Current rules of the energy and carbon management commission (commission) require oil and gas operators to submit certain reports (covered report) to the commission in the event of a spill or release of a hazardous chemical (incident). The bill enacts the "Community Right to Know Act" to create additional notification requirements in the event of an incident (notification requirements). On and after July 1, 2024, oil and gas operators must, within 24 hours after the discovery of an incident, submit a covered report to the commission and the following state agencies (notification agency): For an incident involving air emissions or water contamination, the department of public health and environment; For an incident involving public conveyances, the department of transportation; and For an incident that results from a clear act of sabotage, vandalism, or a terrorist activity, the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety. The oil and gas operator must also, within 24 hours after the operator's submission of the covered report to a notification agency, deliver the covered report to certain persons that are located near the well site where the incident was caused (affected persons). Within 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report from an oil and gas operator, a notification agency must: Confirm with the oil and gas operator that the oil and gas operator has provided the covered report to any affected persons; Provide the covered report to any affected persons that have not yet received a covered report from the oil and gas operator; Provide the covered report to the county public health department and the county emergency notification party of the county or counties where the incident occurred; and On and after July 1, 2025, provide the covered report to the person designated by the executive director of the department of local affairs (DOLA) to receive covered reports from the notification agencies (designated person). On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report for a certain heightened level of an incident (warning-level covered report) from a notification agency, if the county public health department has an existing opt-in notification system, the county public health department must notify medical professionals in the county that have opted in to the county public health department's notification system about the incident. On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a warning-level covered report from a notification agency, the county emergency notification party must: If the county has an existing opt-in public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county that have opted in; and If the county does not have an existing opt-in public emergency notification system but has an existing public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county. On and after July 1, 2024, DOLA must maintain and routinely update a list of contact information for the county public health department and the county emergency notification party for each county in the state on DOLA's website. The bill also creates the hazardous chemical notification committee (committee) in DOLA. On or before July 1, 2025, the committee is required to develop content for a hazardous chemical notification website (website) that includes certain informational and educational content about hazardous chemicals, including short-term and long-term adverse health impacts, and an entry for each covered report received by the designated person on and after July 1, 2025. Beginning in the 2026 calendar year, and in each calendar year thereafter, the committee must meet on a quarterly basis to make updates to the content of the website. On or before July 1, 2026, and on or before each July 1 thereafter, DOLA must submit a written report (hazardous chemical notification report requirement) to the health and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, which report must include a summary of the notifications made by oil and gas operators, the notification agencies, county public health departments, and county emergency notification parties in the previous year. On or before July 1, 2025, and each calendar year thereafter, county public health departments and county emergency notification parties are required to provide a training to medical professionals and the public on the short-term and long-term adverse health impacts of exposure to hazardous chemicals and the notification requirements (training requirement). The bill provides for a repeal of the committee, the hazardous chemical notification report requirement, and the training requirement, effective September 1, 2034, after review in accordance with the general assembly's sunset review process. The bill also: Creates a $1,000 per day penalty for an oil and gas operator that does not comply with the notification requirements (violation); and Provides that if an oil and gas operator commits a violation 3 or more times, the oil and gas operator may not claim a waiver of liability for damages related to the third or subsequent violation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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The bill requires the Colorado school of public health to analyze draft model legislation for implementing a single-payer, nonprofit, publicly financed, and privately delivered universal health-care payment system for Colorado that directly compensates providers. The Colorado school of public health must submit a report detailing its findings to the general assembly by October 1, 2025 December 31, 2025 . The bill also creates the statewide health-care analysis advisory task force collaborative ("analysis collaborative") consisting of 21 members appointed 20 members invited by the general assembly and the governor executive director of the department of health care policy and financing, four members of the general assembly appointed by the president of the senate, minority leader of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, and the minority leader of the house of representatives , as well as executive directors of specified state departments, the commissioner of insurance, and the chief executive officer of the Colorado health benefit exchange or any designees of the executive directors, the commissioner, and the chief executive officer. The advisory task force analysis collaborative is created for the purpose of advising the Colorado school of public health during the analysis. (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.)
