The bill establishes the water storage tank wildfire mitigation grant program (grant program) within the forest service. Grant recipients may use grant money to purchase water storage tanks for wildfire firefighting efforts. The grant program only awards grants to entities that are an agency of local government, a county, a municipality, a special district, a tribal agency or program, or a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization that is registered and in good standing with the secretary of state's office. In awarding grants, the forest service considers the potential impact of additional water storage tanks in the applicant's jurisdiction or area.

Grant recipients are required to report to the forest service, and the forest service is required to annually report on the grant program to the wildfire matters review committee.

The bill also creates the water storage tank wildfire mitigation cash fund. Money in the fund is used to implement the grant program. The general assembly is required to transfer $5 million into the fund beginning September 1, 2021, through and including the 2024-25 fiscal year.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the emergency invasive-pest response fund (fund), which is subject to annual appropriation. The commissioner of agriculture (commissioner) may expend money from the fund to implement the bill and emergency measures to control or eradicate invasive pests. The state agricultural commission (commission) may request that, at the end of each fiscal year, money in the plant health, pest control, and environmental protection cash fund be transferred to the fund. The commissioner is authorized to seek and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the new fund.

The commissioner may:

• Enter into an agreement with any person or local government to provide pest control services. The department of agriculture may provide pest control services directly or through a local government and may require remuneration for providing pest control services. The remuneration is deposited in the fund.
• Work cooperatively with the United States secretary of agriculture to implement a joint phytosanitary program if the program would economically or environmentally assist with mitigating or eradicating the spread of a regulated nonquarantine pest; and
• Quarantine anything that harbors a pest if the pest has an economically unacceptable impact and if the measures to control the pest may achieve an acceptable level of official control.

If the commissioner determines that a public nuisance creates an unacceptable risk of spreading a pest, the commissioner may coordinate with industry to, support local governments to, and make grants to take emergency action to quarantine, control, or eradicate an invasive pest.

The commission may establish procedures for determining what is a public nuisance. A board of county commissioners may declare a pest to be a public nuisance and require its control or eradication.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Under current law, the requirements of the "Construction Bidding for Public Projects Act" (act) generally apply to a public project if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $500,000 for any fiscal year; except that a public project supervised by the department of transportation (CDOT) is subject to the requirements of the act if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $150,000 for any fiscal year. The bill:

• Repeals the lower cost amount for CDOT projects, which means that the requirements of the act, including the requirement that CDOT prepare a bid estimate when it proposes to undertake a project itself rather than awarding the project to a contractor through competitive bidding, will apply to a CDOT project only if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $500,000 for any fiscal year; and
• Increases from $50,000 to $100,000 the maximum cost for a CDOT project that is exempt from transportation commission approval.

The bill also limits the existing requirement that CDOT pay all employees performing work on any public project local prevailing wages in accordance with specified federal acts to projects that cost more than $500,000.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill clarifies that the existing authority of cities and counties to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. The provisions of the state's rent control statute do not apply to any land use regulation that restricts rents on newly constructed or redeveloped housing units as long as the regulation provides a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site. The bill clarifies that the existing authority of cities and counties to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. The provisions of the state's rent control statute do not apply to any land use regulation that restricts rents on newly constructed or redeveloped housing units as long as the regulation provides a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site. The bill also states that it should not be construed to authorize a local government to adopt or enforce any ordinance or regulation that would have the effect of controlling rent on any existing private residential housing unit in violation of the existing statutory prohibition on rent control .

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The practice act for professional architects directs the department of regulatory agencies to adopt rules establishing requirements for continuing education and also requiring an architect to demonstrate retention of the material presented in the continuing education program or course. The requirement to demonstrate program or course material retention is not typical among licensed professionals in Colorado and is not common practice in other states.

The bill removes the material retention requirement, allowing an architect to renew a license upon demonstrating compliance with the continuing education requirement alone, as do all other licensed professionals with continuing education requirements in Colorado.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Section 3 of the bill defines "disproportionately impacted community".Section 4 requires the air quality control commission to promote outreach to and engage with disproportionately impacted communities 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 5 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 of addressing environmental justice inequities. 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 definition of "disproportionately impacted community" 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.

