The act repeals the provision that repeals the conservation district grant fund (fund) on December 31, 2022. The act also requires, on an annual basis: The state treasurer to transfer $148,000 from the general fund to the fund; and The department of agriculture to distribute $2,000 from the fund to each conservation district.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act instructs the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner) to create and deploy, on or before January 1, 2024, an online program that educates agricultural producers about blockchain technology. The commissioner will consult and cooperate with stakeholders to develop the online program, publicize the program, and encourage agricultural producers to participate in the program. To implement the act, $72,768 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of agriculture for use by the agricultural markets division. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill modifies the following statutory provisions that apply to solar energy so that they also apply to geothermal energy: which generally is using the heat of the earth to generate electricity or to heat or cool space or water: Section 1 of the bill requires the Colorado energy office (office) to develop basic consumer education and guidance about leased or purchased geothermal or, if available, leased installation in consultation with industries that offer these options to consumers of a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single building or for space heating for more than one building through a pipeline network; Sections 2, 6, and 8 limit the aggregate of all charges or other related or associated fees the state, a county, or a municipality may impose or assess to install a geothermal energy system, which means a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single building, for space heating for more than one building through a pipeline network, or for electricity generation; Section 3 specifies that geothermal equipment is a type of pollution control equipment that the division of administration in the department of public health and environment may certify as pollution control equipment; Section 4 specifies that a "project" for purposes of the "County and Municipality Development Revenue Bond Act" includes capital improvements to existing single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, or industrial structures, to retrofit such structures for installation of geothermal improvements a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single structure; Section 5 permits a county board of commissioners or a regional planning commission, and section 9 requires permits a municipal development commission, to include methods for assuring access to appropriate conditions for geothermal energy sources in a master plan for development; Section 7 specifies that the addition of a geothermal energy device to such building used as part of a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling to a building is not necessarily considered a structural alteration for purposes of continuing a nonconforming use of a building, structure, or land under a county zoning resolution; Section 10 permits the Colorado agricultural value-added development board to use some of the money in the agriculture value-added cash fund for geothermal energy generation facilities that are colocated with agricultural uses; Section 11 10 adds a geothermal energy device to the types of renewable energy generation devices that cannot be prohibited in legal instruments related to the transfer or sale of, or interest in, real property; Section 13 includes an independently owned geothermal energy system, which is defined in section 12 , in the property tax exemption for household furnishings; Section 14 11 creates community geothermal gardens, which are analogous to community solar gardens; except that a qualifying retail utility is permitted and not required to purchase electricity and renewable energy credits generated from one or more community geothermal gardens; and Sections 15 and 16 12 through 16 create conforming amendments to the definition of "qualified community location" to incorporate community geothermal gardens for purposes of local improvement districts and municipal special improvement districts to the creation of community geothermal gardens. Section 1 requires permits the office to update the greenhouse gas pollution reduction roadmap to expressly include geothermal energy as a renewable energy resource that qualifying retail utilities may use to achieve the electric utility sector greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals set forth in the roadmap. (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.)
