The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb24-1448-bill-summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act requires the division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment (department) to propose rules to the air quality control commission (commission) to reduce certain emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) generated by upstream oil and gas operations in certain areas of the state by 50% by 2030 relative to 2017 NOx emission levels. Section 3 requires the division to prepare an annual air quality enforcement benchmark report to summarize the division's statewide enforcement actions, including civil penalties assessed. Section 3 also provides that a compliance order issued by the division may include, in addition to civil penalties, a requirement to perform one or more projects to reduce the potential for a recurrence of a violation. Under current law, the division or commission, in an enforcement action, cannot obtain a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction if there is probable cause that the temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction would cause serious harm to the person affected by the temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction or to another person or if the source to which the enforcement action pertains has obtained a renewable operating permit and continues operations in compliance with that permit. Section 4 repeals those limitations on temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. Section 4 also authorizes a district attorney or the attorney general to seek injunctive relief to reduce the potential for a recurrence of a violation. Sections 5 and 6 clarify that the division has authority to impose civil penalties for violations of requirements related to toxic air contaminants, fenceline and community-based monitoring, and, if enacted in House Bill 24-1338, petroleum refinery emissions monitoring. Section 7 authorizes the division, in considering permit applications for new sources of NOx emissions in disproportionately impacted communities in an ozone nonattainment area, to consider more stringent methods of regulating the sources. Section 9 authorizes the director of the energy and carbon management commission (ECMC) to hire at least 2 community liaisons to serve as dedicated resources for disproportionately impacted communities, and section 13 authorizes funding of the community liaison positions from the energy and carbon management cash fund. Under current law, an oil and gas operator (operator) is required to obtain a permit from the ECMC to commence oil and gas drilling operations. Section 10 requires the operator to also obtain from the ECMC a license to conduct oil and gas operations. Section 10 also requires operators to take actions in accordance with ECMC rules to reduce certain emissions of NOx generated from oil and gas production and preproduction operations. The ECMC is also required, in consultation with the department, to adopt rules to require enhanced systems and practices to avoid, minimize, and mitigate emissions of ozone precursors from oil and gas operations at newly permitted oil and gas locations in certain parts of the state. Section 11 limits a court's authority to postpone the effective date of an ECMC order suspending or revoking an operator's license to conduct oil and gas operations or a certificate of clearance, requiring the court to first consider various factors, including whether the moving party would face real, immediate, and irreparable injury if the effective date is not postponed and the effect that such postponement would have on the public interest. Section 12 expands the ECMC's enforcement authority to include revoking an operator's license to conduct oil and gas operations and expands the types of violations that are subject to suspension of all of the operator's permits and certificates of clearance and the operator's license to conduct oil and gas operations to include violations resulting in a penalty of $1,000,000 or more; violations that cause a major adverse impact, as defined by the ECMC by rule; and violations that cause death or serious bodily injury. Section 14 expands the scope of the orphaned wells mitigation enterprise to help finance the plugging, reclamation, and remediation of marginal wells that are at the highest risk of becoming orphaned. Section 15 appropriates $753,157 in state fiscal year 2024-25 from the general fund to the department for expenses related to regulating stationary sources and for legal services. APPROVED by Governor May 16, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 16, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill imposes a set of duties on the Denver airport authority (authority) by established times for accessibility-related functions at Denver international airport. The authority is encouraged to monitor the completion and ongoing upkeep of the duties and functions. The division of aeronautics (division) is authorized to issue fines for noncompliance of the duties and functions to any entity in violation (entity). For a first offense, the entity has 30 days to remedy the noncompliance. If not remedied within 30 days, the division is authorized to fine the entity an amount not to exceed $3,500. For each subsequent offense, the division shall fine the entity an amount not to exceed $7,000 per offense. An individual alleging damages resulting from a violation by an entity may bring a civil suit and may seek a court order requiring compliance and any other remedy the court determines necessary. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates a legislative interim committee (committee) to study cell phone connectivity in the state and make legislative recommendations concerning how to improve cell phone connectivity. The committee consists of 6 voting members of the general assembly and 6 nonvoting members, including 4 members of the cell phone industry, a representative of the department of transportation, and a representative of the department of public safety. The committee must begin meeting no later than September 30, 2024, and may hold up to 6 meetings in the 2024 legislative interim and up to 6 meetings in the 2025 legislative interim. During each legislative interim, the committee may recommend up to 3 bills. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill clarifies that a request for general permit registration does not constitute having a valid construction permit (permit). Section 1 also requires the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) or the air quality control commission (commission), in evaluating a permit application for an emitting source (source) that includes an oil and gas system (oil and gas system), to: Aggregate emissions from the oil and gas system; and Include emissions from exploration and preproduction activities. Section 2 requires that the division or the commission only grant permits for certain proposed sources in a nonattainment area if: The division or commission determines that the proposed source will not contribute to an exceedance of any applicable national ambient air quality standard (determination); The owner or operator of the proposed source achieves emissions reductions of each air pollutant for which the nonattainment area is in nonattainment that are equal to or greater than the anticipated emissions of the proposed source; and The proposed source is not in a disproportionately impacted community. On and after January 1, 2025, the division or commission must base any determination on the modeling of air quality impacts from emissions (air quality modeling). If a permit is granted after air quality modeling is conducted: Any assumption used in the air quality modeling must be included in the permit as a permit condition; and Any averaging time utilized for a permit condition must be no greater than the averaging time for any applicable national ambient air quality standard. Section 3 requires the energy and carbon management commission to require that an oil and gas operator obtain a permit from the division or the commission before making a final determination on an oil and gas permit application.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Sections 1 and 2 of the bill create a high-emitter vehicle program for owners of motor vehicles that are not in compliance with emission standards and that have been issued a certification of emissions waiver (qualified vehicle). If the owner of a qualified vehicle resides in a nonattainment area for ozone and has unsuccessfully attempted to have the motor vehicle repaired to cure the noncompliance, the owner is eligible for a voucher of $850. The vouchers may be redeemed at qualified repair facilities that will bring the vehicle into compliance. The high-emitter vehicle program is funded by using up to 20% of the money in the AIR account in the highway users tax fund. The high-emitter vehicle program is administered by the nonattainment area air pollution mitigation enterprise, in coordination with the department of revenue, contractors that provide inspection services, and the clean screen authority. The high-emitter vehicle program repeals when Colorado meets federal ozone national ambient air quality standards (attainment). Section 3 requires the air quality control commission (commission) to create, in coordination with the lead agency for air quality planing for the Denver metropolitan area, a garden rebate program to increase the use of small electric motors used for outdoor power equipment. The program must: Provide a point-of-purchase rebate of the lesser of $150 or one-third of the price for each piece of outdoor power equipment purchased by the end user in a nonattainment area for ozone; Establish a registration system for qualified retailers; and Require the division to publicize the garden rebate program. The division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) administers the garden rebate program, and the commission sets standards for qualified retailers to register for the program. If the garden rebate program exceeds its appropriation, the division may pause the program. The garden rebate program repeals January 1, 2030. Section 4 repeals the current tax credit for buying lawn and garden equipment with an electric motor. In current law, the clean fleet enterprise (enterprise) incentivizes and supports the use of electric motor vehicles for certain fleet uses, including transportation network companies. Sections 5 and 6 : Expand the program to include light-duty trucks; Authorize the clean fleet enterprise to provide grants of up to 80% of a local government's cost of acquiring motor vehicles that emit low levels of nitrogen oxides for the local government to use in its motor vehicle fleet; and Require the enterprise to prioritize making grants to local governments. The grant program authorization and prioritization repeal December 31, 2029. Section 7 requires the division to regularly perform, in the nonattainment area for ozone, photochemical modeling studies and data analysis designed to determine ambient air ozone levels and the effectiveness of policies for lowering ambient air ozone levels. The division is required to publish the results to the division's website and report the results to the commission and at its "SMART Act" hearing. Section 7 is repealed when Colorado achieves attainment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law declares void any express waivers of or limitations on the legal rights or remedies provided by the "Construction Defect Action Reform Act" or the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". Sections 1 and 4 make it a violation of the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" to obtain or attempt to obtain a waiver or limitation that violates the aforementioned current law. Section 4 also requires a court to award to a claimant that prevails in a claim arising from alleged defects in a residential property construction, in addition to actual