The act requires the department of labor and employment (department) to establish, on or before January 1, 2024, a teacher externship program to provide work-based learning opportunities for kindergarten through twelfth grade public school teachers (K-12 teachers) in order for the teachers to gain knowledge and expand their curriculum in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and other disciplines that may be of value to a particular school district. The department is required to establish at least one externship model and develop consistency in offering the ability for teachers to apply for graduate credits, career and technical education credits, and professional development credits. The act requires the department to collaborate with the department of education to establish minimum standards for the work-based learning opportunities. The department is authorized to allocate money directly to local education providers for teacher compensation and to work-based intermediaries, if applicable, to defray the costs of placing the teachers in externships with employers. The act requires the department to compile and report data on the externship program on an annual basis. The director is authorized to accept gifts, grants, and donations for the purposes of providing compensation to teachers who participate in the program. The executive director of the department may promulgate rules to implement the program. The program is scheduled to repeal on September 1, 2025. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $223,039 from the general fund to the department of labor and employment for use by the division of employment and training to implement the teacher externship program and authorizes the department to expend a portion of the 2023-24 state fiscal year appropriation that is not expended prior to July 1, 2024, in the 2024-25 state fiscal year for the same purpose. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Effective July 1, 2023, the act changes the name of the oil and gas conservation commission to the energy and carbon management commission (commission) and expands the commission's regulatory authority to include the authority to regulate a broader scope of energy and carbon management areas beyond oil and gas. The act also changes the name of the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the energy and carbon management cash fund (fund) and allows the fund to also be used by the commission for the purposes of administering the expanded regulatory areas. Section 3 of the act requires the commission to create and maintain a website that serves as the state portal for information and data regarding the commission's regulatory activities. Current law states that the property right to the natural heat of the earth (geothermal resource) that lacks sufficient fluid associated with the geothermal resource (geothermal fluid) to transport commercial amounts of energy to the surface is an incident of ownership of the overlying surface unless expressly severed. Section 7 states that, as to property rights acquired on or after July 1, 2023, the property right to a geothermal resource associated with nontributary groundwater (allocated geothermal resource) is also an incident of ownership of the overlying surface unless expressly severed. Current law requires the operator of a well, prior to constructing the well to explore for or produce geothermal resources, to obtain a permit from the state engineer. Section 8 bifurcates regulation of different types of geothermal operations between the commission and the state engineer. Specifically, the commission is granted the exclusive authority to regulate operations (deep geothermal operations) for the exploration for or production of: An allocated geothermal resource; or A geothermal resource that is deeper than 2,500 feet below the surface. The state engineer retains the exclusive authority to regulate operations that are not deep geothermal operations (shallow geothermal operations). Prior to obtaining a permit from the commission to construct a well for deep geothermal operations, the applicant must provide evidence of any applicable siting application to the local government with jurisdiction over the deep geothermal operations, including the disposition of the application, unless the local government does not regulate the siting of such operations. Upon request by a local government, the commission is also required to provide technical support to the local government concerning implementation of the commission's rules regarding deep geothermal operations. The commission and the state engineer may each adopt rules for the assessment of fees for the processing and granting of a permit to construct a well for deep geothermal operations or shallow geothermal operations, as applicable. Any fees collected by the commission will be deposited by the state treasurer into the fund. Current law requires the operator of a well, prior to the production of geothermal fluid from the well, to obtain a permit from the state engineer. Section 9: Bifurcates the issuance of different types of use permits by the state engineer between permits for the use of geothermal resources that are not allocated resources and permits for the use of allocated geothermal resources (collectively, use permits); and Requires the state engineer to only issue a use permit for allocated geothermal resources after a determination that any associated geothermal fluid is nontributary groundwater (nontributary determination). Section 9 also allows the state engineer to adopt rules for the administration of use permits and the issuance of nontributary determinations. Current law allows the state engineer to adopt procedures that establish geothermal management districts for the management of geothermal operations within the district. Section 10 limits the scope of geothermal management districts to distributed geothermal resources. The state engineer is also required to notify the commission of any application for a geothermal management district that is anticipated to affect deep geothermal operations. Section 11 allows the commission to adopt procedures by rule to establish geothermal resource units for allocated geothermal resources. Section 13 grants the commission the exclusive authority to regulate any intrastate facility that stores natural gas in an underground facility not subject to regulation by the public utilities commission (UNGS facility). If the commission submits a certification to, or enters into an agreement with, the federal secretary of transportation pursuant to applicable federal law, any rules regulating UNGS facilities must be at least as stringent as the applicable federal requirements. If a UNGS facility is proposed to be sited in an area that would affect a disproportionately impacted community, the commission must evaluate and address impacts from the UNGS facility. The commission may assess and collect fees from operators of UNGS facilities in an amount and frequency determined by the commission by rule. Any fees collected will be deposited into the fund. Before