2022 Colorado Climate Legislation
CEA thanks Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate (CCLC) for providing these legislative updates.
The 2022 Colorado state legislative session began on January 12 and ran through May 11.
Of 40 climate-related bills this year, 29 passed and 11 failed, including all of the ones that we opposed. While not as strong as in past years, many pieces of meaningful legislation passed.
Energy
HB22-1013 | Microgrids For Community Resilience Grant Program | Concerning the creation of a grant program to build community resilience regarding electric grid disruptions through the development of microgrids. | Sponsors: Reps Pelton/Snyder, Sens Hisey/Winter | Passed
CEA position: Neutral - The general intent of this bill is excellent, but it greatly limits who is eligible. It needs to be made available to a much wider audience, even if it’s a staged rollout.
HB22-1018 | Electric And Gas Utility Customer Protections | Concerning a state regulated utility's practices regarding a customer's ability to pay the customer's utility bill. | Sponsor: Rep Kennedy | Passed
CEA position: Support - Disconnections are a key marker of social justice disparities
HB22-1020 | Customer Right To Use Energy | Concerning a guarantee of a customer's right to use energy. | Sponsors: Rep Woog, Sen Kirkmeyer | Failed
CEA position: Oppose - another bill to try to prevent fossil fuels use from being reduced.
HB22-1140 | Green Hydrogen To Meet Pollution Reduction Goals | Concerning the use of green hydrogen to meet statewide greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals. | Sponsors: Reps D. Valdez/Woog | Failed
HB22-1249 | Electric Grid Resilience And Reliability Roadmap | Concerning the creation of a roadmap for improving electric grids in the state. | Sponsors: Reps Bernett/Hooton | Passed
The bill requires the Colorado energy office (office), in collaboration with the department of local affairs (department) and the Colorado resiliency office (resiliency office), to develop a grid resilience and reliability roadmap (roadmap) for improving the resilience and reliability of electric grids in the state (grid), which roadmap must include guidance on how microgrids may be used to harden the grid, improve grid resilience and reliability, and help serve communities' electricity needs independent of the grid.
CEA position: Support - important step in getting microgrids more attention
HB22-1361 | Oil And Gas Reporting | Concerning measures to enhance oversight of oil and gas operations within the state. | Sponsors: Rep Boesenecker | Passed
CEA position: Support
HB22-1381 | Colorado Energy Office Geothermal Energy Grant Program | Concerning the creation of a geothermal energy grant program to facilitate the development of geothermal energy resources. | Sponsors: Reps Titone/McKean, Sens Winter/Woodward | Passed
SB22-026 | Oil And Gas Operator Property Tax Procedures | Concerning an oil and gas operator's sole ability to review and protest property tax. Sponsors: Sens Ginal/Kirkmeyer, Reps Boesenecker/Rich | Passed
SB22-073 | Alternative Energy Sources | Concerning a feasibility study for the use of small modular nuclear reactors as a source of carbon-free energy and for recycled energy for pumped hydroelectricity. | Sponsors Sen Rankin, Rep McKean | Failed
CEA position: Oppose - SMRs are expensive, hazardous, and unproven. There are better solutions, like solar, wind, and storage, that are ready now.
SB22-118 | Encourage Geothermal Energy Use | Concerning the encouragement of the use of geothermal energy by providing similar treatment to solar energy. | Sponsors: Sen Woodward, Reps Holthorf/D. Valdez | Passed
SB22-198 | Orphaned Oil And Gas Wells Enterprise | Concerning measures to address orphaned wells in Colorado, and, in connection therewith, creating the orphaned wells mitigation enterprise. | Sponsors: Sens Fenberg/Scott, Reps Weissman/Will | Passed
GHGs Pollution
HB22-1026 | Alternative Transportation Options Tax Credit | Concerning the replacement of the income tax deduction with an income tax credit of 50% for amounts spent by an employer for that purpose. | Sponsors: Reps Bird/Woog, Sens Hansen/Liston | Passed
HB22-1134 | Measures To Reduce Use Single-use Meal Accessories | Concerning measures to reduce the use of single-use meal accessories. | Sponsors: Rep Titone, Sen Priola | Failed
Starting next year, you have to opt-in to receive single-use food serviceware/condiments (doesn’t apply to napkins). Exempts a few logical spaces like self-serve/B&B etc. Also eliminates the preemption clause for local governments from last year, so they can go back to enforcing stricter laws. Effective 1/1/23.
CEA position: Support
HB22-1138 | Reduce Employee Single-Occupancy Vehicle Trips | Concerning the creation of programs to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicle commuter trips by improving access to alternative transportation options. | SPONSORS: Reps Gray/Herod, Sens Winter/Hansen | Failed
HB22-1218 | Resource Efficiency Buildings Electric Vehicles | Concerning resource efficiency related to constructing a building for occupancy. | Sponsors: Rep A. Valdez | Passed
HB22-1244 | Public Protections From Toxic Air Contaminants | Concerning measures to increase public protection from toxic air contaminants. | Sponsors: Reps Kennedy/Gonzales-Gutierrez, Sen Gonzales | Passed
The bill creates a new program to regulate a subset of air pollutants, referred to as "toxic air contaminants", which are defined as hazardous air pollutants, covered air toxics, and all other air pollutants that the air quality control commission (commission) designates by rule as a toxic air contaminant based on its adverse health effects.
Read more here.
