The act creates the fifth-day academic enrichment and support grant program (program) to award grants on a 3-year cycle to one or more eligible community-based nonprofit organizations (organizations) and to eligible rural school districts to provide supplemental enrichment programming to preschool through high school-aged children on the fifth day of the week for children in schools that have a 4-day school week.To be eligible for a grant, organizations must, in part, have experience providing before- and after-school programs, serve a majority of children from low-income families, and serve students who attend a school district that operates on a 4-day week. To be eligible for a grant, a rural school district must be rural, as determined by the department of education (department), have no eligible organization operating within the rural school district's boundaries, and serve a majority of children from low-income families.The state board of education (state board) awards program grants in a 3-year grant cycle, with an initial grant and automatic renewal of the grant for 2 years as set forth in the act. The amount of the initial and renewal grants is determined by the state board based on the number of children served in the program and other criteria specified in the act. The state board shall promulgate rules to establish the program, including the application process and deadlines.Grants must be used for one or more of the purposes specified in the act, including to provide supplemental educational programming to support students' academic, social, and emotional development on the fifth day of a 4-day school week, to provide meals and transportation for students attending the program, and to acquire educational materials and necessary technology to provide supplemental educational programming. Grantees are required to report annually to the department on the use of the grant money, with the department reporting to certain committees of the general assembly.The act creates the fifth-day academic enrichment and support grant program fund for program grants, consisting of money appropriated or transferred to the fund by the general assembly. The department shall not implement or administer the program unless the general assembly appropriates sufficient money to the fund for the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act requires the department of public health and environment (department) to implement the community behavioral health disaster preparedness and response program (program) using existing initiatives and activities to ensure that behavioral health is adequately represented within disaster preparedness and response efforts across the state. The program is intended to enhance, support, and formalize behavioral health disaster preparedness and response activities conducted by community behavioral health organizations.The act requires the department to promulgate rules as necessary for the oversight and management of the program; work collaboratively with community behavioral heath organizations; create, define, and publish eligibility criteria for community behavioral health organizations to participate in the program; and provide funding to community behavioral health organizations on an annual or as-needed basis for the activities the organizations conduct.The act appropriates $529,801 and provides an additional 1.8 FTE to the department for use by the office of emergency preparedness response to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines "backcountry search and rescue" as the utilization, training, and support of responders, with their specialized equipment, to locate, provide assistance to, and remove to safety individuals who are lost, injured, stranded, or entrapped, generally in remote areas of the state. The division of parks and wildlife (division) within the department of natural resources must conduct a study and develop recommendations on the issues related to backcountry search and rescue, including how to develop a sustainable structure for coordination among the local, state, federal, and nonprofit organizations involved in backcountry search and rescue, the adequacy of resources and benefits available to volunteers who provide backcountry search and rescue services, the funding needs for equipment and reimbursement, and the needs for volunteer training and public education. The division must also conduct outreach and training related to the physical and psychological support needs of backcountry search and rescue volunteers, which may include working with consultants, providing programs, or creating a grant program for local governments or nonprofit organizations providing backcountry search and rescue. The act makes conforming amendments related to the definition of "backcountry search and rescue".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
To fund the program implementation and administration the reintroduction and management of gray wolves, the act requires the general assembly to appropriate money to the division of parks and wildlife (division) or otherwise authorize the division's expenditure of money from one or more of the following funds:The general fund; The species conservation trust fund; The Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund; or The wildlife cash fund; except that any money within the wildlife cash fund that is generated from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses or from associated federal grants is not available for appropriation. The division is also authorized to solicit, accept, and expend any grants, gifts, sponsorships, contributions, donations, and bequests, including federal funds, for the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements recommendations of the 2020 Colorado Fire Commission Annual Report.The act updates 3 mutual aid statutes affecting the responsibilities of requesting and assisting fire control. Under current statutory provisions, all resources from an agency assisting in fire prevention are under the control of the requesting agency and liability is placed with the requesting agency. Under the changes made by the act, the assisting agency, working under the direction of the incident commander, retains operational control of its resources and, therefore, retains liability for the actions of its crews. The act incorporates the term "emergency responder" to categorize the different agencies assisting in fire prevention.The regional and statewide mutual aid system (RSMAS) is a regional and statewide system that provides for the coordinated initial response of emergency responders to emergency incidents. The act establishes the RSMAS to be administered by the division of fire prevention and control (division) in the department of public safety.The director of the division is required to establish, implement, and maintain the RSMAS. Among the duties of the director in