commencing construction of a new UNGS facility, the operator of the facility must provide evidence of any applicable siting application to a local government with jurisdiction over the UNGS facility, if applicable, and the disposition of the application. The act directs the commission to conduct and report to the general assembly during the 2025 legislative session the findings of the following studies: A technical study of the state's geothermal resources (section 11); A study, in collaboration with the state engineer, that evaluates the state regulatory structure for geothermal resources and whether any changes to law or rules are necessary (section 11); A study concerning the regulation and permitting of underground hydrogen operations (section 19); and A study, in coordination with the public utilities commission, examining the siting and regulation of intrastate pipelines (section 19). For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 43 appropriates $1,200,480 from the fund to the department of natural resources (department) to be used as follows: $1,108,857 for use by the commission for program costs; $7,031, which amount is reappropriated for use by the division of water resources in the department for water administration related to division operations; and $84,592, which amount is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2023 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act defines clean hydrogen (clean hydrogen) as hydrogen that is: Derived from a clean energy resource that uses water as the source of hydrogen; or Produced through a process that results in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rates that are less than 1.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen, as set forth in applicable federal law. Section 2 also requires, no later than September 1, 2023, the public utilities commission (commission) to initiate an investigatory proceeding to consider issues related to projects that result in the production of clean hydrogen by an investor-owned utility (clean hydrogen projects). Section 2 also requires, no later than December 1, 2024, the commission to adopt rules that establish clean hydrogen project requirements, including, if the commission determines cost recovery for clean hydrogen projects is appropriate, rules that require an investor-owned utility to present a clean hydrogen project to the commission for the commission's approval, unless the Colorado energy office (office) files a notice with the commission stating that the federal department of energy has extended or otherwise altered the deadline for funding of a project that is part of an application for federal funding by various entities that may include the production, transport, and use of clean hydrogen (hydrogen hub project). Section 2 also requires that, in reviewing a clean hydrogen project application, the commission consider whether it is in the public interest for an investor-owned utility to invest in a clean hydrogen project, the potential contribution of the clean hydrogen project in meeting the state's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and various other issues. If the clean hydrogen project is proposed to be sited in an area that would affect a disproportionately impacted community, the commission shall analyze the applicant's cumulative impacts analysis and determine whether the clean hydrogen project will have a positive effect on the disproportionately impacted community. Section 2 also requires that an investor-owned utility provide notice to the commission of any application for federal funding as part of a hydrogen hub project. Section 2 also requires an investor-owned utility that operates a clean hydrogen project approved by the commission to submit an annual report that reports various details about the clean hydrogen project to the commission. If the clean hydrogen project includes the use or consumption of clean hydrogen by the investor-owned utility, the investor-owned utility shall also report the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rates of the clean hydrogen project separately by each production facility and use. For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2024, but before January 1, 2033, section 3 creates a state income tax credit in specified amounts per kilogram of clean hydrogen used for hard to decarbonize end uses, for operating a heavy-duty vehicle, or for aviation (tax credit). Any taxpayer seeking to claim the tax credit must first apply for and receive a tax credit certificate from the office. The tax credit may be claimed for an amount not to exceed $250,000 in a tax year. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $360,758 from the public utilities commission fixed utility fund to the department of regulatory agencies for the following uses: $241,532 for use by the commission for personal services; $24,060 for use by the commission for operating expenses; and $95,166, which is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to the department of regulatory agencies. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $12,861 from the general fund to the department of revenue, which is reappropriated to the department of personnel for the purchase of document management services. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to provide certain behavioral health services for medicaid recipients who are under 21 years of age. The act requires the state department to begin providing the services no later than July 1, 2024. On or before November 1, 2025, and each November 1 thereafter, the act requires the state department to report to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee and the senate health and human services committee, or their successor committees, on the utilization of the services provided for in the act and any feedback received from stakeholders in implementing coverage for those services. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The director of the Colorado energy office or the director's designee (director) is required to conduct studies of electric transmission and advanced energy solutions technologies in rural Colorado. One study must consider ways to assist northwestern and west end of Montrose county, Colorado as it transitions to producing advanced firm dispatchable energy resources. The other study must consider the potential for the development of new energy resources in southeastern Colorado. The act specifies information that the director is required to consider in the studies. On or before July 1, 2025, the director is required to submit the director's findings and conclusions of both studies to the legislative committees of reference with jurisdiction over energy matters and to the just transition office. The act appropriates $50,000 from the just transition cash fund to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado participates in an interstate compact that allows a person convicted of a crime in another state to have the person's probation or parole supervised in Colorado (supervised person) and allows a person convicted in another state