The act directs the state treasurer to transfer $26 million from the general fund to the Colorado firefighting air corps fund for use by the division of fire prevention and control to purchase a fire hawk helicopter configured for wildfire and other public safety response needs. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands conditions covered under the warranty of habitability for residential premises to include damage due to an environmental public health event. The act requires a landlord to have a residential premises remediated to a condition that complies with applicable standards for the remediation and clean up of residential premises after damage due to an environmental public health event. The act also clarifies landlord responsibilities regarding the warranty of habitability and how a tenant must give notice to a landlord if there are habitability issues with the tenant's residence. The act prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant for making a good faith complaint about the conditions of the residential premises and provides conditions by which a tenant may terminate a lease if a habitability issue is not remediated. The act also specifies conditions by which certain vulnerable populations may terminate a lease if the residential premises has been damaged due to an environmental public health event that would be detrimental to the health, safety, or quality of life of those vulnerable populations. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act changes the amount of civil penalties that may be levied on commercial motor carriers for failure to comply with rules for the safe operation of commercial vehicles by tying the amount of civil penalties to the amount of federal civil penalties for interstate commercial motor carriers. If a motor carrier fails to pay civil penalties within 30 days or to cooperate with the completion of a safety compliance review within 30 days, the act authorizes the department of revenue to both enter the noncompliant motor carrier and its vehicles as out-of-service in the federal motor carrier safety administration system of record and cancel or deny registration to the noncompliant motor carrier. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $61,110 to the department of revenue from the DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to implement this act, of which $8,910 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide services to the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE April 30, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die; except that, section 42-4-235 (2)(d)(I)(B) and section 42-3-120 (3)(a)(II) take effect April 30, 2024. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Due to a defective statutory date reference, a property tax exemption for agricultural equipment that is used in any controlled environment agricultural facility was going to be in effect for 6 years instead of the 5 years intended by the general assembly when it enacted the property tax exemption. The act corrects the defective date reference so that the exemption will only be in effect for 5 years. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 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 directs the Colorado state forest service (state forest service) to consult with other entities to develop educational materials relating to career opportunities in forestry and wildfire mitigation for distribution to high school guidance counselors to provide to high school students. The act creates the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program (development program) in the state forest service to provide partial reimbursement to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities for the costs of hiring interns. The act requires the state treasurer, on June 30, 2023, and on June 30 each year thereafter, to transfer $1,000,000 from the general fund to the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund for allowable uses of the fund. The act authorizes the expansion of existing forestry programs, including wildfire mitigation programs, and the creation of new forestry programs at public institutions of higher education (public institutions) to include state institutions of higher education, local district colleges, and area technical colleges. The commission on higher education (commission) shall determine which public institutions receive funding for expanded or new forestry programs, prioritizing public institutions that can provide a trained workforce expeditiously. The act provides for the acquisition of a harvesting simulator to train students, which may be shared among the forestry programs. The act includes funding for the forestry programs. The act directs the state board for community colleges and occupational education (community college board) to administer the recruitment of wildland fire prevention and mitigation educators program (recruiting program) to increase the number of qualified educators at community colleges, area technical colleges, and local district colleges that deliver a wildfire prevention and mitigation program or course. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year: The act appropriates $15,000 to the healthy forests vibrant communities cash fund from the general fund; and The act appropriates $1,545,034 to the department of higher education from the general fund, including: $114,384 for the Colorado state forest service at Colorado state university; $1,180,650 for use by the commission for new and expanded forestry programs; and $250,000 for the college opportunity program to be used for fee-for-service contracts for the community college board state system colleges for the recruiting program. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a wildfire resiliency code board (board) in the division of fire prevention and control (division) within the department of public safety (department) for the purposes of ensuring community safety from and more resiliency to wildfires by reducing the risk of wildfires to people and property through the adoption of statewide codes and standards. The board consists of 21 appointed voting members with specific government or industry qualifications and 3 non-voting members. The board is required to promulgate rules concerning the adoption of codes and standards for the hardening of structures and reducing fire risk in the defensible space surrounding structures in the wildland-urban interface in Colorado, including rules that: Define the wildland-urban interface and identify areas of the state that are within it; Adopt minimum codes and standards based on best practices to reduce the risk to life and property from the effects of wildfires; Identify hazards and types of buildings, entities, and defensible space around structures to which the codes apply; and Establish a process for a governing body to petition the board for a modification to the codes and establish the criteria and process for the board to grant or deny an appeal from a decision of the board on a petition for modification. The act also creates the wildfire resiliency code board cash fund (cash fund) and, subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the department shall use money in the fund to implement the provisions of the act. The state treasurer is required to transfer $250,000 from the general fund to the cash fund on July 1, 2023. The act requires a governing body with jurisdiction in an area within the wildland-urban interface that has the authority to adopt building codes or fire codes to adopt and enforce a code that meets or exceeds the minimum standards of the codes adopted by the board within 3 months of the date the board adopts its codes. Enforcement of the governing body's adopted codes is done in accordance with the rules and regulations for code enforcement adopted by the governing body and the period to comply with a governing body's adopted codes must be in accordance with the governing body's rules and regulations or within 3 months of adoption, whichever is sooner. If the governing body does not have rules and regulations for code enforcement, the governing body may request support from the division to enforce the code. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $9,302 from the general fund to the cash fund and reappropriates the money to the department of public safety for use by the division for the board and for vehicle lease payments. An additional $250,000 is appropriated to the department for use by the division from the cash fund for the board. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the university of Colorado's natural hazards center to conduct a study by July 1, 2024, to determine what municipalities, sheriff's offices, counties, fire districts, and local 911 agencies need to be able to provide emergency alerts in minority languages, and what local 911 agencies need in order to provide live interpretation during a 911 call. The study must: Identify the components of multi-hazard early warning systems that are necessary in order to reach residents and visitors without requiring an opt-in, as well as opt-in options, outputs for emergency alert systems, and the ability to provide emergency alerts in minority languages; Survey state agencies, counties, municipalities, sheriff's offices, fire districts, fire authorities, and local 911 agencies to identify the capabilities of existing emergency alert systems in Colorado compared to the identified essential components; Identify gaps in the capabilities of existing emergency alert systems requiring correction; Identify resources, including federal funding opportunities, to implement a grant program to assist municipalities, sheriff's offices, counties, fire districts, and local 911 agencies in obtaining emergency response technology systems that can provide emergency alerts in minority languages; Determine best practices, which may be identified by reviewing programs in other states, for hiring multilingual and multicultural staff; Determine best practices for engaging local community organizations with connections to populations that speak a minority language; and Present research regarding effective emergency alerts for people with disabilities after consultation with a statewide organization that advocates for people with disabilities. The university of Colorado's natural hazard center shall submit its study report to the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety and to the general assembly by January 8, 2024. The act appropriates $77,009 from the general fund to the department of higher education to implement the study. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to prepare an annual report on the cost of reconstructing homes in Colorado. Current law prohibits an insurer from canceling or refusing to renew a policy of homeowner's insurance unless the insurer mails notice to the insured at least 30 days in advance of the effective date of the cancellation of or refusal to renew the policy. The act increases the notice requirement to 60 days in advance of the action. The act specifies the factors an insurer must consider when determining the reconstruction costs of a dwelling and requires insurers to disclose certain information regarding the replacement costs before issuing or renewing a homeowner's insurance policy. Current law requires an insurer to offer an applicant extended replacement cost and law and ordinance coverage before issuing or renewing certain replacement cost homeowner's insurance policies. The act requires the coverage to be: Equal to 20% of the limit of insurance for the dwelling for law and ordinance coverage (changed from 10%); and At least 50% of the limit of the insurance for the dwelling for extended replacement cost coverage (changed from 20%). To implement the act: $109, 955 is appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance; and $38,066 is appropriated to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die; except that, section 10-4-110.8 (8), Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended in section 3 of the act, takes effect January 1, 2025. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a sales and use tax exemption for construction and building materials used directly in rebuilding or repairing a residential structure damaged or destroyed by a declared wildfire disaster in calendar year 2020, 2021, or 2022 (wildfire rebuild exemption). In addition to the state sales and use tax, the wildfire rebuild exemption extends to the sales and use taxes levied by the regional transportation district and the scientific and cultural facilities district. The exemption does not apply to the sales or use taxes levied by any other local government, including any city, town, county, special purpose district, or limited purpose governmental entity. The exemption is to be administered by the department of revenue (department) solely as a refund allowed to qualified homeowners. To be qualified, a homeowner must certify that: The homeowner was the owner of the residential structure to be repaired or rebuilt (qualified residential structure) at the time it was damaged or destroyed by the declared wildfire disaster; and The replacement cost for the qualified residential structure exceeds the homeowner's coverage under any homeowner's insurance policy associated with the structure. A qualified homeowner may claim a refund by obtaining and submitting to the department a building permit and a wildfire rebuild exemption certificate for each qualified residential structure from the local government authorized to issue a building permit in the area in which the qualified residential structure is located. The amount of the refund is equal to 4.0% of the estimated construction and building materials cost for repairing or rebuilding the qualified residential structure. The estimated construction and building materials cost is the cost amount used by the local government to collect estimated use tax, as stated in the building permit. If no estimated use tax has been collected, the estimated construction and building materials cost is half of the total contract price or total cost for rebuilding or repairing the qualified residential structure. The act amends the 3-year statute of limitations for state sales and use tax refund claims to allow a qualified homeowner to claim a refund based on the wildfire rebuild exemption at any time on or before June 30, 2028. The act also requires the department to prioritize refund applications based on the wildfire rebuild exemption over refund applications submitted pursuant to other provisions of law. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $72,267 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by taxation services to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates an unincorporated public entity, the fair access to insurance requirements plan association (association), to provide property insurance coverage when such coverage is not available from admitted companies. The association must: Establish, offer, and maintain a property insurance policy and a commercial property insurance policy that satisfy the requirements specified in the act; and Assess and share among member insurers all expenses, income, and losses based on each member insurer's written premium for property and commercial property insurance in the state. The association is managed by a board of directors consisting of 9 members appointed by the governor. The board is required to administer the fair access to insurance requirements plan (FAIR plan). The FAIR plan must include rates that: Are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory; Are actuarially sound so that revenue generated from premiums is adequate to pay for expected losses, expenses, and taxes; Reflect the investment income of the FAIR plan; and Reflect the cost of reinsurance or other capital risk transfer markets. The board must establish a plan of operation for the FAIR plan. The plan of operation must provide for: The lines of insurance coverages to be written; Coverage limits not to exceed $750,000 for property and $5,000,000 for commercial property owners; The policy forms to be used; The perils to be covered; The establishment of reasonable underwriting standards to determine the eligibility of a risk, including mitigation requirements and property inspections; The compensation and commissions to be paid to licensed producers offering the FAIR plan; The time frames for fees to be collected from member insurers; Proportional assessments against member insurers; The administration of the plan of operation by the board; and Any other matter necessary or convenient for the purpose of assuring fair access to a FAIR plan. The FAIR plan association may collect fees from member insurers and the commissioner of insurance may suspend or revoke a member insurer's certificate of authority to transact insurance business in this state or impose against the member insurer a fine in an amount equal to the greater of the fee plus interest or $5,000 for the member insurer's failure to timely pay a fee or to comply with the plan of operation for the FAIR plan. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 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 Colorado energy office to award grants for retrofitting existing buildings for installation of geothermal systems for heating and cooling under the single-structure geothermal grant that the office administers, and for generating geothermal energy through direct air capture technology under the geothermal electricity generation grant that the office administers. The act establishes labor standards for thermal energy public projects that a state agency or a state institution of higher education procures. In Colorado, a gas distribution utility providing gas service to more than 90,000 retail customers is required to file with the public utilities commission (commission) a clean heat plan, which plan demonstrates how the utility will use clean heat resources to meet clean heat targets for reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions. The act adds thermal energy as an eligible clean heat resource for helping to meet clean heat targets. A gas utility that the commission regulates is authorized to apply for review and approval of the use of thermal energy networks in the gas utility's service area. A gas utility that the commission regulates and that serves more than 500,000 customers is additionally required to propose pilot thermal energy network projects for the commission's review and approval. The commission shall initiate a proceeding on or before January 1, 2025, to determine if rule-making or legislative changes are needed to facilitate the development of thermal energy in the state. The act repeals the "Geothermal Heat Suppliers Act", which requires geothermal heat suppliers to obtain operating permits from the commission. APPROVED by Governor May 11, 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 length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb23-1272-bill-summary APPROVED by Governor May 11, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 11, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
