House Bill 25-1009 Engrossed

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.

• 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 (13.5),

• Page 3, Line 18(14.3), and (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(13.5)  "Nonprofit entity" meansa person that is registered

• Page 3, Line 22as an exempt charitable organization pursuant to 26 U.S.C. sec.

• Page 3, Line 23501 (c)(3) and that is exempt from taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C.

• Page 3, Line 24sec. 501 (a) of the federal "Internal Revenue Code of 1986".

• Page 3, Line 25(14.3)  "Privately owned real property" or "property"

• Page 3, Line 26means privately owned real property that is not classified as

• Page 3, Line 27agricultural land by the tax assessor. "Privately owned real

• Page 4, Line 1property" or "property" does not mean privately owned real

• Page 4, Line 2property owned by a nonprofit entity that is leased for

• Page 4, Line 3agricultural purposes.

• Page 4, Line 4(23.7)  "Vegetative fuel" means any dead plant material

• Page 4, Line 5that can burn and contribute to a fire, including leaves, grass,

• Page 4, Line 6shrubs, ground litter, dead leaves, and fallen pine needles.

• Page 4, Line 7SECTION 3.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 32-1-1002, add (1)(i)

• Page 4, Line 8as follows:

• Page 4, Line 932-1-1002.  Fire protection districts - additional powers and

• Page 4, Line 10duties - definitions - vegetative fuel removal. (1)  In addition to the

• Page 4, Line 11powers specified in section 32-1-1001, the board of any fire protection

• Page 4, Line 12district has the following powers for and on behalf of the district:

• Page 4, Line 13(i) (I)  A fire protection district may establish, in its

• Page 4, Line 14discretion, a program to require the removal of vegetative fuel

• Page 4, Line 15from privately owned real property within the boundaries of the

• Page 4, Line 16district, and a fire protection district that establishes a

• Page 4, Line 17program shall adopt policies consistent with the 2024

• Page 4, Line 18International Wildland-urban Interface Code, a subsequent

• Page 4, Line 19code established by the International Code Council, or the

• Page 4, Line 20standards and codes adopted or issued by the Colorado wildfire

• Page 4, Line 21resiliency code board.

• Page 4, Line 22(II)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 4, Line 23pursuant to section (1)(i)(I) of this section may assess a fine in

• Page 4, Line 24accordance with this subsection (1)(i)(II). An incident covers all

• Page 4, Line 25vegetative fuel on a property. For each incident of vegetative

• Page 4, Line 26fuel on a property, a fire protection district must provide to an

• Page 4, Line 27owner and occupier of the privately owned real property

• Page 5, Line 1written notice of the requirement to remove vegetative fuel

• Page 5, Line 2from a property and the amount of a potential fine. At least ten

• Page 5, Line 3days after providing a first notice, if the vegetative fuel has not

• Page 5, Line 4been removed, a district may provide a second written notice to

• Page 5, Line 5the owner and occupier containing the same information. At

• Page 5, Line 6least ten days after providing a second notice, if the vegetative

• Page 5, Line 7fuel has not been removed, a district may assess a fine against

• Page 5, Line 8the owner or occupier by providing written notice of the fine to

• Page 5, Line 9the owner andoccupier by certified mail. The amount of a fine

• Page 5, Line 10must be approximately equal to the cost of removal of the

• Page 5, Line 11vegetative fuel on the property and must not exceed three

• Page 5, Line 12hundred dollars per property per incident. An owner or occupier

• Page 5, Line 13is not subject to more than one fine for the same incident. A fine

• Page 5, Line 14is waived if the owner or occupier removes or causes the

• Page 5, Line 15removal of the vegetative fuel within ten days of receiving

• Page 5, Line 16notice of an assessment of a fine.

• Page 5, Line 17(III)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 5, Line 18pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section must use the

• Page 5, Line 19money collected from a fine assessed pursuant to this section

• Page 5, Line 20only to remove vegetative fuel on private real property within

• Page 5, Line 21the district's jurisdiction. A fire protection district must

• Page 5, Line 22prioritize use of the money to assist a low-income owner or

• Page 5, Line 23occupier, a senior owner or occupier, or an owner or occupier

• Page 5, Line 24with a disability to remove vegetative fuel from the owner or

• Page 5, Line 25occupier's property.

