The act creates a right of first refusal and a right of first offer for local governments to make an offer to purchase certain types of multifamily rental properties. Both the right of first refusal and the right of first offer terminate on December 31, 2029, and a local government is not entitled to exercise either right after that date unless the local government exercised the right before December 31, 2029 and the process has not concluded. For multifamily rental properties that are existing affordable housing consisting of not less than five units, a local government has a right of first refusal to make a matched offer for the purchase of such property, subject to the local government's commitment to using the property as long-term affordable housing. Existing affordable housing is housing that is subject to one or more restricted use covenants or similar recorded agreements to ensure affordability consistent with affordable housing financial assistance requirements. The act requires the seller of such property to give notice to the local government and to the Colorado housing and finance authority at least 2 years before the final expiration of the last remaining affordability restriction on the property of the date of such expiration, a second notice not less than 6 months before the final expiration of the last remaining affordability restriction, and additional notice when the seller takes certain actions as a precursor to selling the property. Sharing information provided by the seller in certain notices is subject to execution of a nondisclosure agreement. Upon receiving the third notice indicating an intent to sell the property or of a potential sale of the property, the local government has 14 calendar days to preserve its right of first refusal and an additional 30 calendar days to make an offer and must agree to close on the property within 60 calendar days of the acceptance of the local government's offer; except that, if the seller has received an entirely cash offer from a third-party buyer, then the local government must agree to close within the same time period as is set forth in the third-party buyer's offer. If the price as listed in the seller's notice is reduced by 5% or more or if the required terms and conditions of an acceptable offer that has been communicated to the local government materially change, the seller must provide notice of the change within 7 days and the local government may exercise or re-exercise its right of first refusal. If the seller rejects an offer by the local government, the seller must provide a written explanation of the reasons, invite the local government to make one subsequent offer within 14 days, and must accept or reject the local government's subsequent offer within 14 days of the subsequent offer being made. For all other multifamily rental properties that are 30 years or older and have not more than 100 units and not less than 15 units, a local government has a right of first offer. A seller of such property must provide notice of intent to sell the property to the local government before the seller enters into an agreement with a licensed broker to solicit and procure purchasers or otherwise lists the property for sale on the multiple listing service. After receipt of the notice, the local government has 7 days to respond by either indicating the local government is interested in receiving due diligence information on the property to evaluate whether it wants to make an offer, which response must include a nondisclosure agreement in a form acceptable to the seller, or waiving any right to purchase the property. If the local government does not respond within this time period, it is deemed to have waived its right of first offer with respect to the property. The local government's right of first offer is subject to the property being used or converted for the purpose of providing long-term affordable housing or mixed-income development. If the local government has requested due diligence information, the seller has 5 days to provide the information to the local government and the local government then has 14 days to make an offer or waive its right of first offer. If a response is not provided in this period, the right of first offer is deemed waived. The seller has 14 days to accept or reject the local government's offer, and, if the seller does not provide notice, the offer is deemed rejected. If the seller accepts the offer, the parties have 30 days to negotiate and execute a contract for the purchase of the property and then 60 days to close on the transaction, unless both parties agree to other terms. In exercising its right of first refusal or first offer, the local government may partner with certain other entities for the financing of the transaction and may also assign either right with respect to all applicable properties in the local government's jurisdiction or with respect to a single property to certain other entities that are then subject to all the rights and requirements of the local government in exercising either right. The act allows certain sales of property to be exempt from the right of first offer or from both the right of first refusal and the right of first offer. Upon completion of the requirements of the seller for the right of first refusal and for the right of first offer, the local government, or its assignee if it has assigned either right, is required to execute and record a certificate of compliance stating that the seller has complied with all applicable provisions for the right of first refusal or right of first offer. The act also requires the attorney general's office to enforce the provisions of the act and grants the attorney general's office, the local government, or a local government's assignee standing to bring a civil action for violations of the right of first refusal or first offer established by the act. If a court finds that a seller has materially violated the law with respect to the right of first refusal or first offer, respectively, the court must award a statutory penalty of not less than $10,000 for a first offense and not less than $30,000 for any subsequent offenses but the court cannot award a statutory penalty that is more than $100,000. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act requires the Colorado energy office to issue a request for information by December 1, 2024, to solicit interest from local governments that are served by a dual-fuel utility (utility) in becoming a gas planning pilot community (community). A gas planning pilot community is defined in the act as a local government in which constituents have gas service provided by a utility and an active franchise agreement with the utility, which local government formally indicates an interest in working with the utility to mutually explore opportunities for neighborhood-scale alternatives projects. A neighborhood-scale alternatives project geographically targets decommissioning a portion of the gas distribution system or avoids expanding the gas distribution system in order to serve new construction projects and provides alternative energy service to buildings within the project area that reduces future greenhouse gas emissions required to serve buildings. By April 30, 2025, the Colorado energy office and a utility must jointly file with the public utilities commission (commission) the results of the request for information, identifying up to 5 proposed communities. In identifying proposed communities, the Colorado energy office and the utility must prioritize local governments that are interested in pursuing thermal energy network or geothermal energy projects as part of the proposed community's evaluation of potential neighborhood-scale alternatives projects. The Colorado energy office and the utility must also jointly file a draft agreement between the utility and a proposed community to identify and pursue a neighborhood-scale alternatives project. The commission must approve or modify the list of proposed communities by June 30, 2025. By October 1, 2025, though a utility and local government may agree to extend this deadline, a utility and each approved community must enter into an agreement, and the utility must submit to the commission a list of the communities with which the utility has entered into an agreement. For each approved community, the utility is required to disclose certain data and information to the Colorado energy office, the commission, and the community to inform the evaluation of potential neighborhood-scale alternatives projects. The act requires the utility to work with an approved community to rank neighborhood-scale alternatives projects and, before June 1, 2026, to submit at least one neighborhood-scale alternatives project to the commission for approval if the neighborhood-scale alternatives project has the full support of potentially affected customers. The filing must also contain a list of potential neighborhood-scale alternatives projects that are ranked highly but do not have full customer support at the time of the filing. Prior to June 1, 2027, a utility and a local government must jointly submit an application for commission approval of the neighborhood-scale alternatives projects included on this list, which projects may lack full customer support if the local government has determined that a reasonable majority of customers supports each project. The joint application must also include the net costs of the projects. If a utility will not pursue a neighborhood-scale alternatives project in one or more communities, the utility and local government, prior to June 1, 2027, are required to jointly file a report with the commission explaining why a project will not be pursued in that community. The commission must allow a utility to recover costs incurred from the implementation of a neighborhood-scale alternatives project. In approving a neighborhood-scale alternatives project, the commission may modify the gas utility's service requirement for select premises with an alternative energy service requirement. A utility may propose to fund conversion of existing gas appliances or equipment to nonemitting thermal resources and may also propose to offer new rate structures to pay for thermal energy networks or other nonemitting thermal resources as an alternative energy service. By June 1 of each year following approval of a neighborhood-scale alternatives project, a utility is required to submit a report to the commission on the implementation of any approved neighborhood-scale alternatives projects. By July 1, 2028, or another time determined by the commission, the commission must hire a third-party consultant to conduct an analysis of all approved and proposed neighborhood-scale alternatives projects and present the findings of the analysis to the commission and the general assembly. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $43,650 to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office from the general fund for program administration; and $29,678 to the commission from the public utilities commission fixed utility fund for personal services and operating expenses. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends the conservation easement oversight commission (commission) and the certified holder program indefinitely. The act replaces a nonvoting member of the commission who represents the great outdoors Colorado trust fund (GOCO) with a voting member who represents GOCO and who is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the executive director of GOCO. The act also adds a voting member appointed by the governor who meets the definition of "socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher" as defined in federal law. A conservation easement tax credit (credit) is not available for income tax years commencing after December 31, 2031, except for credits created on or before December 31, 2031, and subsequently transferred or carried over as a credit in other tax years. The cap for the total value of credits that may be claimed by and credited to donors of a conservation easement (easement) in one calendar year is increased from $45 million to $50 million starting in calendar year 2025. Credits filed after the cap is reached are placed in a priority system of allocation based on the date the application for the credit was filed, the completeness of the application, and whether the application is approved. Earlier