damages, prejudgment interest on the claim at a rate of 6% from the date the work is finished to the date it is sold to an occupant and 8% thereafter. Current law requires that a lawsuit against an architect, a contractor, a builder or builder vendor, an engineer, or an inspector performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, inspection, construction, or observation of construction of an improvement to real property must be brought within 6 years after the claim arises. Section 2 increases the amount of time in which a lawsuit may be brought from 6 to 10 years. Current law also provides that a claim of relief arises when a defect's physical manifestation was discovered or should have been discovered. Section 2 also changes the time when a claim of relief arises to include both the discovery of the physical manifestation and the cause of the defect. Section 3 voids a provision in a real estate contract that prohibits group lawsuits against a construction professional. Section 5 of the bill prohibits governing documents of a common interest community from setting different or additional requirements than those in current law for a construction defect action.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires a law enforcement agency (agency) that receives an allegation of misconduct, criminal conduct, or other unprofessional conduct regarding a peace officer employed by the agency to investigate the allegation. If a peace officer receives an allegation of misconduct, criminal conduct, or other unprofessional conduct (misconduct) or is reasonably aware of the misconduct of another peace officer, the peace officer shall report the allegation to the subject of the allegation's employing agency. A peace officer who fails to make the report commits a class 2 misdemeanor. A person who makes an allegation has a private right of action if the allegation is not investigated. The bill clarifies that patterns and practices investigations may also be related to deprivation of rights by a peace officer against another peace officer. Current law requires agencies to report certain information regarding officers' misconduct to a database maintained by the P.O.S.T. board. The attorney general may audit the reports made to the database to verify reporting compliance. The bill requires the attorney general to accept reports of non-reporting to the database and requires those reports to be investigated within available resources. Current law requires unedited video and audio recordings of incidents of alleged misconduct to be released the public upon request. The bill states that a law enforcement agency shall not charge a fee to the requestor related to releasing the recording. Current law provides a peace officer with whistle-blower protection. The bill allows a peace officer who is subject to whistle-blower discipline a private right of action against the officer's employing agency. The bill requires each agency to retain all reports regarding allegations of misconduct and all investigation files, notes, and reports related to those reports. The bill also requires the investigating agency to provide a copy of the investigation file to the subject of the investigation after the investigation is completed. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill prohibits the use of seclusion on a student of a school district, district charter school, or institute charter school on certain property or while the student is participating in an off-campus, school-sponsored activity or event. The bill requires the state board of education (state board) to promulgate or amend existing rules to reflect the prohibited use of seclusion. The bill requires the state board to create and maintain a resource bank of materials regarding alternatives to seclusion and restraints for schools and school personnel to employ. The bill amends existing reporting requirements to ensure incidents of seclusion are reported. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
A metropolitan district is a type of special district that provides at least 2 types of services and may perform covenant enforcement similar to the role of a homeowners' association. The act requires a metropolitan district engaging in covenant enforcement and design review services to comply with certain procedural requirements, including: Adopting a written policy governing the imposition and collection of fines; Adopting a written policy governing how disputes between the metropolitan district and a resident are addressed; and Refraining from prohibiting residents from engaging in certain activities regarding the use of their property, including displaying flags and signs; parking a motor vehicle in a driveway; removing certain vegetation to create a defensible space for fire mitigation purposes; performing reasonable property modifications to accommodate disabilities; using xeriscape, nonvegetative turf grass, or drought-tolerant landscaping; using a rain barrel; operating a family child care home; using renewable energy generation devices; and installing or using an energy efficiency measure. Additionally, a metropolitan district is prohibited from requiring residents to use cedar shakes or other flammable roofing materials. The act prohibits a metropolitan district from foreclosing on any lien based on a resident's delinquent fees or other charges owed to the metropolitan district. The act also imposes certain procedural requirements regarding court actions filed by or against a metropolitan district based on an alleged violation of the metropolitan district's declaration, rules and regulations, or other instrument. A metropolitan district that engages in design review services, but does not engage in covenant enforcement or form a homeowners' association, cannot pursue other remedies against residents to enforce its design review requirements and need not adopt the written policies required under the act. APPROVED by Governor April 19, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
