Rep. Andy Boesenecker

The act requires an oil and gas operator in the state (operator), on or before September 1, 2023, on a monthly basis, with respect to each oil and gas well, and on or before January 1, 2024, and quarterly thereafter, with respect to the operator's oil and gas operations generally, to report information to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) regarding the operator's use of water entering, utilized at, or exiting each of the operator's wells or oil and gas locations, including information on the recycling and reuse of produced water. The act also requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before December 31, 2024, requiring a statewide reduction in usage of fresh water and a corresponding increase in usage of recycled or reused water in oil and gas operations. From the information reported to the commission under the act, the commission is required to: Include the information as part of the commission's annual reporting on cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations; and Report to the legislative energy committees a summary of the reported information on or before April 1, 2025. The act creates the Colorado produced water consortium in the department of natural resources (department) to make recommendations to state agencies and the general assembly regarding the recycling and reuse of produced water, develop guidance documents to promote best practices for in-field recycling and reuse of produced water, and analyze and report on: Existing produced water infrastructure, storage, and treatment facilities; The volume of produced water in different oil and gas basins available for recycling and reuse; and Additional infrastructure, storage, and technology needed to achieve different levels of recycling and reuse of produced water throughout the state. Annually starting in 2024, the consortium is required to update the legislative energy committees on the consortium's work, and the executive director of the department is required to report on the consortium's recommendations as part of the department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to a joint committee of the general assembly. The act repeals the consortium on September 1, 2030, subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. The act appropriates: $464,512 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources for use by the commission for program costs; and $30,169 from the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the water quality control division for personal services related to the drinking water program. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a right of first refusal of a local government to match an acceptable offer for the sale of a multifamily residential or mixed-use rental property consisting of 15 or more units in an urban county or 5 or more units in a rural or rural resort county (property). The right to the purchase of the property by the local government is effective on and after August 7, 2023 until August 1, 2028, is subject to the local government's commitment to using the property as long-term affordable housing, and, if the property is mixed-use, applies only to the residential portion of the property. The local government may assign its right of first refusal to a housing authority that is within the local government's jurisdiction, to a regional housing authority, or to the Colorado housing and finance authority subject to the limitation that the assignee make the same commitment to using the property as long-term affordable housing. The act requires notices to be given by the seller to the local government and by the local government to the seller and to residents of the property. Upon receiving notice of intent to sell or of a potential sale of property, the local government has 7 calendar days to preserve its right of first refusal and an additional 30 calendar days to make an offer and must agree to close on the property within 60 calendar days if practicable but within not more than 90 calendar days of the execution of an agreement for the sale and purchase of the qualifying property; except that there are certain circumstances that may allow these periods to be tolled. Prior to the sale of a property, the seller is required to execute and record an affidavit in the real property records of the county in which the property is located certifying that either the rights and property interests of the local government have expired or been released or waived or that the local government or its assignee is the purchaser of the property. The act allows certain sales of property to be exempt from the right of first refusal and the requirements established by the act for the right of first refusal. The act also allows the local government to waive its right of first refusal to purchase a property if the local government elects to disclaim its rights to any proposed transaction or for any duration of time or if there is a third-party buyer interested in purchasing the property with the same commitment to preserving or converting the property for long-term affordable housing that enters into an agreement with the local government concerning the third-party buyer's commitment to long-term affordable housing. If the local government, its assignee, or a third-party buyer who has committed to preserving or converting the property for long-term affordable housing has acquired the property and maintained the property for long-term affordable housing for 50 years, the property may be converted to another use if the following conditions are met: Notice is given to residents prior to the conversion; Any displaced residents are provided with compensation for relocation; and The local government, its assignee, or a third-party buyer who has committed to preserving or converting the property for long-term affordable housing guarantees the development or conversion of an equal or greater amount of units within the boundaries of the local government for long-term affordable housing and offers the units first