The SmartWay transport partnership program of the United States environmental protection agency (EPA) is a voluntary public-private program under which a business that transports freight for organizations that ship freight or that coordinates the transportation of freight for and hires transportation services providers on behalf of organizations that ship freight can register with the EPA as a registered SmartWay carrier partner or a registered SmartWay logistics company partner (SmartWay partner) for the purpose of measuring, benchmarking, and improving its logistics operations so that it can reduce its environmental footprint. The bill requires the state, when contracting for the transportation of freight or the coordination of the transportation of freight, to give preference to a transportation services provider that is a SmartWay partner.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Senate Third Reading Laid Over to 12/31/2020 - No Amendments
Senate Third Reading Laid Over to 11/01/2020 - No Amendments
The bill creates the Colorado Air and Space Port license plate for vehicles. Designated portions of the fees imposed by the bill for the issuance of the plate or a personalized version of the plate are credited to the highway users tax fund and the licensing services cash fund, and the remainder shall be used to make grants to colleges, universities, and vocational schools that provide programs in aerospace engineering, design, and maintenance.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Energy Legislation Review Interim Study Committee. The bill ensures that clean energy resources and energy storage systems used to store electricity are assessed for valuation for the purpose of property taxation in a similar manner to renewable energy facility property used to generate and deliver electricity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
If certain conditions are met, current law allows vehicle owners to get permits to move overweight loads. The bill creates a type of overweight permit for divisible loads granted to agricultural producers if: The vehicle is registered as a farm vehicle; The agricultural producer designates 100 days, which need not be consecutive, for each calendar year that the permit may be used; The vehicle is used to transport agricultural products from the place of production to the place of storage or sale; and The vehicle complies with rules governing the distribution of the load upon the vehicle's axles. The permit costs: $40 for general vehicles; $50 for quad axle groupings; $50 for vehicles with trailers with 2 or 3 axle groupings.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law provides that the occasional sales of alcohol by way of public auctions do not require a liquor license or compliance with the reporting requirements for licensed liquor distributors or retailers, so long as: The previous owner of the alcohol beverages has not claimed the beverages or furnished instruction for their disposition; The seller obtained the beverages as part of the foreclosure of a lien; The seller salvaged the beverages; or The seller operates a charitable organization and received the beverages as donations. However, the excise tax on alcohol beverages is nonetheless applicable to those occasional sales even though the licensing and compliance requirements do not apply. Because it is not clear that the excise tax on alcohol beverages still applies to those occasional sales, it was mistakenly identified as a tax expenditure in the department of revenue's tax expenditure report and thus mistakenly evaluated by the office of the state auditor as part of that office's evaluation of the state's tax expenditures. The bill clarifies the exemption. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law requires an off-highway vehicle to have a certificate of title to be transferred unless: It was first transferred before July 1, 2014, and not subsequently transferred to an off-highway vehicle dealer; or It was used exclusively for agricultural purposes on private land. Section 2 of the bill requires all off-highway vehicle transfers to have a certificate of title on or after July 1, 2021, but the agricultural exemption is not changed. Section 1 exempts private transfers of off-highway vehicles from sales tax if the transfer occurred on or after July 1, 2014, and before July 1, 2021. Current law authorizes motor vehicle dealers, salvage pools, and insurers to electronically access the department of revenue's ownership and lienholder records to verify motor vehicle ownership and lienholding information to prevent fraud. Section 3 authorizes off-highway vehicle dealers to access this system to verify the same information on off-highway vehicles for the same reasons. Notwithstanding the requirement that an off-highway vehicle have a title to be purchased by a dealer, current law authorizes a dealer to purchase an off-highway vehicle that was initially sold before July 1, 2014, and was never titled. The dealer must obtain an affidavit from the owner and then use the affidavit to obtain a title. Section 4 extends this authorization and procedure to off-highway vehicles privately transferred on or after July 1, 2014, and before July 1, 2021.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law creates demonstration plates that a motor vehicle dealership may use without registering the motor vehicle. The bill authorizes these plates to be used when the motor vehicle is: Offered for sale by the dealer on the dealer's property; Driven by a prospective buyer for demonstration-drive purposes during normal business hours; Driven by a prospective buyer for demonstration-drive purposes outside of normal business hours if the prospective buyer has a letter from the dealer authorizing the buyer to operate the motor vehicle with the demonstration plates and the letter contains certain information; or Driven by a dealer employee, during normal business hours, to conduct legitimate dealership business; except that the authorization excludes tow vehicles, parts pickup or delivery vehicles, courtesy shuttle vehicles, rental vehicles, haulers, or vehicles bearing the dealer's name or advertisement, other than the small dealer badge normally affixed to the rear of vehicles or the license plate holders bearing the dealer's name.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill requires the executive director of the department of transportation to adopt rules, no later than December 31, 2021, to establish a program that allows preferential access to managed lanes for low-emission vehicles (LEVs) regardless of the number of vehicle occupants. The rules may: Require a LEV owner to pay an annual fee to enroll the owner's LEV in the program; Limit the number of LEVs eligible for the program; Limit the number of years that a LEV is eligible for a program; Treat different classes of LEVs differently; Allow preferential access to all or only a subset of managed lanes; and Allow either free or reduced toll access to any given toll lane or high occupancy toll lane. Section 1 also defines the terms "low-emission vehicle" and "managed lane" as well as other terms used in the definition of low-emission vehicle. Section 2 repeals the statutory authority for an existing program, which is expiring on May 31, 2020, due to a change in federal law, under which a limited number of low-emission vehicles are allowed free access to managed lanes regardless of the number of vehicle occupants.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
To protect bee and other pollinator populations throughout the state, the bill requires the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner), on or before March 1, 2021, to adopt rules to regulate the use of neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides by classifying specific neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides as restricted-use pesticides. The commissioner's rules must exempt from the restricted use of the pesticides their use as indoor pest control, personal care, and pet care products; however, the commissioner, thereafter, may amend the rules to disallow their use as indoor pest control, personal care, or pet care products if the commissioner determines that another commercially available product that is not a neonicotinoid pesticide or a sulfoximine pesticide is as or more effective than a neonicotinoid pesticide or a sulfoximine pesticide when used in accordance with the product's label directions for the same indoor pest control, personal care, or pet care use or uses. The commissioner's rules regarding the restricted use of neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides must not apply to commercial applicators, limited commercial applicators, public applicators, qualified supervisors, certified operators, and private applicators. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill repeals the exemption for the sale or distribution of sacramental wines used for religious purposes from the excise tax on alcohol beverages. However, the bill maintains the current law that exempts religious organizations that distribute sacramental wines for religious purposes from needing to maintain a liquor license. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
