The act defines "reimbursement" for purposes of reimbursing the expenditure of money from state emergency reserve as a repayment of expenditures for which the state previously designated emergency money and specifies that federal cost share provided through a federal emergency management agency public assistant grant is not reimbursement. To specify the authority of all fire response agencies, rather than just a fire protection district, to transfer the management of a wildland fire to the county sheriff (sheriff) when the fire exceeds the capability of the fire response agency to manage, the act authorizes a fire department, as defined in law, to transfer the management of a wildland fire and repeals references to transfers by a fire protection district. The act also specifies that the sheriff may develop a wildfire preparedness plan for the unincorporated area of a county as required by law, in cooperation with any fire department, rather than only with a fire district, with jurisdiction over the unincorporated area. The act repeals references to the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) in the statutes that address the response to and management of wildland fires, as the CWPP addresses the identification and reduction of hazards and is not focused on the response to or management of wildland fires. Instead, the act specifies that the sheriff and the fire chief of a fire protection district (fire chief) are subject to any relevant plans or agreements in the response to and management of wildland fires. To allow the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety (division) and the sheriff to determine the most appropriation management strategy when the management of a wildland fire has been transferred from the sheriff to the division, the act repeals the requirement that the division and the sheriff use the unified command management strategy when the management of a wildland fire has been transferred to the division. The act also repeals the requirement that the unified command management strategy be used in a hazardous substance incident to allow responding agencies to determine the most appropriate response to and management of such an incident. The act repeals the requirement that a sheriff appoint a local incident management team to provide command control to manage a wildland fire and instead requires the sheriff to appoint an incident commander for a wildland fire. In addition, the act specifies that the agency that has jurisdiction over any wildland fire in the state is required to manage the fire using the incident command system as defined in law. The act repeals references to the Colorado state emergency operation plan (SEOP) in the statute designating the division as the lead state agency for wildland fire response and suppression, as the SEOP can only be activated by an executive order and does not apply to the majority of wildland fire operations. In addition the act repeals inaccurate references to the state forest service in that statute. APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
Transportation Legislation Review Committee. The bill creates the vulnerable road user protection enterprise in the department of transportation (CDOT) for the purpose of providing funding for transportation system infrastructure improvements and other data-driven strategies identified in the federal highway administration-mandated vulnerable road user safety assessment, which CDOT is required to develop, that reduce the number of collisions with motor vehicles that result in death or serious injury to vulnerable road users (eligible projects). The enterprise is required to impose a vulnerable road user protection fee, which is imposed in tiered amounts that are calculated based on motor vehicle weight and configuration, on the registration of passenger cars and light trucks that are not commercial vehicles. Fee revenue is credited to a newly created vulnerable road user protection enterprise cash fund and continuously appropriated to the enterprise. The enterprise is authorized to provide grants, subject to specified parameters relating to grant amounts, matching money requirements, and the use of grant money, to fund eligible projects. The enterprise is required to: Publish and post on its website a 5-year plan that details how the enterprise will execute its business purpose and estimates the amount of funding that will be available to implement the plan; Create, maintain, and regularly update on its website a public accountability dashboard; and Prepare an annual report, present the report to the transportation commission and specified legislative committees, and post the report on its website.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act generally prohibits covenants and other restrictions that disallow the installation, use, or maintenance of fire-hardened building materials in residential real property, including in common interest communities. However, the act allows a unit owners' association of a common interest community to develop reasonable standards regarding the design, dimensions, placement, or external appearance of fire-hardened building materials used for fencing within the community. APPROVED by Governor March 12, 2024 EFFECTIVE March 12, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill establishes a process by which a student, parent, or member of the community may object to a library resource in a school or public library. Each library resource that is reconsidered pursuant to the process must be evaluated based on standards applied by a committee for school libraries and a director of a public library. Members of the committee for school libraries are appointed by the superintendent of the school district, and the committee covers reconsideration requests in all schools in the district. For public libraries, the director is selected by the library's board of trustees and covers the library or libraries in the library district. A library resource may not be removed while a request for reconsideration is pending. A principal, librarian, media specialist, other employee, contractor, or volunteer may refuse a directive to remove a library resource if such an individual has a good faith belief that the directive conflicts with law or policy established pursuant to the bill, and such an individual may not be subjected to retaliation. The bill prevents the state board of education from waiving the requirements of the bill as they are applied to public schools, district charter schools, and institute charter schools. The bill specifies that it is a discriminatory practice and unlawful for anyone to discriminate against anyone in the selection, retention, reconsideration, or display of a library resource. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill directs the board of governors of the Colorado state university system (board) to conduct, or cause to be conducted, a comprehensive study on biochar, including its use in wildfire mitigation efforts. The bill specifies minimum topics that the study must include. The board is required to submit a report on the findings of the study to specified committees of the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act requires an oil and gas operator in the state (operator), on or before September 1, 2023, on a monthly basis, with respect to each oil and gas well, and on or before January 1, 2024, and quarterly thereafter, with respect to the operator's oil and gas operations generally, to report information to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) regarding the operator's use of water entering, utilized at, or exiting each of the operator's wells or oil and gas locations, including information on the recycling and reuse of produced water. The act also requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before December 31, 2024, requiring a statewide reduction in usage of fresh water and a corresponding increase in usage of recycled or reused water in oil and gas operations. From the information reported to the commission under the act, the commission is required to: Include the information as part of the commission's annual reporting on cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations; and Report to the legislative energy committees a summary of the reported information on or before April 1, 2025. The act creates the Colorado produced water consortium in the department of natural resources (department) to make recommendations to state agencies and the general assembly regarding the recycling and reuse of produced water, develop guidance documents to promote best practices for in-field recycling and reuse of produced water, and analyze and report on: Existing produced water infrastructure, storage, and treatment facilities; The volume of produced water in different oil and gas basins available for recycling and reuse; and Additional infrastructure, storage, and technology needed to achieve different levels of recycling and reuse of produced water throughout the state. Annually starting in 2024, the consortium is required to update the legislative energy committees on the consortium's work, and the executive director of the department is required to report on the consortium's recommendations as part of the department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to a joint committee of the general assembly. The act repeals the consortium on September 1, 2030, subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. The act appropriates: $464,512 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources for use by the commission for program costs; and $30,169 from the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the water quality control division for personal services related to the drinking water program. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires each institution of higher education (institution) to acquire and stock a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors. The act encourages each institution to place epinephrine auto-injectors in sufficient quantities in emergency public access stations to ensure reasonable availability to a person perceived to be experiencing anaphylaxis. The act encourages the person, immediately after using an epinephrine auto-injector, to make a 911 emergency call. The act encourages an institution to accept a donation of a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors that meets standards established by the federal food and drug administration, and to accept gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind donations, designated for obtaining a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors. The act requires each institution to adopt a policy concerning the placement of epinephrine auto-injectors that focuses on areas where students gather in the largest volumes, including in dormitories and dining halls. The act provides immunity for any person who acts reasonably and in good faith to furnish or administer an epinephrine auto-injector to an individual the person reasonably believes is experiencing anaphylaxis. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the parks and wildlife commission (commission) to promulgate rules on or before July 1, 2024, establishing: A process by which the Chatfield watershed authority (authority) may request that the commission create by rule a water quality fee (fee) to be collected by the division of parks and wildlife (division) from visitors to Chatfield state park; Criteria for approving a request for such a fee; and Criteria for determining which visitors to Chatfield state park should be required to pay the fee. In promulgating the rules, the commission must ensure that the amount of the fee is rounded to the nearest dollar and does not exceed $2. The commission must review the fee on January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, and after each such review, the commission may either eliminate the fee or adjust the amount of the fee to account for inflation or deflation. On and after July 1, 2024, the commission may establish the fee. If the commission establishes the fee, the division must collect the fee on and after January 1, 2025. The division must transfer the total amount of money collected to the state treasurer, who must credit the money to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund (fund); except that the division may retain up to 3.33% percent of the amount of money collected as fees to pay its administrative costs. Beginning July 1, 2025, and every 6 months thereafter, the division must pay to the authority from the fund the total amount of money collected as fees during the preceding 6 months. If the commission establishes the fee, the commission: Must require the authority to expend up to 25% of the money received from the division on water quality projects within the boundaries of Chatfield state park; and May include additional requirements and restrictions concerning the expenditure by the authority of money received from the division on water quality projects inside the boundaries of Chatfield state park. The authority is required to expend the money received from the division to support water quality projects, including projects that provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of nonpoint source projects, water quality monitoring, and urban runoff and erosion management and control. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)