The act requires the state forest service, on and after September 1, 2022, to develop a publicly accessible statewide carbon accounting framework that yields carbon stock and flux estimates for: Ecosystems by county and forest cover type; and Wood products. The state forest service must also develop a forest carbon co-benefit framework for project-level forest management practices, including wildfire mitigation. The state forest service must use this framework to train practitioners in adaptive management practices to be incorporated into current forest management practices, including wildfire mitigation. The state forest service must provide technical expertise to assist industry and landowners with carbon inventories and monitoring. The act also allows money from the existing healthy forests and vibrant communities fund to be used for new purposes, including the new statewide carbon accounting framework. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act: Transfers $3,000,000 and appropriates $95,407 from the general fund to the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund; Transfers $2,200,000 from the general fund to the forest restoration and wildfire risk mitigation grant program cash fund; and Transfers $2,00,000 from the general fund to the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the wildfire mitigation resources and best practices grant program (grant program) within the Colorado state forest service (forest service). To be eligible to receive a grant, a recipient must be an agency of local government, a county, a municipality, a special district, a tribal agency or program, or a nonprofit organization. The forest service is tasked with reviewing grant applications. Grants must be awarded only to applicants proposing to conduct outreach among landowners in high wildfire hazard areas, and the forest service must consider the potential impact of an applicant's proposed outreach when awarding grants. The forest service must report to the wildfire matters review committee on the grant program. Commencing no later than the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act requires the general assembly to annually appropriate money from the general fund to the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund to implement the grant program. The act extends the existing income tax deduction created to offset the landowner's costs incurred in performing wildfire mitigation measures, currently set to expire with the 2024 income tax year, through the 2025 income tax year. The act also creates a state income tax credit to reimburse a landowner for the costs incurred in performing wildfire mitigation measures on the landowner's property. Specifically, a landowner with a federal taxable income at or below $120,000, annually adjusted for inflation and rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, for any income tax year commencing on or after January 1, 2023, but prior to January 1, 2026, is allowed a state income tax credit in an amount equal to 25% of up to $2,500 in costs for wildfire mitigation measures. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an institution of higher education that has a program or policy that permits a person to audit courses for no credit to permit a veteran to audit courses, subject to any other requirements of the program or policy. An institution may set and collect a fee of no more than $10 per course audited by a veteran for up to three courses per academic semester. The institution may permit a veteran to audit additional courses for a different fee. The general assembly encourages each institution that does not have an existing audit program or policy to permit veterans to audit courses for no credit. A veteran auditing a course is not an eligible student for the purposes of receiving a college opportunity fund stipend. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado rotary license plate. To qualify for the license plate, a person must be a member in good standing of a rotary district of Colorado. In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay 2 additional one-time fees of $25 for the issuance of the plate. The fees are credited to the highway users tax fund and the licensing services cash fund, respectively. To implement the act, $18,184 is appropriated to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles, and, of this amount, $2,129 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services to the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the spending authority granted to the department of agriculture as follows: The $3 million appropriation in Senate Bill 21-235, concerning additional funding for programs of the department of agriculture to support increased efficiency in agricultural operations, from the agriculture value-added cash fund to make grants to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, conduct energy audits, and provide technical assistance is continued through the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year; The $2.5 million appropriation in Senate Bill 21-203, concerning an appropriation to the department of agriculture for the Colorado proud program, from the general fund for use by the agricultural markets division for the Colorado proud program is continued through the end of the 2023-24 state fiscal year; and The $5 million appropriation in House Bill 21-1262, concerning monetary support for agricultural events in Colorado, from the Colorado state fair authority cash fund for use by the Colorado state fair is continued through the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds mental health professional to the list of individuals and entities that are not held liable for dispensing an opiate antagonist in accordance with the law and updates the definition of "mental health professional" by clarifying that the term includes unlicensed psychotherapists. In the legislative declaration of the mental health practice act, the act adds clinical social worker candidates and addiction counselor candidates to the list of mental health licensee candidates who are subject to disciplinary actions and injunctions by their respective regulatory boards. For the purposes of the practices acts regulating mental health providers, the act updates the definition of "registrant" to include marriage and family therapist candidates and addiction counselor candidates. The act also adds unlicensed psychotherapists to the list of mental health professionals who cannot administer or prescribe drugs or practice medicine. Current law prohibits a person who practices religious ministry from publicly claiming to be any of certain licensed, certified, or registered mental health professional unless the person possesses the proper credentials. The act adds certified addiction specialists and certified addiction technicians to the list of such mental health professionals. Obsolete language is deleted from the social worker practice act, the marriage and family therapist practice act, the licensed professional counselor practice act, and the addiction counselor practice act concerning the initial appointment of members to their respective regulatory boards. The act replaces the term "psychotherapists" with the term "mental health professionals" in the definition of "marriage and family therapy practice". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The creative industries division in the office of economic development is authorized to spend money credited to the creative industries cash fund from the capital construction fund for the purposes of the art in public places program that is unexpended and unencumbered at the end of a fiscal year in the next 2 fiscal years, rather than in the next fiscal year only, without further appropriation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
