House Bill 25-1009 Preamended

A Bill for an Act

• Page 1, Line 101Concerning a vegetative fuel mitigation program for a

• Page 1, Line 102district providing fire protection services.

Bill Summary

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)

The bill allows a fire protection district or a metropolitan district providing fire protection services (district) to create a program to mitigate the presence of dead or dry plant material that can burn and contribute to a fire on privately owned property within a district (vegetative fuel program). A district that creates a vegetative fuel program is required to adopt policies consistent with the 2024 International Wildland-urban Interface Code or the standards and codes adopted or issued by the Colorado wildfire resiliency code board. A district that creates a vegetative fuel program may require an owner or occupier with an interest in private real property that contains vegetative fuel within the district to remove the vegetative fuel and assess a fine per incident of noncompliance. In order to assess a fine, for each incident, the district must provide written notice of the requirement to remove vegetative fuel and allow at least 10 days for the owner or occupier to comply. An owner or occupier that does not remove the vegetative fuel as provided in the first notice may be subject to a second notice requiring the removal of vegetative fuel. An owner or occupier has at least 10 days to comply with the second notice. An owner or occupier that does not comply within at least 10 days after the second notice may receive a third notice providing for a fine approximately equal to the cost of removing the vegetative fuel. The fine may not exceed $300 per property per incident. An owner or occupier receiving a third notice may avoid a fine by removing the vegetative fuel within 10 days of the date of the third notice.

The money a district collects from a fine must be used by the district to remove vegetative fuel on private real property within the district's jurisdiction. An owner or occupier that is subject to a fine imposed by the district has standing to file an objection to the fine with the district's board. A district's board may waive the fine in all or in part, in its discretion, if it determines that the fine was not assessed pursuant to law, an owner or occupier is financially unable to pay the fine, or the vegetative fuel has been removed, and must prioritize use of the money to assist a low-income owner or occupier, a senior owner or occupier, or an owner or occupier with a disability in removing vegetative fuel from the owner or occupier's property.

A district shall adopt rules and policies after public notice and comment to implement the bill and shall post the adopted rules and policies to the district's website.

• This Unofficial Version Includes Committee

• Amendments Not Yet Adopted on Second Reading

• Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

• Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1.  Legislative declaration. (1)  The general assembly

• Page 2, Line 3finds and declares that:

• Page 2, Line 4(a)  Colorado's wildfire season has grown in length and severity,

• Page 2, Line 5in some cases posing a year-round threat to communities throughout

• Page 2, Line 6Colorado;

• Page 2, Line 7(b)  Wildfires present a grave risk to Colorado's residents,

• Page 3, Line 1property, and natural environment, whether in the mountains, on the

• Page 3, Line 2prairie, or in suburban areas;

• Page 3, Line 3(c)  Wildfires can cause devastating property destruction and loss

• Page 3, Line 4of life; and

• Page 3, Line 5(d)  The creation and maintenance of defensible space around

• Page 3, Line 6homes is a proven strategy to reduce wildfire risks and provide critical

• Page 3, Line 7time for responding firefighters, while overgrown, dead, or dying

• Page 3, Line 8vegetation increases the risk of fire spread, threatening homes and

• Page 3, Line 9neighboring properties.

• Page 3, Line 10(2)  Therefore, the general assembly further finds and declares that

• Page 3, Line 11while the state of Colorado and local governments have invested

• Page 3, Line 12substantial resources in wildfire mitigation and suppression, there is a

• Page 3, Line 13need to further empower fire protection districts and metropolitan districts

• Page 3, Line 14providing fire protection services to implement localized vegetative fuel

• Page 3, Line 15management programs, which are essential to enhance community safety

• Page 3, Line 16and resilience in the face of an increasing wildfire threat.

• Page 3, Line 17SECTION 2.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 32-1-103, add (14.3)

• Page 3, Line 18and (23.7) as follows:

• Page 3, Line 1932-1-103.  Definitions. As used in this article 1, unless the context

• Page 3, Line 20otherwise requires:

• Page 3, Line 21(14.3)  "Privately owned real property" or "property"

• Page 3, Line 22means privately owned real property that is not classified as

• Page 3, Line 23agricultural land by the tax assessor.

• Page 3, Line 24(23.7)  "Vegetative fuel" means any dead or dry plant

• Page 3, Line 25material that can burn and contribute to a fire, including

• Page 3, Line 26leaves, grass, shrubs, ground litter, dead leaves, and fallen pine

• Page 3, Line 27needles.