The department will report on the task force during the department's "SMART Act" presentations.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law allows local governments to prohibit the operation of trucks and commercial vehicles on designated roads. The bill expands this to allow local governments to prohibit the operation of motor vehicles or off-highway vehicles on roughed-in roads, which are areas where the ground has been cut with the intention to make a road but has not been improved enough to qualify as a road.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Section 2 of the bill requires the Colorado department of transportation (CDOT) to solicit construction contracts for public projects by invitation for bids, also known as the design bid build method of procurement, unless CDOT determines, based on specific written findings that CDOT posts on its website prior to awarding a contract, that it is not feasible to do so and that soliciting the contract through an alternative procurement method authorized by law such as competitive sealed best value bidding, an integrated product delivery contract, a public-private initiative, or a design-build contract is likely to cause the project to be completed faster, at a lower cost, or to a higher standard of quality than if the project was solicited by an invitation for bids. Section 4 prohibits CDOT from refusing to prequalify a contractor to bid on CDOT projects or reducing the scope of prequalification granted based on the contractor's lack of prior opportunity to demonstrate performance on past department contracts if the bidder can demonstrate its experience, past performance, expertise, and financial capacity through its work on construction contracts in other states or for county, municipal, or other local governments in Colorado.Sections 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12 ensure that the requirements and prohibitions set forth in sections 2 and 4 apply to CDOT project procurement through the alternative methods of competitive sealed best value bidding, integrated product delivery contracts, public-private initiatives, and design-build contracts.Section 8 requires CDOT to disclose to the public its rationale for selecting a specific participating entity to which it has awarded an integrated product delivery contract. Section 10 requires CDOT to disclose to the public its rationale for entering into the public-private initiative agreement for a project in lieu of soliciting a contractor for the project by invitation for bids or for best value bids and its rationale for selecting each private or public entity that is a party to the agreement over any other unselected private or public entities that submitted comparable proposals.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise (enterprise) within the department of public health and environment (department) to develop and modernize the recycling and composting infrastructure in the state. The enterprise is authorized to issue revenue bonds.

The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise grant program (grant program) within the department to provide grants to eligible entities to:

• Create new or expand existing recycling, recovery, and composting operations;
• Create markets for recycled materials, including the use of food service packaging as feedstock in the production of new products; and
• Facilitate recycling, composting, litter cleanup, and education efforts concerning recycling and composting practices.

The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise board (enterprise board) to administer the grant program and submit an annual report concerning the grant program.

The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise grant program cash fund (cash fund) and requires the enterprise board to award grants from the cash fund.

The bill allows the executive board to promulgate rules to implement the grant program and requires the solid and hazardous waste commission (commission) to promulgate rules establishing a process for calculating the rates at which common types of food service packaging are being recycled or composted in the state, based on recently available data. On or before January 1, 2025, the commission must use the process to calculate such rates. Thereafter, the commission must recalculate each rate at least every 2 years. The enterprise board must evaluate the rates and advise the commission regarding their accuracy.

The bill requires the enterprise to determine and impose a fee on food service packaging that is initially sold or offered for sale in the state, as follows:

• On and after January 1, 2022, and until January 1, 2030, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed three-tenths of a cent on each unit of the food service packaging;
• On and after January 1, 2030, and until January 1, 2035, if the food service packaging is a type of food service packaging for which the commission has calculated a recycling or composting rate that is less than 50%, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed six-tenths of a cent on each unit of the food service packaging; and
• On and after January 1, 2035, if the food service packaging is a type of food service packaging for which the commission has calculated a recycling or composting rate that is less than 75%, the enterprise shall impose a fee in an amount to be determined by the enterprise but which may not exceed one cent on each unit of the food service packaging.

The enterprise shall collect the fee from the distributor that initially sells the food service packaging into the state. All money collected as fees must be deposited into the cash fund.

The bill requires the commission to conduct an assessment of the state's recycling and composting infrastructure on or before January 1, 2022, including examining the types of food service packaging being collected, processed, recycled, or composted in the state.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)