The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review of the water and wastewater facility operators certification board by: Extending the repeal date of the board until September 1, 2031; Amending the definition of "domestic wastewater treatment facility" by excluding small on-site wastewater treatment systems with a design capacity of 2,000 gallons or less per day, unless the system discharges directly to surface water; Amending the definition of "industrial wastewater treatment facility" by: Repealing the exclusion of facilities designed to operate for less than one year and facilities with in-situ discharges; and Adding an exclusion of construction dewatering activities that use only passive treatment and occur for less than one year; Creating a water and wastewater facility operators fund for fees that the board receives directly and uses for the exclusive use of the regulatory program; and Repealing an obsolete provision of law relating to a reorganization of the board on July 1, 2004. The act appropriates $24,815 from the water and wastewater facility operators fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the drinking water program in the water quality control division. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act specifies that: The license plates of a motor vehicle that is Class C personal property for purposes of the laws governing the levying of specific ownership tax and registration of vehicles expire upon the transfer of the owner's title or interest in the motor vehicle; If either the expired license plates are personalized license plates or the owner wishes to continue to use the same combination of letters or numbers on the owner's expired license plates that were not originally issued as personalized license plates, the owner retains the priority right to use the combination of letters or numbers displayed on the expired license plates to the extent provided for in current law and may, after surrendering the expired license plates to the department of revenue (department), apply for personalized license plates that use the combination in the manner specified in current law when registering another motor vehicle; and The department shall approve any application for personalized license plates received from an individual who wishes to retain the same combination of letters or numbers displayed on the individual's expired license plates and who has surrendered the expired plates to the department unless the department determines that the combination is misleading or duplicates another registration number or that, due to evolving social mores, the combination, despite having previously been issued, carries connotations offensive to good taste or decency; and Any resulting incremental costs of producing and distributing additional new license plates are excluded from the calculation of the amount necessary to recover the costs of license plate, decal, and validating tab production, and distribution that is used to annually establish the amount of the fee charged to cover those costs. Class C personal property includes passenger cars, noncommercial light trucks, and motorcycles. The act does not apply to the transfer or assignment of an owner's interest in Class C personal property that is a horseless carriage. The act appropriates $9,000 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department for DRIVES maintenance and support needed to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act specifies that the money credited to the capital construction fund pursuant to House Bill 20-1377, concerning a requirement that a portion of the proceeds of the Senate Bill 17-267 lease-purchase agreement that will be executed in state fiscal year 2019-20 be credited to the capital construction fund and appropriated only for controlled maintenance projects, including controlled maintenance projects that are capital renewal projects, must be appropriated in the following priority: $34,098,768 for current year and out year level 1 controlled maintenance projects; $3,779,372 for the capital renewal project at University of Northern Colorado for the Boiler #3 Replacement; $2,819,630 for the capital renewal project at Adams State University for the Plachy Hall HVAC Upgrade and Replacement; and Any remaining money is appropriated to the emergency controlled maintenance account. The act also specifies that in the event there is insufficient money credited to the capital construction fund to fully fund the first 3 appropriations, no partial projects may proceed with partial appropriations. Any partial appropriation must instead be appropriated to the emergency controlled maintenance account. The act takes effect upon passage only if House Bill 20-1377 becomes law and takes effect either upon the effective date of this act or House Bill 20-1377, whichever is later. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines "covered air toxics" as hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, and benzene. A stationary source of air pollutants that reported in its federal toxics release inventory filing at least one of the following amounts of a covered air toxic for the year 2017 or later is defined as a "covered facility": For hydrogen cyanide, 10,000 pounds; For hydrogen sulfide, 5,000 pounds; and For benzene, 1,000 pounds. "Incidents" are defined as unauthorized emissions of an air pollutant from a covered facility. Each covered facility will: Conduct outreach to representatives of the community surrounding the covered facility to discuss communications regarding the occurrence of an incident; Use reverse-911 to communicate with, and make data available to, the community surrounding the covered facility regarding the occurrence of an incident; Implement reverse-911 within 6 months; and Pay all costs associated with its use of reverse(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Preexisting law requires a home builder to offer to a buyer of a new home one of the following: A solar panel system or a solar thermal system; To prewire or preplumb the home for these systems; or A chase or conduit to wire or plumb the home for these systems in the future. The act requires the home builder to offer each of these options to the buyer and deletes these requirements for manufactured homes. The act also requires a home builder to offer the following options to a buyer of a newly constructed residence, which is defined to mean a traditional detached, single-family home: An electric vehicle charging system; upgrades of wiring to accommodate future installation of an electric vehicle charging system; or a 208- to 240-volt alternating current plug-in located in a place accessible to a motor vehicle parking area; Efficient electric heating and water heating options; and Pricing, energy efficiency, and utility bill information for each option available from the builder. The Colorado energy office must develop basic consumer education about leased solar installation and purchased solar installation in consultation with industries that offer these options to consumers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act grants the state historical society the authority to sell a vacant lot located in Georgetown, Colorado. The act specifies that the proceeds of the sale must be credited to the state museum cash fund to be used for capital outlay, capital construction, or controlled maintenance at museums statewide. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill modifies the community solar garden property tax exemption, which exempts the percentage of alternating current electricity capacity of a community solar garden that is attributed to subscribers who are tax exempt, by: Extending the exemption for 5 more property tax years ( section 1 of the bill); and Expanding the exemption to apply to a community solar garden that is a solar energy facility, which is assessed statewide ( section 2 ). For the period that the exemption is extended, the state will reimburse local governments for the lost property tax revenues that result from the newly expanded credit. These payments will be made from the sustainable energy tax policy fund, which consists of the increased revenue as a result of changes to the coal tax made in sections 4 and 5 , and the general fund if there is insufficient money in the fund. In years when the state is required to refund excess state revenues under section 20 of article X of the state constitution (TABOR), the reimbursements to the counties are a TABOR refund mechanism. This refund mechanism only applies after the refunds made to counties for the reimbursements for the senior homestead exemption ( sections 1 and 6 ). Locally assessed solar energy facilities are valued by assessors using valuation procedures developed by the property tax administrator (administrator). Currently, the administrator is required to utilize a cost approach to valuation for all renewable energy facilities. This valuation currently involves a "tax factor" based on a 20-year period. Section 2 extends this period by 10 years and specifies that after the 30 years, a tax factor is not applied and the taxable value shall not exceed the depreciated value floor calculated using the cost basis method. Under section 3 , the administrator will be required to utilize the income approach used for solar energy facilities for a renewable energy facility that would qualify as a solar energy facility if it generated more energy, so that all similar facilities will be valued in the same manner. For purposes of the severance tax on coal, beginning July 1, 2021, section 4 eliminates the quarterly exemption on the first 300,000 tons of coal and the credit for coal produced from underground mines and for the production of lignitic coal. Prior to June 30, 2026, the additional severance tax that results from these changes will be credited to the sustainable energy policy fund, and thereafter it is allocated like other severance tax revenue (section 5).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
By January 1, 2021, the bill requires the marijuana state licensing authority to promulgate rules regarding the process and procedure for filing and approving contingency plans for outdoor cultivation facilities when there is a threat to operations due to an adverse weather event or other catastrophe. A medical marijuana cultivation facility or retail marijuana cultivation facility may file a contingency plan with the state licensing authority and, if the plan is approved, may follow the plan if there is an adverse weather event or other catastrophe. Prior to January 1, 2021, a medical marijuana cultivation facility licensee or retail marijuana cultivation facility licensee that cultivates marijuana outdoors may take any reasonable and necessary action to prevent or ameliorate crop loss due to an adverse weather event. The action is not a violation of state or local law or regulations unless the state licensing authority or local authorities can show that the action was not reasonable and necessary to prevent or ameliorate crop loss due to an adverse weather event. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill requires the executive director of the department of transportation to adopt rules, no later than December 31, 2021, to establish a program that allows preferential access to managed lanes for low-emission vehicles (LEVs) regardless of the number of vehicle occupants. The rules may: Require a LEV owner to pay an annual fee to enroll the owner's LEV in the program; Limit the number of LEVs eligible for the program; Limit the number of years that a LEV is eligible for a program; Treat different classes of LEVs differently; Allow preferential access to all or only a subset of managed lanes; and Allow either free or reduced toll access to any given toll lane or high occupancy toll lane. Section 1 also defines the terms "low-emission vehicle" and "managed lane" as well as other terms used in the definition of low-emission vehicle. Section 2 repeals the statutory authority for an existing program, which is expiring on May 31, 2020, due to a change in federal law, under which a limited number of low-emission vehicles are allowed free access to managed lanes regardless of the number of vehicle occupants.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill prohibits stores and retail food establishments, on and after July 1, 2021, from providing single-use plastic carryout bags, single-use plastic stirrers, single-use plastic straws, and expanded polystyrene food service products (collectively "single-use products") to customers at the point of sale. The executive director of the department of public health and environment is authorized to enforce the prohibition. The prohibition does not apply to inventory purchased before July 1, 2021, and used on or before December 31, 2021. A store or retail food establishment, on or after July 1, 2021, may furnish recyclable paper carryout bags to a customer at a charge of at least 10 cents per customer, which amount the store or establishment may retain in full, unless a local government's ordinance or resolution prohibits the store or establishment from retaining the full charge. A local government, on or after July 1, 2021, is preempted from enacting an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision that is less stringent than the statewide prohibition. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)