The act implements some of the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' (department) sunset review and report regarding the office of consumer counsel (office) and the utility consumers' board (board) by:Continuing the office and the board for 7 years, to 2028; Changing the name of the office to the office of the utility consumer advocate and the name of the head of the office from the consumer counsel to the director; Changing the board from a type 1 transfer to a type 2 transfer; and Repealing requirements that the board annually review the office's performance and confer with the executive director of the department regarding hiring and performance evaluation matters. The act also:Authorizes the director to consider statutory decarbonization goals, just transition, and environmental justice when determining whether it is in the public interest to appear in a proceeding before the public utilities commission (commission); Removes the cap on the number of employees that the director may employ; Authorizes the office to intervene in matters before the commission that relate to the provision or quality of telecommunications service; Prohibits the office from recommending that the commission take action that would interfere with collective bargaining regarding a regulated industry's employee wages, health insurance, or retirement benefits; Authorizes the director to inspect records and documents of a public utility and conduct depositions under oath of an officer, agent, or employee of a public utility; Requires the director or the director's designee to provide policy analysis to the executive director of the department regarding legislative matters pending before the general assembly that directly relate to the office's mission; Authorizes the office to make presentations and provide other forms of education to the general assembly about certain public utility matters; and Requires the department to include in its annual "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentation to the general assembly information regarding the office's work, including a summary of the matters in which the office intervened in the preceding year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Colorado law requires a person who moves to Colorado to register their motor vehicle within 90 days. The act requires a person who registers a vehicle after moving to Colorado to:Provide documentation of the vehicle's previous registration that contains the registration dates; Provide evidence of the date that the person became a Colorado resident unless the previous registration expired within 90 days before the owner applied to register the vehicle; and Pay the vehicle's registration taxes and fees that are prorated from the date the person became a Colorado resident to the date the person applied to register the vehicle unless the vehicle is used for interstate commerce or unless the owner registered the vehicle within 90 days after becoming a resident. The effect of these listed changes is that an owner who fails to register the vehicle within 90 days will be assessed back taxes and fees. The additional fees are transferred to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund (DRIVES account) that implements the computer system used by the division of motor vehicles and the county clerks. The department of revenue will lower motor vehicle fees to offset the additional revenues. The allocation and use of the taxes does not change. When the amount credited to the DRIVES account exceeds the appropriation to the DRIVES account, the excess money is credited as follows:The first $7.5 million to the statewide bridge enterprise special revenue fund; and The remainder to the highway users tax fund. Before the act was passed, Colorado law exempted people with expired temporary tags from paying the late fees for failing to register a vehicle. The act repeals this exemption. The act also imposes prorated registration taxes and fees to capture missed revenue when a person fails to register a vehicle when required by law.Colorado law limits to 2 the number of temporary plates that may be issued for a vehicle used to transport persons or property over the roads. The purchaser or owner may get a third plate if necessary for title or lien documentation. The act requires the purchaser or owner to pay the vehicle's registration taxes and fees to get the third temporary plate. If the sale is not consummated, the person who attempted to purchase the vehicle is entitled to a 12-month credit toward a subsequent registration of another vehicle.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $160,200 from the DRIVES account for use by the division of motor vehicles to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the natural disaster mitigation enterprise (enterprise). The enterprise is governed by a board of directors, imposes a fee on insurance companies that offer certain insurance policies or contracts, and uses the fee revenue to finance the natural disaster mitigation grant program and provide local governments technical assistance on natural disaster mitigation. The enterprise awards natural disaster mitigation grants to assist in the implementation of resilience and natural disaster mitigation measures and to assist entities that apply for federal grants that require matching funds and are dedicated to assisting in the implementation of pre-disaster natural disaster mitigation measures.Beginning July 1, 2023, the enterprise collects the fee annually from insurers that offer certain policies or contracts. For an insurer, the fee is equal to $2 multiplied by the number of certain policies or contracts of insurance held by the insurer that cover property or risks in the state. These policies include:Fire; Allied lines; Private crop; Farmers multiple peril; Homeowners multiple peril; and Commercial multiple peril. Insurers may recoup the cost of the fee from their policy holders, but insurers may not raise their premiums based on the fee.The board of directors of the enterprise shall submit a report by July 1 of each year to the committees of reference of the general assembly to which the department of public safety is assigned regarding the grant program. Both the enterprise and the fee are repealed, effective January 1, 2030.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates in the department of education the menstrual hygiene products accessibility grant program to provide awards to eligible grant recipients in order to provide menstrual hygiene products at no expense to students.