administering the RSMAS is implementing the Colorado coordinated regional mutual aid system (CCRMAS). The CCRMAS establishes geographic areas within the state to be known as division of fire prevention and control (DFPC) districts. Each DFPC district has a regional mutual aid coordinator, whose duties include ensuring that a competent mutual aid plan exists in each DFPC district and who serves as the point of contact within the DFPC district and coordinates mutual aid requests for fire and EMS resources. The act specifies the duties of each regional mutual aid coordinator and of the director of the division with respect to administration of the RSMAS and CCRMAS overall.Unless an emergency responder has opted out of the RSMAS and CCRMAS, all emergency responders are part of the RSMAS and CCRMAS. An emergency responder is relieved from any duty to make its equipment and personnel available to the RSMAS and CCRMAS under circumstances specified in the act. An emergency responder that opts out of the RSMAS and CCRMAS is only eligible for reimbursement to the extent authorized in the rules promulgated by the director of the division.The RSMAS and CCRMAS do not affect any other mutual aid agreement that may be entered into by one or more emergency responders.The act mandates consultation between the director of the office of emergency management (OEM) and the director of the division of fire prevention and control with respect to the CCRMAS. The act requires the director of the OEM to ensure that resources in the CCRMAS are included in the all-hazards resource mobilization system. The director of the OEM is also required to coordinate with the state coordination center to ensure sufficient and effective implementation and integration of the state resources mobilization plan and state and local emergency operations plans.At the end of any state fiscal year commencing with the 2022 state fiscal year, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer any money in the aviation resources line of the annual general appropriation act for that same state fiscal year that would otherwise revert to the general fund into the wildfire preparedness fund (WPF). Money transferred by the state treasurer into the WPF must be used for the purpose of traditional mitigation efforts. As long as money transferred into the WPF is being expended for one of the purposes specified in the act, the division may allocate the money to any such purpose as will maximize the impact of such funding as the division may determine in its sole discretion.Not less than once every 3 years commencing January 15, 2025, the division is required to report to the joint budget committee concerning its expenditures from the transfers made into the WPF under the act.The act appropriates $1,108,800 from the general fund to the department of public safety for the 2021-22 state fiscal year for its implementation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The electronic recording technology board (board), which was created in 2016, makes grants to counties to establish, maintain, improve, or replace their electronic filing systems. These grants are from surcharges collected by county clerk and recorders and transmitted to the state for deposit in the electronic recording technology fund. The act makes the following changes related to the board:Delays the repeal and sunset review of the board by 4 years so that it will take place just over 10 years after the board's creation; Extends the surcharge that is collected by county clerk and recorders and transmitted to the board; Extends the board's annual reporting requirement about its grants for 4 more years and requires an additional 5-year report about the overall success of the program; Permits the board to make grants to a county to improve the security of its general information technology systems, if the improvement is necessary to improve the security of the county's electronic filing system; and Specifies that the board may approve a grant application to establish, maintain, improve, or replace an electronic filing system, notwithstanding that a portion of the grant will be used to enable the system to receive, store, manage, and provide online access to public documents that are maintained by the county clerk and recorder but that are not related to real property.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the keep Colorado wild pass (wild pass) for entry into state parks and other participating public lands. Commencing no earlier than January 1, 2023, but no later than January 1, 2024, each resident with one of the following motor vehicles that is not a commercial vehicle is assessed a fee for the wild pass (wild pass fee) when registering the motor vehicle:A passenger motor vehicle; A light-weight truck with an empty vehicle weight of less than or equal to 16,000 pounds; A motorcycle; or A recreational vehicle. A resident may decline to pay the wild pass fee when registering the resident's motor vehicle, and nonpayment of the wild pass fee does not affect the resident's ability to register the motor vehicle. A resident who declines or fails to pay the wild pass fee is presumed to decline to pay the wild pass fee in subsequent years with respect to registration of the same motor vehicle, and the division of parks and wildlife in the department of natural resources (division) is required to develop an opt-in provision on subsequent registration notifications sent to the resident for that motor vehicle.The parks and wildlife commission in the department of natural resources (commission) is required to adopt rules to set the wild pass fee and, for income-eligible households, a reduced wild pass fee and may establish a process for applying existing discounts or free entry to persons eligible for the discount or free entry to the wild pass. The commission may also adopt rules establishing a separate fee for a pass, including a separate fee for passes for nonresidents, residents who decline to pay the wild pass fee when registering the resident's motor vehicle, and residents who do not possess one of the motor vehicles listed above.For each state fiscal year, the division will use the wild pass fees collected to achieve stated goals such as providing affordable access to state parks and public lands; managing state parks; supporting search and rescue and avalanche safety efforts; conserving vulnerable species and habitats; funding equity, diversity, and inclusion programs; and financing regional outdoor partnerships for community-driven planning and projects.The division is required to:Develop language to notify motor vehicle registrants of their option to decline to pay the wild pass fee, which notice must be conspicuously placed on registration documents and on the division's and the division of motor vehicles' websites; and Implement a public outreach campaign, including outreach to and engagement of