Current law prohibits a local government from creating laws that regulate the use of pesticides by pesticide applicators regulated by state or federal law. The bill allows a local government to create and enforce laws regulating the sale or use of pesticides to protect the health and safety of the community with certain exceptions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill creates a series of requirements related to accessory dwelling units in subject jurisdictions. As established in the bill, a subject jurisdiction is the unincorporated portion of a county that is not within: A unit owners' association; or An area identified as having a high fire intensity on the fire intensity scale published as part of the Colorado state forest service wildfire risk viewer. The bill requires a subject jurisdiction to allow, on or after January 1, 2025, subject to an administrative approval process, the conversion of an accessory dwelling unit. The bill also prohibits subject jurisdictions from applying a restrictive design or dimension standard to an accessory dwelling unit. Section 2 grants the Colorado economic development commission the power to contract with the Colorado housing and finance authority for the operation of a program in which the Colorado housing and finance authority offers direct loans for the conversion of accessory dwelling units on owner-occupied land.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act requires a coroner of a county with a population greater than 150,000 who is elected on or after November 5, 2024, to be either a death investigator certified by and in good standing with the American board of medicolegal death investigators or a forensic pathologist certified by and in good standing with the American board of pathology. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act strongly encourages a locally defined or interjurisdictional emergency management plan amended or created on or after July 1, 2024, and requires, when practicable, as determined after consideration of specified required factors, a locally defined or interjurisdictional emergency management plan amended or created on or after January 1, 2025, to address the needs of an individual with an animal during an emergency by: Including provisions for the evacuation, shelter, and transport of an individual with an animal and that animal; and Requiring, to the extent practicable, that at least one shelter established during an emergency is designated to accommodate an individual with an animal and that animal. The act also strongly encourages a city, county, or city and county to make available to the public, on or after January 1, 2025, information for animal emergency preparedness, including: Information for creating an evacuation plan and emergency checklist for individuals with animals consistent with recommendations publicly published by the United States department of agriculture and the federal emergency management agency; Local organizations that may provide emergency animal assistance; and Local emergency shelters, cooling centers, or warming centers, when active, that can accommodate an individual with an animal. Lastly, the act also strongly encourages a city, county, or city and county, on or after January 1, 2025, to implement disability etiquette and service animal training to ensure that emergency response personnel are well prepared to interact with individuals with disabilities and their service animals during emergency situations. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 11, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies provisions governing the Colorado health benefit exchange (exchange) by: Eliminating the requirement for the board of directors of the exchange (board) to submit a report on the development of the exchange to the governor and the general assembly by January 15 and instead requiring the report to be submitted annually and to address open enrollment; Requiring the board to also present an open enrollment update to specified legislative committees during each legislative session; Requiring the exchange, rather than the board, to annually present to the Colorado health insurance exchange oversight committee (committee) the exchange's financial and operational plans and the major actions taken by the board; and Modifying the number of meetings of the committee during the interim. APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or before July 1, 2027, section 2 of the bill requires the energy and carbon management commission (commission) to adopt rules (permitting rules) to cease issuing new oil and gas permits (permits) before January 1, 2030, which rules must include certain reductions in the total number of oil and gas wells covered by new permits issued in 2028 and 2029. Section 2 also requires the commission to include as a condition in any permit issued after July 1, 2024, that certain operations must commence on or before December 31, 2032, as to each oil and gas well included in the permit. If the commission determines that mitigation of adverse environmental impacts is necessary as a result of oil and gas operations, current law requires the commission to issue an order requiring a responsible party to perform the mitigation. If the responsible party refuses to perform the mitigation or is identified after the state provides funds for the mitigation, the commission must sue the responsible party to recover the costs of the mitigation. Section 3 changes current law by: Expanding mitigation to include mitigation of adverse environmental impacts as a result of any activity regulated by the commission; Adding a prior owner or operator to the definition of "responsible party"; and Allowing a current or prior owner or operator to be held jointly and severally liable for the costs of any mitigation. Section 4 requires the office of future of work to present recommendations as a result of the adoption of the permitting rules to the general assembly in January 2028.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires a facility that uses animals for health-related research to: Submit annual reports to the department of public health and environment regarding the use of animals in the facility; and Transfer dogs and cats owned by the facility to animal shelters and pet animal rescues before euthanizing the animal.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)