The act continues the rural jump-start zone grant program (grant program) until July 1, 2025, and the grant money in the rural jump-start grant fund account reverts to the general fund on June 30, 2025. The act changes the total allowable administrative cost of the grant program from $100,000 per fiscal year to $300,000 total for the sum of all fiscal years that the grant program is in effect. The new business income tax credit and the new hire income tax credit, which are benefits under the grant program, are extended for 5 years and are available for income tax years commencing before January 1, 2031. The act prohibits the Colorado office of economic development (office) from approving more than 3 rural jump-start zones in counties with populations of less than 100,000 in any year. The number of credit certificates that the office may issue in each approved rural jump-start zone in one income tax year for all new hires employed by all new businesses is increased from 300 to 600 for businesses that are in one of the 14 industries that the office targets for economic development in the state. The act appropriates $873,304 from the rural jump-start zone grant fund account to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs. To implement the act, the office may use this appropriation for rural jump-start. APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 29, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the water quality control commission (commission) in the department of public health and environment (department) to promulgate rules by December 31, 2025, as necessary to implement a state dredge and fill discharge authorization program (program) and requires the division of administration (division) in the department to administer and enforce authorizations for activities that will result in discharges of dredged or fill material into state waters. The rules must focus on avoidance and minimization of adverse impacts and on compensation for unavoidable adverse impacts of dredge and fill activity (activity) and must incorporate the guidelines developed pursuant to section 404 (b)(1) of the federal "Clean Water Act", unless the commission determines, based on a demonstration at a public rule-making hearing, that the guidelines are not protecting state waters. The act specifies certain content that the commission must include in the rules and other content that the commission may include in the rules. The act establishes duties for the division in administering the program. The division must issue individual authorizations consistent with the rules promulgated by the commission. The division must act upon an application for an individual authorization within 2 years after receiving a complete application, although this period may be extended under certain circumstances. The division must issue general authorizations for the discharge of dredged or fill material into state waters from certain categories of activities that are similar in nature and have minimal individual and cumulative adverse impacts on state waters and the environment. Beginning January 1, 2025, until the rules are promulgated and the division issues general authorizations under the rules, the nationwide and regional general permits issued by the United States Army corps of engineers constitute valid authorizations to discharge dredged or fill material into state waters that are not subject to federal jurisdiction. As expeditiously as is prudent and feasible, the division must issue a statewide general authorization for discharges to isolated wetlands, isolated ponds and impoundments, and isolated ordinary highwater mark reaches (isolated state waters). The statewide general authorization to isolated state waters does not include certain state waters, must identify best management practices to protect isolated state waters, must not require preconstruction notification, and must not authorize a project where the entire project's unavoidable adverse impacts exceed one-tenth of an acre of wetlands or three-hundredths of an acre of streambed. The authorization term of the statewide general authorization for discharges to isolated state waters is 5 years. The division must include compensatory mitigation requirements in all individual authorizations and in general authorizations where the division determines that the proposed discharge of dredged or fill material will result in greater than one-tenth of an acre of unavoidable adverse impacts to wetlands or greater than three-hundredths of an acre of unavoidable impacts to streams. Compensatory mitigation must compensate for all functions of state waters that will be lost as a result of the authorized activity. The division must utilize the existing structure of preconstruction notifications in the nationwide and regional permits established by the United States Army corps of engineers, including general authorizations for categories of activities that do not require preconstruction notification. The division may include conditions in a notice of authorization, on a case-by-case basis, to clarify the terms and conditions of a general authorization or to ensure that an activity will have only minimal individual and cumulative adverse impacts on state waters. The division may establish guidance to assist in administering the program. The division may, to the extent resources allow, establish one or more staff positions in the western slope region of the state to assist with dredge and fill program administration in that geographic area. Until the rules become effective and the division issues general authorizations under the rules: The division's Clean Water Policy 17, "Enforcement of Unpermitted Discharges of Dredged and Fill Material into State Waters", continues to be effective; For certain activities, the division may issue temporary authorizations for the discharge of dredged or fill material into state waters; and Temporary authorizations must not exceed 2 years and must include conditions necessary to protect the public health and the environment and to meet the intent of the act. The act deems certain activities exempt and therefore does not require a discharge authorization for, or otherwise require regulation of, such activities. The act also excludes certain types of waters from the act's regulatory requirements. The act clarifies that "state waters" includes wetlands. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year and for each state fiscal year thereafter, if the total number of issued authorizations exceeds or is projected to exceed 110 authorizations, the department must seek a supplemental appropriation from the general assembly to pay the costs of processing the authorizations and to ensure that authorizations are processed in a timely manner. The act requires the commission to establish by rule on or before December 31, 2025, authorization fees for the program. Collected fees are credited to the existing clean water cash fund. In current law, with certain exceptions, an applicant for any water diversion, delivery, or storage facility that requires an application for a permit, license, or other approval from the United States must inform the Colorado water conservation board, the parks and wildlife commission, and the division of parks and wildlife of its application and submit a mitigation proposal. The act extends the same requirement to applicants for certain activities that require an individual authorization from the division. Current law requires the division to report annually to the general assembly concerning water quality control matters. The act requires the division to include in this annual report certain specific information concerning the implementation of the program. On a quarterly basis, the division must also report to the joint budget committee the number of individual dredge and fill authorizations and notices of authorization that the division projects to issue for the fiscal year. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year and for each state fiscal year thereafter, the state treasurer must transfer $248,304 from the general fund to the clean water cash fund. On July 1, 2024, the state treasurer must transfer $748,000 from the severance tax operational fund to the clean water cash fund for use by the department in administering the program. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $747,639 to the department from the clean water cash fund. Any money not expended prior to July 1, 2025, is further appropriated to the department for the 2025-26 state fiscal year. APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 29, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, an original equipment manufacturer of agricultural equipment or a powered wheelchair is required, upon request, to provide parts, tools, documentation, and other resources to independent repair providers and owners of the manufacturer's agricultural equipment or powered wheelchairs to facilitate an independent repair provider's or owner's diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a piece of agricultural equipment or a powered wheelchair (right-to-repair statutes). Failure to comply with the right-to-repair statutes is a deceptive trade practice. Beginning January 1, 2026, the act expands the scope of the right-to-repair statutes to include digital electronic equipment manufactured and sold or used for the first time in Colorado on or after July 1, 2021. However, the act includes many exemptions, including exemptions for marine vessels, aviation, and motor vehicles; medical devices other than powered wheelchairs; certain safety and security equipment; certain construction- and energy-related equipment; and video game consoles. For digital electronic equipment manufactured and sold or used in Colorado for the first time after January 1, 2026, the act prohibits a manufacturer from using parts pairing in a manner that: Prevents an independent repair provider or owner from installing or enabling replacement parts; Reduces the functionality or performance of the digital electronic equipment; or Causes digital electronic equipment to display misleading alerts or warnings about unidentified parts. Parts pairing may still be used for digital electronic equipment to record, catalog, and display information related to repairs done and for standalone biometric components used for authentication purposes. Additionally, the act: Does not require a manufacturer to distribute a product's source code or make available documentation, tools, or parts that would disable or override privacy or anti-theft security measures or that the manufacturer only uses to perform virtual diagnostic services at no cost; and Requires an independent repair provider, before providing services for digital electronic equipment, to provide an owner with notice indicating that the independent repair provider is not an authorized repair provider of the manufacturer and whether the provider uses any new or used replacement parts from a supplier other than the manufacturer. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2026(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department), as contained in the department's 2023 sunset review and report of the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981" by: Continuing the regulation of private occupational schools and their agents; Continuing the functions of the private occupational school division and the private occupational school board (board) for 11 years, until September 1, 2035; and Requiring the board to grant prior approval when a private occupational school changes ownership. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the language access advisory board (advisory board). The advisory board consists of 11 voting and 2 nonvoting members. Each voting member of the advisory board is appointed by either the majority leader or minority leader of either the house of representatives or the senate. The voting members of the advisory board are: 3 members of the house of representatives; 2 members of the senate; One member representing the Colorado Language Access Coalition; One member representing a local government that has implemented a language access plan or has a language access advisory entity; One member representing persons with disabilities; One member who works in translation or interpretation services; One member with experience in language access in rural communities; and One member with expertise in language access relating to elections. The nonvoting members of the advisory board are: The director of research of the legislative council or the director's designee; and The director of the office of legislative legal services or the director's designee. The purpose of the advisory board is to assess and develop recommendations for improving meaningful access to the legislative process for populations with limited English proficiency, to include: Identifying current language-related barriers to the legislative process for state residents with limited English proficiency; Examining the success of current language access measures relating to the legislative process; Considering the development of a language access plan covering the general assembly and the legislative process; Evaluating options for oral interpretation and written translation of legislative activities; and Assessing language access concerning the ballot information booklet. In performing this assessment, the advisory board must solicit public comment and input from subject matter experts. The advisory board must submit the report of its findings and recommendations to the executive committee of the legislative council on or before December 15, 2024. The advisory board is repealed on January 1, 2025. The act appropriates $29,741 from the general fund to the legislative department for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires mandatory reporters to include certain information when reporting child abuse or neglect to the mandatory reporter's county department, local law enforcement, or through the statewide child abuse reporting hotline system (hotline system). The act requires a mandatory reporter to report any evidence of known domestic violence or intimate partner violence in the child's home, including any evidence of previous cases of known domestic violence or intimate partner violence in the child's home. The act requires the state department of human services (state department) to develop and implement a consistent screening process for a county department