disproportionately impacted communities, to educate the public about the availability of the wild pass through the motor vehicle registration process and about access to state parks and public lands that the wild pass will provide. The division is required to prepare annual reports on, and on or before March 1, 2025, and on or before March 1, 2030, to make presentations to a joint session of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture matters regarding, the number of wild passes sold in the previous 12 months, an accounting of the expenditures made with the increased revenue generated from sales of the wild pass, and a summary of the effect that those increased expenditures have had on the achievement of the stated goals.The act also repeals limitations on the amount that the commission may increase fees for daily and annual park passes purchased by individuals who do not purchase the discounted wild pass, authorizes the division to enter into cooperative agreements with other land management agencies, and requires the division to develop a program for seeking, accepting, and expending gifts, grants, or donations.For state fiscal year 2021-22, the act appropriates $504,646 from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund to the division for implementation of the wild pass and reappropriates $108,200 of that money to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles for maintenance and support of the Colorado driver's license, record, identification, and vehicle enterprise solution (Colorado DRIVES).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado soil health program in the department of agriculture (department), which includes programs to encourage widespread adoption of soil health practices. An entity's participation in the soil health program is voluntary. The department, commissioner of agriculture (commissioner), and state agricultural commission will administer the soil health program.The department shall, if financial resources are available, establish the following:A grant program; A system for monitoring the agricultural, environmental, or economic benefits of soil health practices; A state soil health inventory and platform; A soil health testing program; and Other programs the department deems appropriate or necessary. Before establishing a program, the department must provide public notice and afford the public an opportunity to submit written comments.The department may also:Seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from public and private sources; Provide grants, loans, and other resources to eligible entities to perform soil health activities; and Cooperate and collaborate with other people. The act also creates a soil health advisory committee (advisory committee). The commissioner is required to appoint members who:To the greatest extent possible, represent the different geographic areas, political diversity, and demographic diversity of the state; and Include agricultural producers of diverse production systems, a representative of an Indian tribe, conservation district board members, and water users. The state conservation board appoints 2 members to the advisory committee.The advisory committee will make recommendations to the department and assist in the development of the soil health program. The advisory committee is also authorized to solicit input, review proposals and agreements, and evaluate the soil health program. The advisory committee approves grants.The department shall maintain the confidentiality of information related to private lands that identify landowners, land managers, agricultural producers, or lands.No later than January 31 of each year, the department shall prepare and make available to the public a report of its activities on its official website. The department shall annually report each gift, grant, or donation in its budget request for the state fiscal year to the joint budget committee and at the hearing required by the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act".For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $4,464 is appropriated to the department for use by the agricultural services division.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In the 2020-21 state fiscal year, the act transfers $25 million from the general fund as follows:Section 1 transfers $750,000 to the Colorado avalanche information center fund for use by the Colorado avalanche information center in the department of natural resources (department) to support backcountry avalanche safety programs; Section 2 transfers $3.5 million to the wildlife cash fund for use by the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department to implement its statewide wildlife action plan and the conservation of native species; Section 3 transfers $2.25 million to the search and rescue fund for use by the department of local affairs in consultation with the division to support backcountry search and rescue efforts; Section 4 transfers $1 million to the outdoor equity fund for use by the division to implement the outdoor equity grant program; and Section 5 transfers $17.5 million to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund for use by the division as follows: $3.5 million for staffing and maintenance projects; and $14 million for infrastructure and state park development projects. Section 6 appropriates the amounts transferred in sections 1 to 5 to the department and the department of local affairs for the uses specified in sections 1 to 5 and authorizes the use of the money through the 2023-24 state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act declares that new technologies, such as blockchain, telemetry, improved sensors, and advanced aerial observation platforms, can improve monitoring, management, conservation, and allocation of water to fulfill obligations under Colorado water law and enhance confidence in the reliability of data underlying water rights transactions. To advance the potential use of these new technologies, the act:Authorizes and directs the university of Colorado and Colorado state university, in collaboration with the Colorado water institute at Colorado state university, to conduct feasibility studies and pilot deployments of these new technologies to improve water management in Colorado; and Appropriates $20,000 to each university from the general fund, contingent on the universities' receipt of a matching $40,000 in gifts, grants, and donations on or before June 1, 2022, for the purpose of funding the feasibility studies and pilot deployments. The universities are directed to report on the amounts and sources of money received through gifts, grants, and donations and the purposes to which those amounts were devoted, on their websites, in any published reports produced by the universities, and in the annual "SMART Act" hearings held by the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)