• Page 4, Line 1SECTION 3.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 32-1-1002, add (1)(i)

• Page 4, Line 2as follows:

• Page 4, Line 332-1-1002.  Fire protection districts - additional powers and

• Page 4, Line 4duties - definitions - vegetative fuel removal. (1)  In addition to the

• Page 4, Line 5powers specified in section 32-1-1001, the board of any fire protection

• Page 4, Line 6district has the following powers for and on behalf of the district:

• Page 4, Line 7(i) (I)  A fire protection district may establish, in its

• Page 4, Line 8discretion, a program to require the removal of vegetative fuel

• Page 4, Line 9from privately owned real property within the boundaries of the

• Page 4, Line 10district, and a fire protection district that establishes a

• Page 4, Line 11program shall adopt policies consistent with the 2024

• Page 4, Line 12International Wildland-urban Interface Code, a subsequent

• Page 4, Line 13code established by the International Code Council, or the

• Page 4, Line 14standards and codes adopted or issued by the Colorado wildfire

• Page 4, Line 15resiliency code board.

• Page 4, Line 16(II)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 4, Line 17pursuant to section (1)(i)(I) of this section may assess a fine in

• Page 4, Line 18accordance with this subsection (1)(i)(II). For each incident of

• Page 4, Line 19vegetative fuel on a property, a fire protection district must

• Page 4, Line 20provide to an owner or occupier of the privately owned real

• Page 4, Line 21property written notice of the requirement to remove

• Page 4, Line 22vegetative fuel from a property and the amount of a potential

• Page 4, Line 23fine. At least ten days after providing a first notice, if the

• Page 4, Line 24vegetative fuel has not been removed, a district may provide a

• Page 4, Line 25second written notice to the owner or occupier containing the

• Page 4, Line 26same information. At least ten days after providing a second

• Page 4, Line 27notice, if the vegetative fuel has not been removed, a district

• Page 5, Line 1may assess a fine against the owner or occupier by providing

• Page 5, Line 2written notice of the fine to the owner or occupier. The amount

• Page 5, Line 3of a fine must be approximately equal to the cost of removal of

• Page 5, Line 4the vegetative fuel on the property and must not exceed three

• Page 5, Line 5hundred dollars per property per incident. A fine is waived if the

• Page 5, Line 6owner or occupier removes or causes the removal of the

• Page 5, Line 7vegetative fuel within ten days of receiving notice of an

• Page 5, Line 8assessment of a fine.

• Page 5, Line 9(III)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 5, Line 10pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section must use the

• Page 5, Line 11money collected from a fine assessed pursuant to this section

• Page 5, Line 12only to remove vegetative fuel on private real property within

• Page 5, Line 13the district's jurisdiction. A fire protection district must

• Page 5, Line 14prioritize use of the money to assist a low-income owner or

• Page 5, Line 15occupier, a senior owner or occupier, or an owner or occupier

• Page 5, Line 16with a disability to remove vegetative fuel from the owner or

• Page 5, Line 17occupier's property.

• Page 5, Line 18(IV)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 5, Line 19pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall establish a

• Page 5, Line 20process for a person that owns or occupies property that is

• Page 5, Line 21subject to a fine imposed by the fire protection district pursuant

• Page 5, Line 22to subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section to file an objection to the

• Page 5, Line 23fine with the district's board. A district's board may waive the

• Page 5, Line 24fine in all or in part, in its discretion, if it determines that:

• Page 5, Line 25(A)  The fine was not assessed in compliance with

• Page 5, Line 26subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section;

• Page 5, Line 27(B)  The owner or occupier filing an objection is

• Page 6, Line 1financially unable to pay all or a portion of the fine; or

• Page 6, Line 2(C)  An owner or occupier against which a fine was

• Page 6, Line 3assessed has removed or caused the removal of the vegetative

• Page 6, Line 4fuel after the assessment of the fine.

• Page 6, Line 5(V)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 6, Line 6pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall not assess a

• Page 6, Line 7lien on any privately owned real property for unpaid fines until

• Page 6, Line 8the owner or occupier of the privately owned real property has

• Page 6, Line 9five or more unpaid fines for violations concerning the same

• Page 6, Line 10privately owned real property.

• Page 6, Line 11(VI)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 6, Line 12pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall adopt rules

• Page 6, Line 13and policies after a public hearing, public notice, and the

• Page 6, Line 14allowance of public comment to implement this subsection (1)(i)

• Page 6, Line 15and shall post the adopted rules and policies on the district's

• Page 6, Line 16website.

• Page 6, Line 17SECTION 4.  Act subject to petition - effective date. This act

• Page 6, Line 18takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the

• Page 6, Line 19ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except

• Page 6, Line 20that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V

• Page 6, Line 21of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this

• Page 6, Line 22act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take

• Page 6, Line 23effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in

• Page 6, Line 24November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the

• Page 6, Line 25official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.