The act creates certain rights for foster parents. The rights do not apply to a foster parent who jeopardizes the safety of a child or youth or a foster parent against whom criminal charges have been filed for child abuse, a sexual offense, or any felony. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act strikes references to the federal food and drug administration in the health insurance code and replaces the references with the term "FDA", which is defined for the entire code to mean the federal food and drug administration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill includes green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource that certain retail electric service providers (providers) may use to meet standards requiring that a certain percentage of the provider's electricity sales be from an eligible energy resource. The bill also requires the governor to update the Colorado greenhouse gas pollution reduction roadmap to expressly include green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource that providers may use to meet statewide greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals for the electric utility sector.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act makes the following nonsubstantive changes to title 43: Corrects the citation made in section 43-1-128 (5) from "the national environmental policy act" to "the federal 'National Environmental Policy Act of 1969', 42 U.S.C. sec. 4321 et seq."; Adds the word "vehicle" in section 43-4-605 (1)(i) between the words "motor" and "registration"; and Corrects a reference in section 43-4-1301 (2)(c) stating "subsections (7) and (8) of this section" to say "section 43-4-1303".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires the owner of a truck to present a manufacturer's certificate of origin or a certified scale ticket if the truck is subject to certain weight-based fees and weighs more than 4,500 pounds but not more than 10,000 pounds. This weight includes mounted equipment other than recreational equipment. The bill makes 2 changes to these requirements: The requirement only applies when the truck's weight has been substantially modified; and The truck must be weighed rather than using a manufacturer's certificate of origin to show shipping weight.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act specifies that motor vehicle investigators and criminal tax enforcement special agents are peace officers and must be certified by the peace officers standards and training (P.O.S.T.) board. Under current law, a group seeking peace officer status for a specific position prepares a proposal for the P.O.S.T. board's review, and, after performing an analysis and hearing, the P.O.S.T. board submits a report to the group seeking peace officer status and to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. The group seeking peace officer status may request legislation during each of the 2 regular legislative sessions that immediately succeed the date of its proposal without having to comply again with certain procedural requirements. The act exempts the department of revenue from the requirement to present legislation seeking peace officer status for motor vehicle investigators and criminal tax enforcement special agents within the 2 regular legislative sessions that immediately succeed the date of its proposal without having to comply again with certain procedural requirements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, municipalities and regional service authorities are authorized to file an application for dissolution of a special district with the board of directors of the special district. The act expands current law to authorize a board of county commissioners to file such an application if the special district is wholly located in the boundaries of the county and to file jointly with another board of county commissioners such an application if the special district is located in 2 or more counties. If more than 85% of the special district's territory is located within the boundaries of one or more municipalities, the board of directors of the special district shall not take any action on the application unless the governing bodies of all such municipalities have consented to or joined the application. Current law also allows the governing body of a municipality and a special district wholly within the corporate limits of the municipality that has no financial obligations or outstanding debt to mutually consent to dissolution of the special district via a court order dissolving the special district without an election. The act expands current law to allow a board of county commissioners and a special district that is wholly within the county's boundaries to mutually consent to dissolution of the special district in the same manner via a court order dissolving the special district without an election; except that, if more than 85% of the special district lies within one or more municipalities, the governing bodies of all such municipalities also must consent to dissolution via court order without an election. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state forest service, at the discretion of the state forester, to implement a biomass utilization grant program (program) by awarding up to $2.5 million in grants to demonstrate the utilization of biomass throughout the state for purposes such as wildfire prevention and mitigation, increased biomass energy generation, and agricultural biochar. The forest service, at the discretion of the state forester, may administer the program with money from the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund and with any gifts, grants, and donations received.On or before March 1, 2023, and on or before March 1 in each year that the forest service awards one or more grants under the program, the state forest service shall submit a report summarizing the grant recipients' projects to the governor and the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture and natural resources matters.The program is scheduled for sunset review in 2026.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2017, the general assembly (GA) enacted Senate Bill 17-267, which required the state treasurer to issue up to $500 million of lease-purchase agreements (COPS) in each of the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 state fiscal years for the purpose of funding transportation projects. Subsequently, in a series of 4 bills, the GA referred a statewide ballot issue, initially at the November 2019 statewide election but thereafter twice modified and delayed until the 2021 statewide election, that, if approved, would have authorized the state to issue transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) for the purpose of funding transportation projects and prevented the issuance of the state fiscal year 2021-22 COPS.The GA intended that, upon approval of the ballot issue, the TRANs authorized would replace the unissued COPS as a source of funding for transportation projects. The act amends the effective date clause of one of the 4 bills to prevent the unintended consequence, resulting from the interplay of the bill with another one of the 4 bills, that TRANs could be authorized without preventing the issuance of the state fiscal year 2021-22 COPS. However, the act has no practical effect because Senate Bill 21-260 repealed the requirement that a statewide ballot issue seeking authorization for the issuance of TRANS be referred to the voters at the 2021 statewide election.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