filed credits take precedence over later filed credits. Credits for easements donated in a prior year are eligible for tax credit certificates in subsequent years in order of application. The act provides that for conservation easements donated on or after January 1, 2027, a taxpayer may claim 80% of the fair market value of the donated portion of the easement. Credits may be issued in increments of no more than $1.5 million per year. The total aggregate amount of the credit that may be refunded to the owners, partners, and shareholders of an entity donating an easement may not exceed $200,000 for income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. On and after January 1, 2027, the act eliminates the requirement that to claim the credit, the state controller must certify that the amount of state revenues for the fiscal year ending in the income tax year for which the refund is claimed exceeds the limitation on state fiscal year spending for that fiscal year. The act allows an easement granted on or after January 1, 2025, to include a provision that, subject to specified requirements, allows the holder to approve expanded wind or solar energy facilities that are compatible with and do not impair conservation values. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $12,925 is appropriated from the conservation cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of conservation. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The statewide transit pass exploratory committee (committee) is created in the department of transportation (department) to produce a viable proposal for the creation, implementation, and administration of a statewide transit pass (proposal). The committee is required to meet as necessary to produce a viable proposal by July 1, 2026, with the goal of implementing a statewide transit pass by January 1, 2028. The committee consists of members, appointed by the executive director of the department, who represent specified types of organizations and have specified knowledge or experience. In conducting its work, the committee is required to consider specified issues and to solicit input from subject matter experts and interested parties across the state. The committee is required to submit its proposal, including recommendations for any necessary legislation in connection with the proposal, to the executive director of the department and the members of the transportation legislation review committee of the general assembly on or before July 1, 2026. The existing ozone season transit grant program is combined with a new program to provide youth fare free transit grants and together are created as the zero fare transit grant program in the Colorado energy office (office). The zero fare transit grant program is created to provide grants to: The Colorado association of transit agencies (CASTA) for the purpose of providing grants to eligible transit agencies to offer either free transit services for a minimum of 30 days during ozone season or fare free year-round transit services for individuals who are 19 years of age or younger; and The regional transportation district (RTD) for the purpose of providing fare free year-round transit services for individuals who are 19 years of age or younger. To receive a grant, CASTA or the RTD must submit an application to the office in accordance with the act and policies established by the office. An eligible transit agency that receives a grant from CASTA may use the grant money to either cover the costs associated with providing new or expanded free transit services within its service area during ozone season or to provide operating support for its transit operations and general transit programs so long as the eligible transit agency provides uninterrupted fare free year-round transit services to youth riders. The RTD may use the grant money to provide operating support for its transit operations and general transit programs, so long as the RTD provides uninterrupted fare free year-round transit services for youth riders. The RTD is required to report to the office and an eligible transit agency that receives a grant from CASTA is required to report to CASTA regarding its use of the grant money. CASTA is required to submit to the office a summary of the reported information for all eligible transit agencies that received a grant through CASTA. The office is required to establish policies governing the zero fare transit grant program and to report to the house of representatives transportation, housing, and local government committee and the senate transportation committee, or their successor committees, by December 31 of each year of the program. The zero fare transit fund (fund) is created in the treasury. The fund consists of money transferred to the fund from the ozone season transit grant program fund, money transferred to the fund from the multimodal transportation options fund, any other money that the general assembly appropriates or transfers to the fund, and any gifts, grants, or donations credited to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office for the zero fare transit grant program. The state treasurer is directed to transfer any money remaining in the ozone season transit grant program fund on June 30, 2024, to the fund. In addition, the state treasurer is directed to transfer $10 million from the multimodal transportation and mitigation options fund to the fund on July 1, 2024. A regional transportation authority is allowed to derive up to one-half, rather than one-third, of its total revenue from a visitor benefit tax and, unlike in the past, to levy such a tax at a rate greater than 2%. The department is authorized to use money that was previously transferred to the state highway fund for a designated purpose in connection with the development of the Burnham Yard rail property for new purposes including site preparation, site enhancements, planning, and facilitating a track alignment that preserves buildable land while promoting transit and rail capacity and increasing safety in connection with the development of the Burnham Yard rail property. APPROVED by Governor May 16, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 16, 