Modifies references to certain sections of law by removing or altering them.
Eliminates entire pages and lines that contain detailed rules about leases.

The exact impact on lease regulations is unclear without knowing what was deleted.
Some technical legal language has been removed, but its specific content is not provided in the amendment text.

Bill History

2021-03-22 House
H COW:H Did not consider for COW
2021-03-12 House
H Placed on General File
2021-03-12 House
H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 6-1-0-0-0
2021-03-05 House
H Introduced and Referred to H02 - Appropriations
2021-03-04 House
H Received for Introduction
2021-03-03 LSO
Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

21LSO-0339
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-0339
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0242

State land leases-amendments.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Harshman and Walters and Senator(s) Hicks and Wasserburger

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to state lands; authorizing leases of state lands for residential purposes; specifying lease requirements for residential leases of qualified state lands; amending and specifying lease terms; amending the scope of regulations concerning leases of state lands; providing definitions; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

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

Section 1
.

W.S. 36
‑
5
‑
114(a), (d) and by creating new subsections (e) and (f) is amended to read:

36
‑
5
‑
114.

Leasing for industrial, residential,
commercial
and recreational purposes; authority; rental fees; rules and regulations.

(a)

The board of land commissioners may lease for a term of not more than
seventy
‑
five (75)
ninety
‑
nine (99)
years state lands for industrial,
commercial
and recreational purposes.
The board may lease for a term of not more than ninety
‑
nine (99) years state lands for residential purposes, subject to the requirements of subsection (e) of this section.

(d)

The board shall promulgate rules and regulations implementing policies, procedures and standards for the long
‑
term leasing of state lands for industrial,
residential,
commercial and recreational purposes under the provisions of W.S. 36
‑
5
‑
114 through 36
‑
5
‑
117, including provisions
requiring compliance with all applicable land use planning and zoning laws and
permitting the board to terminate a lease for good cause shown.

(e)

The leasing of qualified state lands for residential purposes shall be subject to the following requirements:

(i)

Residential leases shall be for portions of state lands not to exceed eight (8)
acres;

(ii)

The lease rate shall be variable and adjusted annually based on the Wyoming cost
‑
of
‑
living index computed by the department of administration and information, division of economic
analysis;

(iii)

Residential leases shall only be made for qualified state lands for which there is already established access to the land from a public
road;

(iv)

A residential lessee of qualified state lands shall assume all responsibility for complying with all fence and fencing requirements, including requirements established by rule of the board to ensure that any potential grazing conflicts are mitigated.

(f) As used in this section, "qualified state lands" means any state lands for which the assessed value of the land without improvements exceeds two hundred fifty percent (250%) of the average assessed value of the taxable real property of the state, without improvements.

Section 2.

The board of land commissioners shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

Section 3.

(a)

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, t
his act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(b)

Section 1 of this act is effective July 1, 2021.

(END)

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HB0242