to any residents displaced by the conversion of the property. The act also provides that the attorney general's office has responsibility to enforce the provisions of the act and that the attorney general's office, the local government, or a mission-driven organization has standing to bring a civil action for violations of the right of first refusal established by the act. If a court finds that a seller or a third-party buyer that has entered into an agreement with the local government for the waiver of the local government's right of first refusal has materially violated the law with respect to the provisions of the right of first refusal, the court must award a statutory penalty of not less than $50,000 or an amount equal to 30% of the purchase or listing price of the property, whichever amount is greater. VETOED by Governor June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the Colorado department of transportation (department) to stagger delineator posts every 1/10th of a mile and to consider implementing flexible delineator posts and other engineering solutions to accommodate the needs of all vehicles when it constructs a new 2-lane state highway or when it repaves or repairs an existing 2-lane state highway if farming or other oversize loads actively utilize that section of the highway. The act clarifies that it does not require delineator posts to be placed where they are not deemed necessary by the department of transportation. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 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 creates a water testing program for mobile home parks (parks). The testing program is developed and administered by the water quality control division (division) in the department of public health and environment (department). The act also sets testing prioritization criteria and testing standards. Within 10 days after receiving test results, the division will notify the following of the test results and, if the testing reveals a water quality issue, include information about the availability of the complete test results, any violation of water quality standards, recommended actions, remediation, and the grant program established in the act: The park owner; The county department of health where the park is located; The municipality where the park is located, if any; The division of housing in the department of local affairs; The water supplier; and The environmental justice ombudsperson (ombudsperson). Upon receiving the notice, the park owner must: Notify the park residents within 5 days in the language chosen by the residents; Comply with orders of the division; and Not impose the cost of compliance on park residents. Within 120 days after receiving the notice, the park owner must prepare and submit to the division a remediation plan. The park owner must complete the remediation plan based on a schedule approved by the division, consult with the division, and provide a reasonable and sufficient amount of accessible drinking water or department-approved filters to park residents if necessary to address acute health risks. The division will coordinate with the division of housing in the department of local affairs to identify potential money, including grant money from the grant program created in the act, to support park water quality remediation. The division will develop an action plan to address and improve water quality in parks. Standards are established for the action plan and the development of the action plan. The act creates a grant program to help park owners, nonprofit entities, and local governments address water quality issues in parks. Standards are set for obtaining and spending grants. The division will implement and administer the grant program. The general assembly will annually appropriate money to the department to fund the grant program. The act is enforced by the attorney general and the division, which may issue cease-and-desist orders. The attorney general may request a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction, or any other relief necessary to protect the public health, water quality, or environment. The act establishes that: The division may impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 plus an additional $5,000 per full calendar month the violation continues; A park owner that fails to register under the "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program" violates the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act"; Retaliation against a tenant for making a complaint is prohibited; and A person may bring a civil action under the "Mobile Home Park Act". Civil penalties are deposited in the mobile home park water quality fund to be used to provide grants through the grant program and for the division to administer and enforce the act. The ombudsperson is given the duty to represent park residents in matters of water quality. The act adds water quality issues to the database created by the "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program", which tracks complaints filed against parks. To implement the act, $3,611,859 is appropriated from the general fund to the mobile home park water quality fund, of which $3,407,448 is reappropriated to the department for administration, personal services, and the purchase of legal services, and $136,885 is appropriated from the general fund to the mobile home park act dispute resolution and enforcement program fund for use by the department of local affairs. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A downtown development authority (authority) may use a tax increment financing (TIF) arrangement to generate capital by dedicating growth in property tax or sales tax revenue for a period of 30 years with the option for one 20-year extension. For property tax revenue only, the act creates the option for additional 20-year extension periods during which an authority may use a TIF arrangement if the governing body of the municipality that created the authority extends the period by ordinance. The first additional 20-year extension period may begin upon the expiration of the original 20-year extension. For the additional 20-year extension periods authorized by the act, 50% of the incremental revenue generated from the TIF arrangement is allocated to a special fund of the municipality that created the authority (special fund) to be used to finance projects within the boundaries of the authority and the other 50% of the incremental revenue is allocated to the other governmental entities that levy property taxes within the boundaries of the authority, unless the municipality and all of the other governmental entities reach an alternative agreement requiring a greater percentage of the incremental revenue to be credited to the special fund. For a 20-year extension period authorized by the act, the base year revenue is recalculated every year. The act allows a municipality and an authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement through which the municipality may delegate to the board of the authority the power to incur debt and to pledge money in a special fund of the municipality for the payment of the debt. During a 20-year extension period authorized in the act, the authority is under the supervision and control of a board consisting of not less than 9 and not more than 13 members, which is between 4 and 8 additional board members compared to when there is not a 20-year extension period authorized in the act. Of the additional board members, one must be a member of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the authority is located, and one must be a member of the school district board of education of the school district in which the authority is located. The other additional board members are appointed by the governing body of the municipality that created the authority. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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 defines terms related to federal firearm licenses and firearm components, including "frame or receiver of a firearm" and "unfinished frame or receiver." The act prohibits: On and after January 1, 2024, knowingly possessing or transporting an unfinished firearm frame or receiver, unless it has been imprinted with a serial number as required by federal law; Knowingly selling, offering to sell, transferring, or purchasing an unfinished firearm frame or receiver, unless it has been imprinted with a serial number as required by federal law; On and after January 1, 2024, knowingly possessing, purchasing, transporting, or receiving a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number; Knowingly selling, offering to sell, or transferring a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number; and Manufacturing or causing to be manufactured a frame or receiver of a firearm; unless the manufacturer is a federally licensed firearm manufacturer. The act includes exceptions for each type of prohibited conduct, including specified exceptions for conduct involving federal firearm licensees and transfers to serialize a frame or receiver. A person who commits any of the prohibited conduct commits unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver. Unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver is a class 1 misdemeanor; except that a second or subsequent offense is a class 5 felony. The act requires a person who, on the effective date of the act, owns a firearm, frame, or receiver that the person manufactured and that is not imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee, to have the firearm, frame, or receiver imprinted with a serial number no later than January 1, 2024. The act prohibits the Colorado bureau of investigation from approving the transfer of a firearm to a person who was convicted of misdemeanor unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver within 5 years prior to the transfer. A person convicted of felony unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver is prohibited from possessing a firearm or other weapon. The act permits a federal firearms licensee to imprint a serial number on a firearm or a firearm frame or receiver and establishes a process and requirements for licensees to serialize firearms. Existing law prohibits possession of a dangerous weapon. The act defines "machine gun conversion device" and makes machine gun conversion devices a dangerous weapon under Colorado law. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the Colorado food systems advisory council (council) established within Colorado state university until September 1, 2026. The act adds a representative of a food bank as a member of the council. The act changes how 16 members of the council are appointed, requiring that the governor or the governor's designee appoint 5 members and that the speaker of the house of representatives, the minority leader of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the minority leader of the senate appoint 12 members on a rotating basis as new positions or vacancies arise. The act creates new duties for the council, including: Examining best practices to advance or improve food distribution systems and develop new markets for Colorado agricultural producers; and Conducting research and providing support at the request of the governor, members of the general assembly, or any state agency in connection with the council's purpose and duties. The act requires the council to include a summary of the council's activities from the prior year and a summary of the council's planned activities for the upcoming year in council's annual report to specified legislative committees. The council must also accept and consider public comment regarding the annual report. The act repeals the council's authority to engage in any other activity not specified in statute that the council determines is necessary to accomplish the council's purposes. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $151,068 from the general fund to the department of higher education for limited fee-for-service contracts with state institutions, which amount is reappropriated for use by the board of governors of the Colorado state university system for the food systems advisory council. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)