who is not required to be supervised to complete the person's court-ordered treatment in Colorado (unsupervised person). The act clarifies the process for treating a supervised or unsupervised person into a private treatment program in Colorado for substance use treatment, sex offender management services, or domestic violence services (program). The act directs the program to assist supervised and unsupervised persons with registering with the interstate compact administrator. The department of corrections (department) is required to complete a criminal history records check of each supervised and unsupervised person to verify that the person is a supervised or unsupervised person. The act specifies requirements for programs when the participant is a supervised person. Current law subjects a program or supervised person to a misdemeanor for violating the provisions of the interstate compact. The act states that a violation may be reported to the program's appropriate licensing, certifying, or approving agency for potential corrective action. The act requires the department to periodically update the out-of-state offender questionnaire used by private treatment program providers. Current law requires a person serving a supervision sentence for a domestic violence-related offense to complete a treatment program that conforms with the standards of the domestic violence offender management board. The act directs a person whose supervision is transferred to another state pursuant to the interstate compact for the supervision of adult offenders to follow the requirements for a treatment program of the state where the person is being supervised. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act codifies the rural opportunity office (office), which began its work in the office of economic development in 2019. The director of the office is designated by and reports to the director of the office of economic development. The office is required to serve as Colorado's central coordinator of rural economic development matters with certain staff physically located in rural communities across Colorado, work with coal transitioning communities to explore unique business and economic development opportunities, make recommendations that inform the governor's policy on rural economic development matters, and measure the success of program outreach and determine whether Colorado's rural communities receive more statewide funding as a result of the efforts of the office. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $299,193 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the department of agriculture (department) to create the Colorado wild horse management project (wild horse project) as a nonprofit, state-owned corporate entity that manages and operates programs benefitting wild horses and supports wild horse management. The director of the wild horse project will be selected by a committee of the governor, the commissioner of agriculture, the executive director of the department of natural resources, the majority leader of the house of representatives, and the minority leader of the senate. The wild horse project has the same powers as a nonprofit corporate entity. Until December 31, 2027, the department must annually report on the project to the governor, the joint budget committee, and the appropriate joint legislative committee at the department's "SMART Act" hearings. The wild horse project may seek federal payment, gifts, grants, and donations for wild horse management support activities. On the effective date of the act, the state treasurer is required to transfer $1.5 million from the general fund to the wild horse project fund, which is created for use by the wild horse project and, until the project is created, the department. The money is continually appropriated for the purposes of the act. The wild horse project must establish a working group to identify and pursue long-term solutions for wild horses that are removed from federal horse management areas or held in federal facilities and make recommendations to the governor and the general assembly. The working group will have representation from the executive branch, the legislative branch, nonprofit organizations, businesses, the western slope, and the ranching community. The Colorado state director of the federal bureau of land management (bureau), the Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe may appoint representatives to the working group. The wild horse project must oversee the wild horse stewardship program, created to help manage range health and infrastructure, and the wild horse fertility control program, created to manage the wild horse herd population by collaborating, coordinating, and training people and entities to manage wild horse populations. The department must support the wild horse project through grants and contracts to assist with managing wild horse populations using fertility control methods, subject to approval by the bureau, until the wild horse project is created and commences its own program to manage wild horse populations. The department must also coordinate with certain interested parties. To implement the act, $1,654 is appropriated from the general fund to the legislative department for use by the general assembly, and $21,148 is appropriated from the legal services cash fund to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado river drought task force (task force). The members of the task force must, to the extent practicable, reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the state and have experience with a wide range of water issues. The act directs the executive committee of the legislative council to hire a facilitator to support the work of the task force. The task force must begin meeting no later than July 31, 2023, and may hold up to 12 meetings in the 2023 legislative interim. The purpose of the task force is to develop recommendations for state legislation that provides additional tools for the Colorado water conservation board to collaborate with the Colorado river water conservation district, the southwestern water conservation district, and other relevant stakeholders in the development of programs that address drought in the Colorado river basin and interstate commitments related to the Colorado river and its tributaries through water conservation (recommendations). The act also requires the task force to establish a sub-task force to study tribal matters (sub-task force) and provide additional recommendations for state legislation. No later than December 15, 2023, the task force and sub-task force must submit a report that includes the recommendations and a summary of the task force's and sub-task force's work to the water resources and agriculture review committee. The act is repealed July 1, 2024. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $200,000 to the legislative department for use by the legislative council to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The public-private collaboration unit (unit) in the department of personnel (department) promotes the use of public-private partnerships between state public entities such as departments, agencies, or subdivisions of the executive branch of state government, and private partners as a tool for time and cost-efficient completion of public projects. The act requires that the unit give preference to proposed or executed public-private partnership agreements that will use state-owned real property for mixed-income development and affordable housing that is proportional to a community's demonstrated affordable housing needs and authorizes the unit to undertake additional functions in connection with public projects that provide affordable housing including: Accepting gifts, grants, and donations, which if monetary, are to be credited to the unused state-owned real property fund (fund); Utilizing proceeds from real estate transactions and revenue from public-private agreements; Acting as an agent on behalf of the department in real estate transactions using real property that upon approval by the governor has been deeded to the department by a state public entity, including for the purchase, transfer, exchange, sale and disposition, and lease of real property; and Establishing a process for using requests for information to solicit public projects. The act also allows the department and the unit to use money from the fund to facilitate these additional functions by the unit in connection with public projects that provide affordable housing and for the standard operating expenses of the unit. The state treasurer is required to transfer $5,000,000 from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2023. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $47,583 to the department of law from the legal services cash fund from revenue received from the department of personnel that is continuously appropriated to the department of personnel from the unused state-owned real property fund. The department of law may use the appropriation to provide legal services for the department of personnel. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates new and modifies existing state income tax credits to maximize federal government funding for taxpayers engaged in semiconductor and advanced manufacturing in Colorado. Specifically, the act creates a refund mechanism, available from fiscal year 2023-24 through fiscal year 2028-29, that allows a taxpayer engaged in semiconductor or advanced manufacturing to apply for conditional approval of one or more types of income tax credits based on a specified project in the state and includes the maximum amount of credit for which the taxpayer may claim a refund of 80% (refund mechanism). The income tax credit types that may be the basis for such a refund are: The 3 enterprise zone credits for qualified investments, business facility employees, and expenditures for research and experimental activities; The Colorado job growth incentive income tax credit; and 3 semiconductor manufacturing zone (CHIPS zone) credits for qualified investments, business facility employees, and expenditures for research and experimental activities, the zones for which are created in the act. Semiconductor and advanced manufacturers must apply to the Colorado economic development commission (commission) for a refund certificate approving their project and setting the maximum amount of income tax credits that the manufacturer may claim as the basis for a refund in connection with the project. In reviewing applications, the commission must prioritize taxpayers engaged in semiconductor or advanced manufacturing that have received or applied to receive matching funds under the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", the "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022" (CHIPS Act), or other similar federal legislation. The CHIPS zone tax credit program created by the act is similar to the enterprise zone tax credit program in that a local government may propose an area for designation as a CHIPS zone, which designation may promote the local economy through incentivizing businesses to locate in the area. A taxpayer located in a CHIPS zone may be eligible to claim an income tax credit under existing enterprise zone statutes for the taxpayer's qualified investments, business facility employees, or research and experimental activities. However, the tax benefits of CHIPS zones are only available to taxpayers engaged in semiconductor manufacturing, as that term is defined under the CHIPS Act. All CHIPS zone tax credits must be precertified by the CHIPS zone administrator. All such credits may be used to offset a taxpayer's income tax liability or carried forward for a period not to exceed 12 years. Or, if the credits are included in a refund certificate approved by the commission pursuant to the refund mechanism, they may be used to claim a refund of 80% of the total amount of the credits. CHIPS zones may be modified or terminated at the discretion of the commission beginning in income tax year 2023 and through income tax year 2040; however, all CHIPS zones will terminate as a matter of law on December 31, 2040. The act creates, within the office of economic development (office), a temporary task force comprised of state legislators, representatives of the office, and citizens with industry experience to study the effectiveness of financial incentives and other resources intended to attract and promote the development of advanced manufacturing and other science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) companies in Colorado during the 2023 legislative interim. The task force is required to report its findings to the general assembly and the governor by a specified date. The act amends the law regarding confidential taxpayer information to allow the department of revenue to disclose pertinent information to the office as necessary to administer the CHIPS zone tax credit program. For th 2023-24 state fiscal year, $300,1098 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue and $117,583 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the "Born to Be Wild" special license plates for certain motorcycles, passenger cars, trucks, or noncommercial or recreational motor vehicles. An applicant qualifies for the issuance of the special license plates if the applicant pays the following fees to the department: A one-time $25 fee that is credited to the highway users tax fund; An annual $50 fee that is credited to the wildlife cash fund in the division of parks and wildlife; and A one-time $25 fee that is credited to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account. The division of parks and wildlife is directed to use the money collected and credited to the wildlife cash fund for implementing nonlethal means of mitigating and preventing conflict with gray wolves and promoting the license plate. To implement this act, $99,642 is appropriated to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles. This appropriation consists of $11,054 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund and $88,588 from the license plate cash fund. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