2024(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 act changed the requirements to be issued an instruction permit by requiring, on or after January 1, 2027: Minors who are 15 years of age or older and under 18 years of age to complete a 30-hour driver education course, which may include an online course, approved by the department of revenue (department); and Minors who are 18 years of age and older to either complete a 30-hour driver education course, which may include an online course, approved by the department or a 4-hour prequalification driver awareness program approved by the department. The act requires a minor who is under 21 years of age to successfully complete an instruction program in motorcycle safety that is approved by the Colorado state patrol before being issued an instruction permit to drive a motorcycle. The act authorizes the following individuals who hold a valid Colorado driver's license to supervise a minor's driving under a permit: The minor's parent or stepparent; The minor's grandparent with power of attorney; An individual who is 21 years of age or older and who signed the affidavit of liability; The minor's foster parent who signed the affidavit of liability; An approved driver education instructor; An alternate permit supervisor who is 21 years of age or older and is appointed by the person who signed the affidavit of liability; and If the minor is a foster child, an individual authorized to supervise the foster child. The act authorizes the issuance of a temporary driver's license or temporary minor driver's license, which temporary license is valid for up to one year unless extended by the department of revenue and which immediately becomes invalid upon issuance of a permanent driver's license or upon refusal for good cause. The act prohibits a person who has been convicted of certain violent or sexual crimes from providing behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors and at-risk adults. A commercial driving school is prohibited from employing such a driving instructor to provide behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors and at-risk adults. Each instructor employed by a commercial driving school must obtain a fingerprint-based criminal history record check to verify that the instructor has not committed a disqualifying crime. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 1, 2026(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summaryThis bill eliminates the state severance tax exemption currently granted to stripper wells, which are low-producing oil and gas wells that extract fifteen barrels of oil or ninety thousand cubic feet of gas per day or less. By removing this exemption, the legislation requires operators of these wells to pay the same severance tax rates as higher-producing wells, with the collected revenue distributed between the state and local governments. The measure also adjusts related tax credits to ensure that stripper wells no longer receive preferential treatment under Colorado's existing tax code.
Under current law, the air quality control commission (commission) consists of 9 members. As of October 1, 2024, section 2 of the bill increases the membership of the commission to 11 members to include: One member who represents a disproportionately impacted community and the interests of communities of color and who does not derive income from an entity that the commission regulates; and One climate scientist employed by an organization that does not derive income from an entity that the commission regulates. Under current law, the commission is required to adopt rules regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the industrial and manufacturing sector (sector). Section 3 requires the commission to adopt rules, to be implemented by January 1, 2025, that: Prohibit GHG emissions from the sector from increasing in the near term and require sector-wide emissions not to exceed 97 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide equivalent cumulatively between 2025 and 2030; Prohibit a sector source from complying with GHG emissions compliance obligations by making a payment unless the payment is made in exchange for GHG credit that is surrendered as part of a GHG credit trading program; and Establish source-specific GHG emission reduction requirements that must be met through direct reductions of GHG emissions for a sector source that adversely affects a disproportionately impacted community. Section 3 also clarifies the definition of "GHG credit", as applied to the requirement for commission rule-making, to include an allowance to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent of GHG by a regulated source.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the act establishes a category of local government: A transit-oriented community. As defined in the act, a transit-oriented community is either a local government that: Is either entirely or partially within a metropolitan planning organization; Has a population of 4,000 or more; and Contains at least 75 acres of certain transit-related areas; or If the local government is a county, contains either a part of: A transit station area that is both in an unincorporated part of the county and within one-half mile of a station that serves a commuter rail service or light rail service; or A transit corridor area that both is in an unincorporated part of the county and is fully encompassed by one or more municipalities. The act requires a transit-oriented community to meet its housing opportunity goal. A housing opportunity goal is a zoning capacity goal determined based on an average zoned housing density of 40 dwelling units per acre multiplied by the number of acres of transit-related areas within a transit-oriented community. On or before September 30, 2024, the department of local affairs (department) shall develop a map that identifies the transit-related areas necessary for the calculation of a housing opportunity goal and the various reports required by the act. To accomplish its housing opportunity goal, a transit-oriented community shall ensure that the zoning capacity within certain areas of the transit-oriented community meets or exceeds the transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal. The