CEA Position: Support
HB22-1355 | Producer Responsibility Program For Recycling | Concerning the creation of the producer responsibility program for statewide recycling, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Rep Cutter, Sens Priola/Gonzales | Passed
HB22-1362 | Building GHGs Emissions | Concerning the reduction of building greenhouse gas emissions by updating Energy Codes | Sponsors: Reps Bernett/Valdez, Sens Hansen/Winter | Passed
HB22-1391 | Modifications To Severance Tax | Concerning the state severance tax on oil and gas, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Rep McCluskie, Sens Hansen/Rankin
SB22-051 | Policies To Reduce Emissions From Built Environment | Sponsor: Sen Hansen | Passed
Specifies that air-source and ground-source heat pump systems are household furnishings exempt from the levy and collection of property tax. The bill exempts air-source and ground-source heat pump systems from the definition of "fixtures" for property tax purposes.
CEA position: Support, with a caveat - the bill allows natural gas to be part of the exemption if it’s used as a backup to the heat pump. The bill would be better if it only exempted all-electric systems.
SB22-082 | Geographical Area Hazardous Air Pollution Rule | Concerning addressing the geographical areas with the greatest concentration of air pollutants that affect human health. | Sponsor: Sen Donovan | Failed
Requires CDPHE to identify geographical areas in which hazardous air pollutants have the greatest negative effects on human health and then to propose a rule to the air quality control commission to address these areas, and create and publish a map showing areas where hazardous air pollutants have the greatest potential for causing chronic human health effects.
SB22-138 | Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Colorado | Concerning measures to promote reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado. | Sponsors: Sen Hansen, Rep A. Valdez | Failed
Read more here.
SB22-180 | Programs To Reduce Ozone Through Increased Transit | Concerning programs to reduce ground level ozone through increased use of transit. | Sponsors: Sens Winter/Hinrichsen, Reps Gray/Bacon | Passed
SB22-193 | Air Quality Improvement Investments | Concerning measures to improve air quality in the state, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Sens Fenberg/Gonzales, Rep A. Valdez | Passed
Climate Impacts
HB22-1007 | Assistance Landowner Wildfire Mitigation | Concerning wildfire mitigation assistance for landowners. Sponsors: Reps D Valdez/Lynch, Sens Simpson/Lee | Passed
HB22-1011 | Wildfire Mitigation Incentives For Local Governments | Concerning the establishment of a state grant program that provides funding to local governments that dedicate resources for wildfire mitigation purposes. | Sponsors: Reps Cutter/Snyder, Sens Story/Lee | Passed
HB22-1012 | Wildfire Mitigation And Recovery | Concerning healthy forests, and, in connection therewith, creating the wildfire mitigation and recovery grant program. | Sponsors: Reps Cutter/D Valdez, Sens Ginal/Lee | Passed
HB22-1159 | Waste Diversion And Circular Economy Development Center | Concerning waste diversion, and, in connection therewith, creating the circular economy development center in the department of public health and environment, establishing the costs of operating the center as a permissible use of money from the front range waste diversion cash fund and the recycling resources economic opportunity fund, and extending and removing certain repeal dates associated with existing statutory waste diversion efforts. | Sponsors: Rep Cutter, Sen Priola | Passed
HB22-1166 | Incentives Promote Colorado Timber Industry | Concerning the adoption of incentives to promote the timber industry in Colorado, and, in connection therewith, creating an internship program in the Colorado state forest service, extending an existing sales and use tax exemption to cover the sales, storage, and use of wood harvested in Colorado, and creating a state income tax credit for the purchase of qualifying items used in timber production. | Failed
HB22-1193 | Fund Just Transition Coal Workforce Programs | Concerning adjustments to expenditures from funds dedicated to assisting those impacted by the transition to a clean energy economy, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Reps Herod/McCluskie, Sens Hansen/Rankin | Passed
HB22-1225 | Sunset Continue Colorado Resiliency Office | Sponsors: Reps Hooton/Will | Passed
HB22-1345 | PFAS Consumer Protection including bans in 2024 | Concerning measures to increase protections from perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals. | Sponsors: Reps Cutter/Bradfield | Passed
HB22-1348 | Oversight of Chemicals Used in Fracking | Concerning enhanced oversight of the chemicals used in oil and gas production. | Sponsors: Reps Froelich/Caraveo, Sen Winter | Passed
HB22-1394 | Fund Just Transition Community And Worker Supports | Concerning funding for just transition programs to assist communities with economic transitions, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Reps Esgar/Roberts, Sens Winter/Donovan | Passed
SB22-007 | Increase Wildfire Risk Mitigation Outreach Efforts | Concerning outreach to the public relating to wildfire risk mitigation practices. Sponsors: Sens Lee/Story, Reps Cutter/Snyder | Passed
SB22-029 | Investment Water Speculation | Concerning water speculation in the state. | Sponsors: Sens Coram/Donovan, Rep McCormick | Failed
SB22-090 | Severe Weather Notifications To Utility Customers | Concerning a requirement that energy utilities notify their customers of certain severe weather events. | Sen Story, Rep Hooton | Failed
CEA position: Support
SB22-131 | Protect Health Of Pollinators And People | Concerning measures to improve pollinator habitats for the protection of the environment. | Sponsors: Sens Jaquez Lewis/Priola, Reps Kipp/Froelich | Failed
SB22-158 | Species Conservation Trust Fund Projects | Concerning support for species conservation trust fund projects, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. | Sponsor: Sen Donovan | Passed
SB22-199 | Native Pollinating Insects Protection Study | Concerning a study regarding the protection of native pollinating insects in the state. | Sponsors: Sens Jaquez Lewis/Priola, Reps Kipp/Froelich | Passed
SB22-206 | Disaster Preparedness And Recovery Resources | Concerning resources for disaster preparedness and recovery, and, in connection therewith, creating the disaster resilience rebuilding program, the sustainable rebuilding program, the office of climate preparedness, and making an appropriation. | Sponsors: Sen Fenberg, Rep Amabile | Passed