to follow, when possible, in responding to a report or inquiry to the hotline system. The screening process must include questions about domestic violence or intimate partner violence. The state department is required to develop and implement a disclosure procedure that notifies callers to the hotline system that calls are recorded. The act requires the state department to review the screening process used by county departments and hotline system operators to: Determine race; ethnicity; disability status; LGBTQ identity, if applicable; and English proficiency in a screening report and recommend a process for improving the accuracy of determining the demographic information, which must include opportunities to update the TRAILS statewide case management system; Understand the types of questions asked during the screening process to determine demographic information and recommend questions that reflect best practices and cultural competency; and Understand the sequence of questions asked during a screening process to determine demographic information and recommend a sequence of questions that better reflects best practices. The state department shall recommend and implement a screening process procedure to determine demographic information that reflects best practices and cultural competencies. No later than January 15, 2025, the office of the child protection ombudsman (ombudsman) shall select a third-party evaluator to conduct an audit on the Colorado family risk assessment (risk assessment) and the Colorado family safety assessment (safety assessment). In conducting an audit of the risk assessment, the third-party evaluator shall: Identify tools and resources to ensure the risk assessment is carried out consistently; Identify gaps and solutions to enable caseworkers to complete the risk assessment in real time while in the field; Examine the impacts of geography when using the risk assessment; Examine the impacts of race and ethnicity when using the risk assessment and how they affect communities that are over-represented in the child welfare system; Evaluate and recommend best practices for sharing the risk assessment with families, legal professionals, and the judicial branch; Evaluate and recommend best practices for training on the risk assessment; and Examine the risk assessment for domestic violence or intimate partner violence and recommend best practices. In conducting an audit of the safety assessment, the third-party evaluator shall: Examine the same issues set forth for the risk assessment; Study the inter-rater reliability of the safety assessment; and Study the required documentation for the planning and removal of a child from the child's primary caregiver. The third-party evaluator shall create a report summarizing the results of the audit. On or before March 1, 2026, the ombudsman is required to submit the audit report to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee and the senate health and human services committee, or their successor committees, the speaker of the house of representatives, the minority leader of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the minority leader of the senate. The act appropriates $109,392 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the ombudsman to implement this act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the high cost support mechanism, established by the public utilities commission to support telecommunications service access, by continuing the high cost support mechanism indefinitely and continuing funding for rural telecommunications providers from the high cost support mechanism indefinitely. The act modifies the computation of fees for the public utilities commission fixed utility fund and the telecommunications utility fund. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act provides additional flexibility to the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority in supporting educational and cultural facilities by authorizing the authority: To use money it has available for its general purposes to establish funds for loans or grants for capital projects for facilities, operations, maintenance, programming, and other endeavors for cultural and educational institutions; and To directly, or indirectly through a contract or a subsidiary controlled entity created by the authority, operate an educational or cultural facility. In addition, the definition of "facility", in the case of a cultural institution, is expanded to include a building on the national register of historic places that is owned or operated by the authority or a governmental entity. The act modifies the community revitalization grant program (grant program) by: Including projects that are eligible for funding under the space to create program administered by the creative industries division (division) within the office of economic development (office) as projects intended to be supported by the grant program; Extending deadlines for the adoption of policies, procedures, and guidelines for the grant program and for grant program reporting; and Extending the scheduled repeal of the grant program from January 1, 2025, to the date on which all money transferred or otherwise credited to the community revitalization fund is expended. The act creates a new community revitalization income tax credit (credit), for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, but before January 1, 2033, in an amount equal to 25% of the amount of eligible expenditures made by a qualified applicant in completing an eligible project; except that the office may reduce the credit percentage for reservations for credits made in any income tax year, and the maximum amount of the credit for a single project is $3 million. In addition, the maximum amount of credits that may be reserved during any calendar year is $10 million. An eligible project is a capital improvement project within a creative district, a historic district, or a neighborhood commercial center or a main street that involves the construction, rehabilitation, conversion, remodeling, or other improvement of one or more buildings, structures, or facilities for uses that support creative industries and creative industry workers and that is approved as an eligible project by the office. The act details a process for claiming the credit that requires: The submission by a qualified applicant to the office of an eligible project plan that includes an estimate of eligible expenditures; Preliminary and final review and approval of the plan by the office; Reservation of a credit for the qualified applicant by the office; Commencement of the eligible project incurrence by the qualified applicant of a specified minimum portion of the eligible expenditures within a specified period; Completion of the eligible project; Issuance of a tax credit certificate by the office; Filing of the tax credit certificate by the qualified applicant with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return; and Recapture of the credit if the eligible project is not used for a use that makes it an eligible project during a specified compliance period. The office is required to annually report to the general assembly regarding the credit and may, after soliciting advice from the department of revenue, create and modify policies and procedures as necessary to implement the credit. The community revitalization tax credit program cash fund is created, funded with tax credit application and issuance fees charged by the office as well as any other money provided by the general assembly and any gifts, grants, and donations received, and continuously appropriated to the office for the administration of the credit. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $102,498 from the general fund to the office of the governor for economic development programs. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The environmental justice action task force was created in the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) to develop recommendations for measures to achieve environmental justice in the state. The task force completed its work and published a final report on November 14, 2022, which report included a recommendation for the development of environmental equity and cumulative impact analyses (EECIA) in the state. The act creates the office of environmental justice (office) in CDPHE and requires the office to oversee a process to develop at least 2 EECIAs for specific geographic locations in the state. Once an EECIA is developed, various state agencies will be able to rely on the EECIA in conducting cumulative impact analyses regarding certain activities that may result in pollution. The office must choose as locations for the EECIAs communities that are disproportionately impacted communities, with priority given to communities that have a heightened potential for widespread human exposure to environmental contaminants. After selecting a location for an EECIA, CDPHE must contract with an academic institution or other third party to develop an EECIA. In developing an EECIA, the applicable contractor must perform a scientifically rigorous analysis that includes most of the recommendations made by the environmental justice action task force. Within 9 months after completing the first EECIA, CDPHE is required to prepare a report, which includes identifying any recommendations or resources needed for implementing the findings of the EECIA. CDPHE must submit the report to certain legislative committees. On or before January 1, 2025, the division of administration (division) in CDPHE is required to hire a petroleum refinery regulation expert to examine whether a rule establishing petroleum refinery control regulations should be adopted by the air quality control commission and examine other regulatory or nonregulatory measures performed. After January 1, 2025, a petroleum refinery in the state must comply with certain monitoring requirements to provide real-time emissions monitoring data to the division. The division is required to establish a rapid response inspection team to respond quickly to air quality complaints received. Once the team is established, the team must develop processes and best practices for quickly responding to such complaints, engage in outreach to communities regarding events and conditions that lead to excess air pollution emissions in those communities, and track and report on the division's website the number of complaints filed and the formal action, if any, taken on each complaint. $1,829,087 is appropriated from the general fund to CDPHE for implementation of the act. Of the amount appropriated: $310,449 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to CDPHE; and Up to $959,310, if not expended before July 1, 2025, is further appropriated to the division through the 2028-29 state fiscal year for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The office of e-health innovation in the governor's office is required to convene a working group to determine the feasibility of creating a centralized digital consent repository that allows patients to provide, extend, deny, and revoke consent for sharing their medical data and information between physical and behavioral health-care providers, family members, community organizations, payers, and state agencies at any time. By January 1, 2026, the working group is required to submit a report including recommendations regarding the feasibility of creating the centralized digital consent repository to specified committees of the general assembly. On or before July 1, 2025, the behavioral health administration in the department of human services (department) is required to create a friends and family input form to allow an individual to provide a treating professional or a licensed or designated facility or organization with information related to a patient receiving mental health or substance use services. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $50,604 is appropriated to the department to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
With certain exceptions, the act prohibits a public agency from: Requiring any person to provide the public agency with data that may identify a member of a nonprofit entity (member-specific data) or compelling the disclosure of member-specific data; Disclosing member-specific data to any person; or Requesting or requiring a current or prospective contractor or a current or prospective grantee of a grant program administered by the public agency to provide a list of nonprofit entities to which the current or prospective contractor or grantee has provided financial or nonfinancial support. A nonprofit entity or any of its members affected adversely by a public agency's violation of the act's provisions may initiate a civil action against the public agency in district court for injunctive relief, damages, or such other relief as is appropriate. Notwithstanding existing laws concerning governmental immunity, a court may award damages against a public agency that violates the act's provisions as follows: Not less than $2,500 for each reckless violation; and Not less than $7,500 for each intentional violation. A court may also award the costs of litigation to a complainant that prevails in such an action. The act prohibits a custodian of public records (custodian) from requiring a nonprofit entity to produce member-specific data that is contained in public records if such records are not subject to inspection and copying pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act". A custodian must deny any request to inspect, copy, or reproduce any member-specific data in the possession of a public agency and provided to the public agency by a nonprofit entity. A custodian must not require a nonprofit entity to produce records and information relating to the identification of individual employees of nonprofit entities with whom the public entity contracts for services or of individual employees of subcontractors of such nonprofit entities. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning on July 1, 2025, and every July 1 thereafter through July 1, 2059, the act requires the state treasurer to issue warrants in the amount of $2,250,000 to the fire and police pension association. The association is required to deposit the warrants into the statewide death and disability trust fund so that there will be sufficient money to pay future death and disability benefits to members of the association. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
