Current law imposes a limitation on the permit, application review, or any other related or associated fees that may be assessed by counties, municipalities, state agencies, and political subdivisions of the state for the installation of an active solar electric or solar thermal device or system. The act modifies this language so that the limitation applies to the aggregate of all charges or other related or associated fees the state, a county, municipality, state agency, or any other political subdivision of the state (governmental bodies) imposes or assesses for the installation of an active solar energy system.The act sets a limit on the aggregate of all charges or other related or associated fees any governmental body may impose or assess to install an active solar energy system of $500 for a residential permit and $1,000 for a commercial permit. In the case of a nonresidential application, on an individual installation basis only, if the governmental body incurs actual costs for issuing the permit that are greater than $1,000, the governmental body is entitled to recovery of its actual costs for issuing the permit by submitting in writing and disclosing to the applicant for the particular permit proof of the governmental body's actual costs.In connection with existing statutory requirements affecting state agencies and political subdivisions, the act clarifies that the duty to clearly and individually identify all fees and taxes assessed on an application on the invoice lies with the state or any agency, institution, authority, or political subdivision of the state.Under existing law, one component of determining the lawful fee for issuing a permit or reviewing an application requires a comparison of the lesser of the actual costs of providing such services or $500 for a residential application. The act restricts a governmental body from increasing its fees or other charges by more than 5% on an annual basis until the $500 limitation is achieved.The act also extends the repeal date of the fee limitation from July 1, 2025, to December 31, 2029.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
Section 1 of the act requires owners of certain large buildings (covered buildings), on an annual basis, to collect and report to the Colorado energy office (office) the covered building's energy use. The act establishes a process requiring certain electric and gas utilities to provide energy-use data to a covered building owner when requested by the covered building owner.On or before October 1, 2021, the director of the office is required to appoint and convene a task force consisting of various building owners, building professionals, utility representatives, and local government representatives to recommend performance standards for adoption as rules by the air quality control commission (commission). The performance standards set forth in rule would need to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 7% by 2026 compared to 2021 levels as reported in energy benchmarking data and by 20% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. The performance standards adopted must include a provision that an owner of a public building need only comply with the performance standards with regard to certain types of construction or renovation projects and only if the construction or renovation project has an estimated cost of at least $500,000. Covered building owners would then need to demonstrate their compliance with the performance standards set forth in the commission's rules. The commission is also required to adopt rules regarding the issuance of waivers and extensions of time for performance standard compliance. The commission may adopt additional rules, as the commission deems necessary, to modify or continue the performance standards.Section 2 authorizes the office to use the energy fund to help finance its work to administer the benchmarking and performance standard program described in section 1 (program).Section 3 requires the office to administer the program and assist covered building owners with the reporting requirements set forth in section 1 by:Creating a database of covered buildings and owners required to comply with section 1; Tracking compliance with the program and providing a list of noncompliant owners of covered buildings to the division of administration in the department of public health and environment; Developing publicly available, digitally interactive maps and lists showing the energy-use and performance-standard data reported; Coordinating with any local government that implements its own energy benchmarking requirements or energy performance program, including coordination of reporting requirements; and Collecting an annual fee from owners of covered buildings of $100 per covered building; except that owners of public buildings are exempt from paying the fee. The office is required to transfer the fees collected to the state treasurer, who will credit the fees to the climate change mitigation and adaptation fund (fund) created in section 3. Section 4 imposes penalties for violations of the benchmarking requirements in amounts up to $500 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for each subsequent violation. The commission is required to establish by rule civil penalties for a violation of the commission's performance standards in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for a subsequent violation.Section 5 modifies the definition of an "energy performance contract" that a governing body of a municipality, county, special district, or school district (board) enters into for evaluation, recommendations, or implementation of energy saving measures to remove requirements that a board's payment for goods and services pursuant to the contract be made within a certain number of years of the contract's execution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado law authorizes certain license holders, who normally offer alcohol beverages for consumption on the licensed premises, to offer takeout and delivery of alcohol beverages, but this authorization was scheduled to repeal on July 1, 2021. The act delays the repeal until July 1, 2025; except that manufacturers who have a sales room may continue to deliver alcohol beverages only until January 2, 2022.The act limits the times that an alcohol beverage may be sold for takeout or delivery from 7 a.m. to midnight. The amounts of alcohol beverages that may be sold for delivery or takeout are increased:From 750 milliliters to 1,500 milliliters of vinous liquors; From 72 fluid ounces to 144 fluid ounces of malt liquors, fermented malt beverages, and hard cider; and From 750 milliliters to one liter of spirituous liquors. The act also creates a communal outdoor dining area program. The program allows multiple licensees to attach to the area and serve alcohol beverages to the diners in the area. A licensee may attach to the area only if the licencee's premises are within 1,000 feet of the area. The area and attachment must be approved by both the local and state licensing authorities, who may charge a fee for the approval. The following licensees may attach to an area:Tavern; Hotel and restaurant; Brew pub; Distillery pub; Vintner's restaurant; Beer and wine licensee; Manufacturer that operates a sales room; Beer wholesaler that operates a sales room; Limited winery; Lodging and entertainment facility; Optional premises; or Fermented malt beverage retailer licensed for consumption on the premises. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $63,274 is appropriated for use by the liquor and tobacco enforcement division to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act declares that customer-sited renewable energy generation facilities (distributed generation) such as rooftop solar can make important contributions toward meeting Colorado's declared goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing a reliable, adaptable supply of electricity for homes, businesses, and the rapidly increasing numbers of electric vehicles, and that existing limits on customer-sited renewable energy generation facilities unnecessarily restrict this potential.Sections 3 and 5 remove most of the existing limitations on the size of distributed generation facilities, which currently cannot exceed 120% of a customer's historical annual usage, to qualify for renewable energy credits. Section 3 also expands an existing exemption from regulation as a public utility to include persons who sell excess power from distributed generation located anywhere on their property or on property owned or leased by others in a master meter operation, e.g., an apartment building or mobile home park. Section 4 grants master meter operators (MMOs) that sell power from distributed generation a limited exemption from the general requirement not to charge their end users any amount above what they are billed for electricity supplied by the serving electric utility. MMOs may retain refunds, rebates, rate reductions, net metering credits, and similar reductions offered by the serving utility in its net metering program. The public utilities commission (PUC) is directed to adopt rules encouraging landlords and tenants in multi-unit buildings to share in the costs and benefits of installing new distributed generation facilities.Section 5 requires a qualifying retail utility to allow, and to adopt standards for the approval of, customer-owned meter collar adapters in residential installations. The PUC retains authority to resolve any disputes concerning the standards or their application in specific cases. Section 2 defines a meter collar adapter as a device installed between the electric meter and the meter socket box that allows the customer to interconnect power from on-site sources.Section 5 also:Replaces the term "standard rebate offer" with "net metering service" where appropriate, to more accurately reflect current practice; Requires qualifying retail utilities, under their net metering service, to purchase energy produced from any renewable energy resources rather than exclusively solar energy resources; Doubles the size of eligible on-site renewable energy installations from 500 kilowatts to one megawatt; Limits the size of eligible off-site renewable energy installations to 500 kilowatts for a single-meter installation or 300 kilowatts per meter for a multi-meter installation; Narrows the requirements for small hydroelectric facilities that qualify as renewable energy resources to exclude those that require the construction of new dams or reservoirs; Adds renewable energy storage as an eligible energy resource under the renewable energy standard and defines "renewable energy storage" as a facility that stores energy that is derived only from renewable energy resources; Allows a customer to carry forward monthly bill credits from distributed generation indefinitely, at any service address within a qualifying retail utility's service territory, unless the customer chooses to be reimbursed annually or to donate the excess to a low-income energy assistance program; and Directs the PUC to adopt rules to accommodate the aggregation and interconnection of retail distributed generation, including the pooling of renewable energy resources under a master meter or similar arrangement and the allocation of credits among customers on different rate schedules. Section 6 appropriates $91,488 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the PUC to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under Colorado law, an insurer who has declared a vehicle a total loss may obtain a salvage or nonrepairable title for the vehicle when the owner has failed to cooperate. The act authorizes an agent of an insurer to do the same.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise (enterprise) within the department of public health and environment (department) to develop and modernize the recycling and composting infrastructure in the state. The enterprise is authorized to issue revenue bonds.The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise grant program (grant program) within the department to provide grants to eligible entities to: Create new or expand existing recycling, recovery, and composting operations;Create markets for recycled materials, including the use of food service packaging as feedstock in the production of new products; andFacilitate recycling, composting, litter cleanup, and education efforts concerning recycling and composting practices. The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise board (enterprise board) to administer the grant program and submit an annual report concerning the grant program.The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise grant program cash fund (cash fund) and requires the enterprise board to award grants from the cash fund.The bill allows the executive board to promulgate rules to implement the grant program and requires the solid and hazardous waste commission (commission) to promulgate rules establishing a process for calculating the rates at which common types of food service packaging are being recycled or composted in the state, based on recently available data. On or before January 1, 2025, the commission must use the process to calculate such rates. Thereafter, the commission must recalculate each rate at least every 2 years. The enterprise board must evaluate the rates and advise the commission regarding their accuracy.The bill requires the enterprise to determine and impose a fee on food service packaging that is initially sold or offered for sale in the state, as follows:On and after January 1, 2022, and until January 1, 2030, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed three-tenths of a cent on each unit of the food service packaging;On and after January 1, 2030, and until January 1, 2035, if the food service packaging is a type of food service packaging for which the commission has calculated a recycling or composting rate that is less than 50%, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed six-tenths of a cent on each unit of the food service packaging; andOn and after January 1, 2035, if the food service packaging is a type of food service packaging for which the commission has calculated a recycling or composting rate that is less than 75%, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed one cent on each unit of the food service packaging. The enterprise shall collect the fee from the distributor that initially sells the food service packaging into the state. All money collected as fees must be deposited into the cash fund.The bill requires the commission to conduct an assessment of the state's recycling and composting infrastructure on or before January 1, 2022, including examining the types of food service packaging being collected, processed, recycled, or composted in the state.The bill creates the stakeholder advisory committee on recycling (advisory committee) in the department of public health and environment (department) and requires the advisory committee to: Conduct a literature review of various policy concepts relating to post-consumer recycled content requirements for packaging; Review rates and time frames in which post-consumer recycled content may be feasibly required for all packaging applications and materials; and Submit a report on or before July 1, 2022, to subject matter committees of the general assembly, which report must include recommendations in subject matter areas in which the advisory committee achieved consensus and note dissenting opinions in subject matters in which the advisory committee failed to achieved consensus. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $139,775 to the department for use by the division of environmental health and sustainability to implement the bill. (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 members of a county board of health or a district board of health and members of the state board of health, on and after January 1, 2022, to attend both annual public health training provided by the department of public health and environment and developed by the department of public health and environment along with the Colorado school of public health and annual public health training developed and provided by the department of public health and environment and the director of the office of emergency management concerning the role of a board of health in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from an emergency disaster.The act also requires the department of public health and environment, on and after January 1, 2022, to develop guidance on recruiting persons to serve on county and district boards of health and to provide this guidance to any board of county commissioners, county board of health, or district board of health that requests it.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the state treasurer to make an immediate, one-time transfer of $3 million from the general fund to the agriculture value-added cash fund to augment the department of agriculture's ongoing advancing Colorado's renewable energy and energy efficiency (ACRE 3 ) program. At least $150,000 of this money must be allocated to research, guidance, technical assistance, feasibility studies, and projects related to agrivoltaics. "Agrivoltaics" is defined as solar energy generation facilities located on land that is also used for agricultural production.The act appropriates the $3 million from the agriculture value-added cash fund to the department of agriculture for use by the commissioner's office to make grants to implement the ACRE 3 program.The act also appropriates $2 million from the general fund to the department of agriculture for use by the conservation services division for the purpose of administering voluntary soil health programs. Of this amount, the department is directed to expend at least $1 million in grants to conservation districts, and all of the money appropriated to the conservation services division must be expended by December 31, 2022.The act requires the department of agriculture to periodically report on its expenditures to the office of state planning and budgeting and the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the laws that create the joint technology committee (JTC), the Colorado cybersecurity council (council), and the office of information technology (office), to reflect the current information technology (IT) environment and direction in the state.Modifications related to the JTC are as follows:Updates definitions used by the JTC to be consistent with the definitions used by the office; and Allows the JTC to request information and presentations regarding data privacy and data security, specifies that the JTC oversees any state agency that has been delegated IT functions by the office, and makes other modifications to make the provisions governing the JTC and the office consistent. Modifications related to the council are as follows:Specifies additional functions of the council, modifies the composition of the council, and allows the council to coordinate with other entities regarding cybersecurity. Modifications related to the office are as follows:Consolidates all of the definitions that apply to the office into one section and updates some definitions to align with best practices and industry standards; Relocates provisions of current law regarding the information technology revolving fund and the coordination of the statewide geographic information system; Repeals and reenacts the roles and responsibilities section of law for the office and defines the office's roles and responsibilities in connection with IT; adds additional responsibilities when a state agency undertakes a major IT project, when a state agency is the business owner of an IT system, and when the office is involved in a state agency's IT project only as a party to the contract; Authorizes the office to delegate an IT function to a state agency and specifies procedures and requirements that the office and the state agency are required to follow when such delegation occurs; Repeals and reenacts the current provisions in law regarding the duties and responsibilities of the chief information officer (CIO) and updates the duties and responsibilities of the CIO; Relocates current law that authorizes the revisor of statutes to change certain statutory references in connection with the creation of the office; Updates the timelines and dates for the development of IT security plans and certain required reports regarding those plans for state agencies, institutions of higher education, and the legislative branch; Repeals and reenacts current law regarding interdepartmental data protocol that governs data-sharing among state agencies and specifies requirements of the office and the government data advisory board regarding the creation of a data-sharing and privacy master plan and additional requirements for when a state agency shares personal identifying information with another state agency; and Updates the office's annual reporting requirement to the general assembly regarding IT asset inventory. The act makes conforming amendments and repeals obsolete provisions regarding the consolidation of IT functions to the office, the transfer of employees and officers to the office, the creation of a work eligibility verification portal, the creation and implementation of the Colorado financial reporting system, and a reporting requirement on the transfer of IT infrastructure ownership. The act also repeals provisions regarding the statewide communications and information infrastructure that are incorporated into other provisions of law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the following alcohol beverage licensees to obtain a festival permit, which would allow the licensees to hold festivals where they may conduct joint tastings and engage in any retail operations authorized by their licenses or permits:A beer and wine licensee; A hotel and restaurant licensee; A tavern licensee; A brew pub licensee; A vintner's restaurant licensee; A distillery pub licensee; A winery or limited winery licensee; A spirits manufacturer; and A beer manufacturer. Local licensing authorities may create a permitting process for these festivals. Licensees may obtain a permit to hold up to 9 festivals in 12 months, with each festival lasting no longer than 72 hours. Other licensees may participate in the festival.The act appropriates $511,210 to the department of revenue from the liquor enforcement division and state licensing authority cash fund to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)