• Page 5, Line 26(IV)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 5, Line 27pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall establish a

• Page 6, Line 1process for a person that owns or occupies property that is

• Page 6, Line 2subject to a fine imposed by the fire protection district pursuant

• Page 6, Line 3to subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section to file an objection to the

• Page 6, Line 4fine with the district's board. A district's board may waive the

• Page 6, Line 5fine in all or in part, in its discretion, if it determines that:

• Page 6, Line 6(A)  The fine was not assessed in compliance with

• Page 6, Line 7subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section;

• Page 6, Line 8(B)  The owner or occupier filing an objection is

• Page 6, Line 9financially unable to pay all or a portion of the fine; or

• Page 6, Line 10(C)  An owner or occupier against which a fine was

• Page 6, Line 11assessed has removed or caused the removal of the vegetative

• Page 6, Line 12fuel after the assessment of the fine.

• Page 6, Line 13(V)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 6, Line 14pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall not assess a

• Page 6, Line 15lien on any privately owned real property for unpaid fines until

• Page 6, Line 16the owner or occupier of the privately owned real property has

• Page 6, Line 17five or more unpaid fines for violations concerning the same

• Page 6, Line 18privately owned real property. A lien for non-payment of a fine

• Page 6, Line 19assessed against a property pursuant to this subsection (1)(i)

• Page 6, Line 20must not be foreclosed and does not supercede any prior lien on

• Page 6, Line 21a property.

• Page 6, Line 22(VI)  A fire protection district that establishes a program

• Page 6, Line 23pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall adopt rules

• Page 6, Line 24and policies after a public hearing, public notice, and the

• Page 6, Line 25allowance of public comment to implement this subsection (1)(i)

• Page 6, Line 26and shall post the adopted rules and policies on the district's

• Page 6, Line 27website.As part of the adopted rules and policies a fire

• Page 7, Line 1protection district shall designate an individual to oversee and

• Page 7, Line 2manage the program.

• Page 7, Line 3(VII)  A fire protection district may waive a fine for delays

• Page 7, Line 4due to weather or upon a petition for a time extension from an

• Page 7, Line 5owner or occupier if an owner or occupier has undertaken good

• Page 7, Line 6faith efforts to remove the vegetative fuel, at the discretion of

• Page 7, Line 7the fire protection district.

• Page 7, Line 8SECTION 4.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 32-1-1004, add

• Page 7, Line 9(1)(e) as follows:

• Page 7, Line 1032-1-1004.  Metropolitan districts - additional powers and

• Page 7, Line 11duties. (1)  In addition to the powers specified in section 32-1-1001, the

• Page 7, Line 12board of any metropolitan district has the following powers for and on

• Page 7, Line 13behalf of such district:

• Page 7, Line 14(e)  A metropolitan district that provides fire protection

• Page 7, Line 15services may establish, in its discretion, a program to require

• Page 7, Line 16the removal of vegetative fuel from privately owned real

• Page 7, Line 17property within the boundaries of the district, as specified in

• Page 7, Line 18section 32-1-1001 (1)(i) for fire protection districts, and a

• Page 7, Line 19metropolitan district that provides fire protection services and

• Page 7, Line 20that establishes a program pursuant to section 32-1-1001 (1)(i)

• Page 7, Line 21shall adopt policies consistent with the 2024 International

• Page 7, Line 22Wildland-urban Interface Code, a subsequent code established

• Page 7, Line 23by the International Code Council, or the standards and codes

• Page 7, Line 24adopted or issued by the Colorado wildfire resiliency code

• Page 7, Line 25board.

• Page 7, Line 26SECTION 5.  Act subject to petition - effective date. This act

• Page 7, Line 27takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the

• Page 8, Line 1ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except

• Page 8, Line 2that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V

• Page 8, Line 3of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this

• Page 8, Line 4act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take

• Page 8, Line 5effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in

• Page 8, Line 6November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the

• Page 8, Line 7official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.