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $100,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of education to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 3 of the act defines "disproportionately impacted community" (DIC) as:A community that is in a census block group where the proportion of households that are low income, that identify as minority, or that are housing cost-burdened is greater than 40%; or Any other community as identified or approved by a state agency, if the community: Has a history of environmental racism perpetuated through redlining, anti-Indigenous, anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic, or anti-Black laws; or is one where multiple factors may act cumulatively to affect health and the environment and contribute to persistent disparities. Section 3 also requires the air quality control commission (AQCC) to promote outreach to and engage with DICs by creating new ways to gather input from communities across the state, using multiple languages and multiple formats, and transparently sharing information about adverse effects resulting from its proposed actions.Section 4 creates the environmental justice action task force (task force) in the department of public health and environment (department), the goal of which is to propose recommendations to the general assembly regarding practical means to address environmental justice inequities, particularly within DICs. The department will report on the task force's activities during the department's "SMART Act" presentations. The task force will:Hold meetings to solicit public comment concerning the development of a state agency-wide environmental justice strategy and a plan to implement that strategy, including ways to address data gaps and data sharing between state agencies and the engagement of disproportionately impacted communities; Evaluate and propose recommended revisions to the definitions of DIC, "proposed state action", and "agency" and the state agencies and their proposed actions that are subject to section 3; and File a final report by November 14, 2022, regarding its recommendations. Section 7 requires the AQCC to include greenhouse gas (GHG) in the list of air pollutants required to be reported in an air pollutant emission notice (APEN) and allows the AQCC to require that APENs for GHG report the previous calendar year's emissions of GHG in the form of carbon dioxide equivalent. Section 8 requires the AQCC to adopt rules, including permit processing fees, that apply to permits for sources of pollutants that cause or contribute to significant health or environmental impacts in DICs. Section 9 allows the division of administration in the department to reopen an air permit to add monitoring requirements for sources that affect DICs.Section 12 creates in the department the position of an environmental justice ombudsperson and directs the ombudsperson to promote environmental justice for the people of Colorado, particularly as an advocate for DICs and as a liaison between DICs and the department. Section 12 also creates in the department the environmental justice advisory board and directs the board to advise the ombudsperson and to develop guidelines for a grant program to fund environmental mitigation projects that avoid, minimize, measure, or mitigate adverse environmental impacts in DICs.Section 10 requires the AQCC to establish an annual APEN fee for GHG and authorizes the use of the fees to pay for the engagement of DICs required by section 3 and for the ombudsperson position created in section 12. Current law credits air quality fines to the general fund; section 13 creates the community impact cash fund and, over the course of 5 years, credits all of the fines to the fund, which is used to pay for environmental mitigation projects and the environmental justice advisory board.Section 14:Allows the AQCC to adopt rules that add permit requirements for sources that affect DICs; Directs the AQCC to adopt rules that pursue near-term reductions in GHG emissions, including reducing GHG emissions from electric utilities by at least 48% by 2025 and 80% by 2030, relative to 2005 levls; Directs the division to prepare an annual report that indicates whether GHG emission reduction requirements are being met and, if not, to develop and propose additional requirements to the AQCC; Requires each wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative to file with the public utilities commission (PUC) and the division an electric resource plan that will achieve at least an 80% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030, relative to 2005 levels; Requires certain electric utilities that serve at least 50,000 Colorado retail customers to either file a clean energy plan with the division or comply with AQCC rules that would require GHG emission reductions of at least 48% by 2025 and 80% by 2030, relative to 2005 levels; Requires the AQCC to adopt rules to reduce GHG emissions from oil and gas exploration, production, processing, transmission, and storage operations by at least 36% by 2025 and 60% by 2030, relative to 2005 levels; Requires the AQCC to adopt rules to reduce GHG emissions from the industrial and manufacturing sector in the state by at least 20% by 2030, relative to 2015 levels; and Authorizes the AQCC to adopt a rule or program that provides for the use of a trading program, including a comprehensive and centralized accounting system to track emissions from the sources that participate in the program. Section 16 requires that the economic impact analysis for GHG rules must include an analysis of the social cost of greenhouse gases. Section 17 requires that the division make publicly available the data upon which its GHG forecast is based and requires that the forecast include at least one scenario that does not include emission reductions projected to occur pursuant to existing law.Section 19 requires the just transition office in the division of employment and training in the department of labor and employment to develop a proposed long-term budget to adequately finance the just transition plan relating to the closure of coal-fired electric generation facilities. Section 20 modifies the mission statement for the Colorado energy office, including by adding the goal of supporting Colorado's transition to a more equitable, low-carbon, and clean energy economy and promoting resources that reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, including pollution and emissions from electricity generation, buildings, industry, agriculture, and transportation.Existing law requires electric utilities to provide best value employment metrics to the PUC when applying for approval of new resource acquisitions. Section 22 requires the state auditor to study the implementation of the best value employment metrics requirement.To implement the act, section 23 appropriates the following:$2,550,218 from the general fund and the community impact cash fund to the department, of which amount $382,680 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services and $239,642 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services; and $146,703 from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines "respite child care centers" and includes them in the overall definition of "child care center" for licensing purposes.