main category of area that the act requires a transit-oriented community to increase the zoning capacity of to meet the transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal is a transit center. In order to qualify as a transit center, an area must: Be composed of zoning districts that uniformly allow a net housing density of at least 15 units per acre; Identify the effective net housing density for the area by accounting for dimensional or other restrictions used to regulate density in the area, accounting for minimum parking requirements, and assuming an average housing unit size; Not include any area where local law exclusively restricts housing occupancy based on age or other factors; Have an administrative approval process for multifamily residential property development on parcels that are 5 acres or less in size; and Be located wholly or partially within a transit area or optional transit area and not extend more than one-quarter mile from the edge of a transit area or optional transit area. In addition to designating an area as a transit center for purposes of meeting a housing opportunity goal, the act allows local governments to designate areas as neighborhood centers for that purpose. The act requires transit-oriented communities to submit a series of reports to the department regarding the calculation, satisfaction, and implementation of a transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal. The act requires a transit-oriented community to submit the following to the department: On or before June 30, 2025, a preliminary transit-oriented community assessment report to the department that includes the transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal, the data and method used to calculate that housing opportunity goal, and the areas within the transit-oriented community that may need to be zoned to accomplish that housing opportunity goal; On or before December 31, 2026, an identification of the affordability strategies from the standard and long-term affordability strategies menus in the act that the transit-oriented community will implement; On or before December 31, 2026, an identification of the displacement mitigation strategies from the long-term displacement mitigation strategies menus in the act that the transit-oriented community will implement; and On or before December 31, 2026, a housing opportunity goal report for the department's review and approval that demonstrates that the transit-oriented community has met its housing opportunity goal and complied with the affordability and displacement mitigation requirements of the act. Additionally, on or before December 31, 2026, a transit-oriented community may notify the department that the transit-oriented community has an insufficient water supply to accomplish its housing opportunity goal, and the transit-oriented community may make a corresponding request for the department to modify the transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal. If the department approves a transit-oriented community's housing opportunity goal report on or before December 31, 2027, the department shall designate the transit-oriented community as a certified transit-oriented community. A certified transit-oriented community is the only eligible entity for the transit-oriented communities infrastructure fund grant program (grant program) created within the department. The purpose of the grant program is to assist transit-oriented communities in upgrading infrastructure within transit centers and neighborhood centers. In administering the grant program, the department shall prioritize grant applicants based on the information in the reports described in the act. Grants from the grant program are awarded from money in the transit-oriented communities infrastructure fund (fund). The fund consists of gifts, grants, and donations along with money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund and money in the account described in the act. The fund is continuously appropriated. On July 1, 2024, the state treasurer shall transfer $35 million from the general fund to the fund. Section 2 prohibits a planned unit development resolution or ordinance that is adopted on or after the effective date of the act and that applies within a transit center or neighborhood center from restricting the development of housing more than the local law that applies to that transit center or neighborhood center. Section 3 requires a local government, when requiring a real property owner to dedicate real property to the public, to provide a private property owner the option of paying a fee, rather than dedicating the private real property to the public, if the real property does not meet local government standards for dedication. Section 4 makes any restriction by a unit owners' association within a transit center or neighborhood center on the development of housing that is adopted on or after the effective date of the act and is beyond the local law that applies to that transit center or neighborhood center void as a matter of public policy. Section 5 requires the department of transportation to conduct a study that identifies both: Policy barriers and opportunities within the department of transportation including an examination of policies within the state access code, roadway design standards, and the treatment of pedestrian and bicycle crossings. The study must examine the impact of these policies on neighborhood centers and transit centers; and The portions of state highway that pass through locally-identified transit centers and neighborhood centers that are appropriate for context-sensitive design, complete streets. In addition to the $35 million appropriated to the fund, section 7 makes 2 appropriations. First, section 7 appropriates $183,138 to the governor for use by the Colorado energy office to implement the act. Second, section 7 appropriates $70,000 to the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information services for the department. APPROVED by Governor May 13, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 13, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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.)