On and after July 1, 2024, the act prohibits a health-care provider (provider), which is an individual provider or a health facility, or a health system, which is a corporation or organization that owns, contains, or operates 3 or more hospitals, from charging, billing, or collecting a facility fee directly from a patient that is not covered by the patient's insurance for mandatory coverage for preventive health-care services that are provided in an outpatient setting. The act defines "facility fee" as any fee that a hospital or health system charges or bills for outpatient services that is intended to compensate the hospital or health system for its operational expenses and that is separate and distinct from a professional fee charged or billed by a provider for professional medical services. The limitation on charging, billing, or collecting a facility fee does not apply to a critical access hospital, a sole community hospital in a rural or frontier area, a community clinic affiliated with a sole community hospital in a rural or frontier area, or a hospital established by the Denver health and hospital authority. The act: Requires a provider that charges a facility fee to provide notice to a patient that the provider charges the fee and to use a standardized bill that includes itemized charges identifying the facility fee, as well as other information; Requires a health facility that is newly affiliated with or owned by a hospital or health system on or after July 1, 2024, to provide written notice to patients of the health facility during the previous 12 months concerning the change in ownership and that the health facility may now charge a facility fee, and prohibits the collection of a facility fee until at least 30 days after the notice is sent; and Makes it a deceptive trade practice to charge, bill, or collect a facility fee when doing so is prohibited. The act creates a steering committee (steering committee) in the department of health care policy and financing (department) to facilitate the development of a preliminary report by August 1, 2024, and a final report by October 1, 2024, detailing the impact of outpatient facility fees on the Colorado health-care system, including the impact on consumers, employers, and providers. The steering committee consists of 7 members appointed by the governor with relevant expertise in health-care billing and payment policy, including, among others, members representing consumers, payers, and providers. The act lists specific data and information to be collected, identified, evaluated, and analyzed, including: Data from: The all-payer health-claims database; Hospital and health systems; The department, the division of insurance, and commercial payers; and Independent health-care providers that are not affiliated with or owned by a hospital or health system evaluated in the report; The impact of facility fees and payer coverage policies on the Colorado healthcare affordability and sustainability enterprise, the medicaid expansion, uncompensated care, and undercompensated care; The impact of facility fees on access to care, integrated care systems, health equity, and the health-care workforce; and A description of the way in which providers may be paid or reimbursed by payers for outpatient health-care services. To the extent feasible, data must be sourced from 2014 through 2022, as determined by the steering committee and any third-party contractors, and disaggregated, as described in the act. The steering committee shall seek to exhaust existing data sources before making additional requests and shall minimize the number of data requests. To implement the act, for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act: Increases general fund appropriations to the department in the 2023 long bill by $18,326 for personal services and $337 for operating expenses; Decreases anticipated federal funds received by the department by $18,663; and Appropriates $516,950 from the general fund to the department for general professional services and special projects. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 30, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Currently, an urban renewal area cannot contain agricultural land unless the land falls within certain exceptions. One exception for including agricultural land is if the land was included in an approved urban renewal plan prior to June 1, 2010. The act updates the exception to specify that agricultural land may be included in an urban renewal area if the agricultural land is in an existing urban renewal plan that was originally approved or modified to include the agricultural land prior to June 1, 2010, and if the land still remains in that same urban renewal plan. VETOED by Governor May 23, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires the Colorado school of public health to analyze model legislation for implementing a publicly financed and privately delivered universal health-care payment system for Colorado that directly compensates providers. The Colorado school of public health must submit a report detailing its findings from the analysis to the general assembly by December 1, 2023. October 1, 2024. The bill also creates the statewide health-care analysis task force consisting of members appointed by the general assembly and the governor, as well as executive directors of specified state departments, the commissioner of insurance, and the chief executive officer of the Colorado health benefit exchange or any designees of the executive directors, the commissioner, and the chief executive officer. The task force is created for the purpose of advising the Colorado school of public health during the analysis. The bill also exempts the analysis conducted by the Colorado school of public health from a financial aid funding requirement. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)