HB18-1194: Conservation Easement Protections

• Freezes conservation easement application fees at January 1, 2018 levels and prohibits fee reductions for multiple applicants.

• Requires local government public hearings (with 14+ days' notice) before conservation easements are created, modified, or transferred, allowing the grantor, holder, and public to testify.

• Limits all conservation easements created after January 1, 2019 to 20-year terms maximum (replacing perpetual terms) and requires holders to provide annual monitoring and compliance reports to landowners.

• Requires landowners to execute a disclosure form acknowledging 11 specified risks and consequences before creating an easement, and to sign a good faith cost estimate that caps their liability for creation costs.

• Prohibits easement holders from permitting or financially benefiting from any development on the property, including wind, solar, oil, gas, or mineral resource development.