Rep. Lori Saine

Commercial driver's licenses - interstate commerce - 18 to 21 years of age. The act authorizes the department of revenue to adopt rules authorizing a person who is at least 18 years of age but under 21 years of age to be licensed to drive a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce if the person holds a commercial driver's license and operation of a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce by a person in that age range is permitted under federal law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

The bill prohibits terminating the life of an unborn child and makes a violation a class 1 felony. The following are exceptions to the prohibition: A licensed physician performs a medical procedure designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother, if the physician makes reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice; and A licensed physician provides medical treatment, including chemotherapy or removal of an ectopic pregnancy, to the mother that results in the accidental or unintentional injury to or death of the unborn child. The pregnant mother upon whom termination of the life of an unborn child is performed or attempted is not subject to a criminal penalty. The sale and use of contraception is not prohibited by the bill. A conviction related to the prohibition of the termination of the life of an unborn child constitutes unprofessional conduct for purposes of physician licensing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More

The bill repeals statutory provisions: Prohibiting the possession of certain ammunition magazines; and Requiring each of certain ammunition magazines that are manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013, to include a permanent stamp or marking indicating that the magazine was manufactured or assembled after July 1, 2013.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More

Current law authorizes 'forced' or 'statutory' pooling, a process by which any interested person–typically an oil and gas operator–may apply to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) for an order to pool oil and gas resources located within a particularly identified drilling unit. After giving notice to interested parties and holding a hearing, the commission can adopt an order to require an owner of oil and gas resources within the drilling unit who has not consented to the application (nonconsenting owner) to allow an oil and gas operator to produce the oil and gas within the drilling unit notwithstanding the owners lack of consent. The bill clarifies that an order entered by the commission establishing a drilling unit may authorize more than one well. The order must specify that a nonconsenting owner is immune from liability for costs arising from spills, releases, damage, or injury resulting from oil and gas operations on the drilling unit. Currently, a nonconsenting owner must pay the consenting owners from the nonconsenting owner's share of production 200% of the nonconsenting owner's proportionate share of the costs of drilling, including equipment. The bill limits this 200% cost recovery to wells 5,000 feet or less in depth and increases the cost recovery to 300% for wells greater than 5,000 feet in depth and for horizontal wells. Current law prohibits entry of a pooling order until the mineral rights owners have been given a reasonable offer to lease their rights. The bill specifies that the offer must be given at least 60 days before the hearing on the order and must include a copy of or link to a brochure supplied by the commission that clearly and concisely describes the pooling procedures and the mineral owner's options pursuant to those procedures. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Current law requires a person, before conducting an excavation, to contact a nonprofit notification association (comprised of all owners and operators of underground facilities) by dialing '811' to learn the location of underground facilities in the excavation project area. The owners and operators must then accurately mark the location of their facilities. Violations of the excavation damage prevention law are enforced exclusively through civil actions initiated by damaged parties to collect specified civil penalties and damages. In 2016, the United States department of transportation's pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration (PHMSA) conducted an adequacy evaluation of Colorado's enforcement of its excavation damage prevention law and determined that the enforcement is inadequate, which may eventually result in the withholding of federal funds from Colorado. The bill creates the underground damage prevention safety commission (commission) as an independent agency within the department of labor and employment. The commission has rule-making and enforcement authority regarding specified portions of the excavation damage prevention law and is required to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the notification association to facilitate implementation and administration of the law. The notification association is required to provide administrative support to the commission in performing its duties. A review committee of the commission initially determines whether a violation of the law has occurred and, if appropriate, recommends remedial action, potentially including a fine. Fines range from $250 for a single minor violation within the previous 12 months to $75,000 for a fourth major violation within the previous 12 months. The full commission is bound by the review committee's determination of facts but determines the final agency action regarding alleged violations. Fines are credited to the damage prevention fund, which the commission will use to develop educational programming, including by making grants, that is designed to improve worker and public safety relating to excavation and underground facilities. Current law allows only an excavator to submit a location request to the notification association. The bill authorizes a licensed professional engineer designing excavation to submit a location request. The engineer is required to ensure that the engineering plans meet certain standards established by the American Society of Civil Engineers for defining the accuracy of an underground facility location. Current law creates 2 tiers of membership in the notification association. Tier 2 members are limited members with limited benefits and include certain special districts, local governments, cable television providers, and small telecommunications providers; tier 1 members are full members with full benefits, and tier 1 consists of all other owners and operators. If, after receiving a location request, the notification association determines that a tier 1 member owns or operates the underground facilities, the notification association contacts the tier 1 member to arrange for the marking of the underground facilities. If a tier 2 member owns or operates the underground facilities, the excavator must contact the tier 2 member to arrange for the marking of the underground facilities. Effective January 1, 2021, all underground facility owners and operators are full members of the notification association with full benefits, and excavators will no longer need to contact the owners or operators to arrange for the marking. All new underground facilities installed on or after January 1, 2020, must be electronically locatable when installed. Home rule local governments and power authorities are not subject to the commission's enforcement authority, but the governing body of a home rule local government or power authority is required to either adopt a similar enforceable damage prevention safety program or waive its exemption and delegate its damage prevention enforcement authority to the commission. Information regarding the location of underground facilities is exempt from the 'Colorado Open Records Act', pursuant to the existing exemption for specialized details of critical infrastructure. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Currently the Colorado constitution defines industrial hemp. The resolution would define industrial hemp pursuant to the federal statutory definition or as it is defined in state statute. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this concurrent resolution as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Current state park law excludes seaplanes from the definition of a 'vessel', and applicable park rules essentially prohibit seaplanes from landing in or taking off from state park water bodies. The bill: Directs the division of parks and wildlife in the department of natural resources to: Establish proposed procedures for the mandatory inspection and decontamination of seaplanes landing on water bodies in the state for the purposes of aquatic nuisance species prevention and containment and report on the procedures to the general assembly by September 1, 2019; and Establish a stakeholder process to evaluate seaplane access to 2 lakes located at state parks identified by the division and report the results of the stakeholder process to the general assembly by September 1, 2019; and Specifies that the prohibition on the landing of seaplanes in state parks does not apply in the event of an emergency, including for seaplanes engaged in firefighting operations.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

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The bill repeals statutory provisions: Prohibiting the possession of certain ammunition magazines; and Requiring each of certain ammunition magazines that are manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013, to include a permanent stamp or marking indicating that the magazine was manufactured or assembled after July 1, 2013.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

Legislative Audit Committee. Commencing January 1, 2019, the bill requires each statutorily created board or commission in state government, not including a special purpose authority, to implement written policies or bylaws and obtain annual training on specified issues in order to ensure that best practices are utilized and requires each state agency responsible for a statutorily created board or commission to ensure that the state board or commission obtains the annual training and implements the written policies.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More