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $14,092 is appropriated to the department of human services for use by the office of information technology services. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the office may use this appropriation for Colorado trails.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an off-highway vehicle to have a certificate of title in order to be transferred on or after July 1, 2023, unless the vehicle is exempt. Personal watercraft is added to the definition of off-highway vehicles, which requires registration.The act also exempts private transfers of off-highway vehicles from sales and use tax if the transfer occurred between individuals who are not dealers on or after July 1, 2014, and before July 1, 2023.Off-highway vehicle dealers are authorized to access the department of revenue's ownership and lienholder records to verify motor vehicle ownership and lienholding information to prevent fraud.Notwithstanding the requirement that an off-highway vehicle have a title to be transferred, the act authorizes a dealer to purchase an off-highway vehicle that was never titled if the dealer obtains an affidavit from the owner and the vehicle was:Privately transferred before July 1, 2023; or Used exclusively for agricultural purposes on private land. The act appropriates $45,887 for use by the division of motor vehicles and $53,422 for use by the Colorado state patrol to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following changes affecting claims for an income tax credit allowed for the donation of a perpetual conservation easement in gross (tax credit):Specifies that the division of conservation can be a holder of a conservation easement in gross; Authorizes the executive director to provide information regarding a taxpayer to another taxpayer or require information to be given to the division of conservation in certain circumstances; Modifies the definition of "taxpayer" to clarify the applicability of the tax credit to donations made by certain nonprofit and governmental entities; Modifies the process for filing conservation easement tax credit certificates with income tax returns; Eliminates the authority of the executive director of the department of revenue to require additional information regarding the amount and validity of tax credits and to resolve disputes regarding the credits; Establishes a process for the division of conservation to track the transfer of and certify the ownership of tax credits; Modifies the formula used to calculate the amount of the tax credit; Modifies the manner in which the amount of a tax credit is allocated among owners, partners, members, or shareholders of certain legal entities; Modifies certain provisions regarding the number of tax credits that may be claimed and the manner of claiming the credits; Eliminates the requirement that the donor of an easement is the tax matters representative for purposes of resolving issues and disputes relating to a transferred credit; Allows certain governmental entities that are not subject to income tax to be able to claim a transferrable expense amount for the donation of a perpetual conservation easement to be transferred to a transferee in lieu of claiming a tax credit; and Eliminates obsolete reporting requirements.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act:Specifies title use restrictions for certified addiction specialists, certified addiction technicians, and addiction counselor candidates; Establishes clinical supervision privileges for licensed and certified addiction counselors to provide supervision of persons working toward certification or licensure; and Clarifies the education and hours of practice required to be certified or licensed as an addiction counselor and the scope of practice of licensed addiction counselors. Expands the practice of a certified addiction technician and requires the state board of human services to promulgate rules that include education requirements for certified addiction technicians, certified addiction specialists, and licensed addiction counselors.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands the existing "Colorado Student Loan Servicers Act", which applies only to persons who service student loans, by adding a new part 2 covering private lenders, creditors, and collection agencies (private education lenders) in connection with those student education loans that are not made, insured, or guaranteed under federal law and that are used for postsecondary education. The act:Requires private education lenders to register with an assistant attorney general; Requires private education lenders to grant a release to cosigners if certain conditions are met, including 12 months of consecutive, on-time payments, and to ensure that cosigners have access to all documentation and records related to the loan they have cosigned; Expands disability discharge requirements so that a borrower or cosigner may be released from repayment obligations if permanently disabled; Prohibits "robo-signing" of documents used in collection lawsuits and requires specific evidence of loan origination and chain of ownership of the debt before a loan creditor or collection agency may commence legal proceedings; Prohibits auto-defaults, in which a loan is declared immediately due and payable upon the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner even when there has been no default in payments; and Provides legal recourse for borrowers who are harmed by predatory acts and practices of a private education lender. A violation of the new part 2 is defined as a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)