A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning requiring public accessibility of stationary
Page 1, Line 102source emissions records.
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.)
Under current law, the air quality control commission is tasked with developing an effective air quality control program (program), including adopting rules necessary to carry out the program.
The bill requires a person that owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises (owner or operator) a building, structure, facility, or installation that emits or may emit an air pollutant (stationary source) to maintain records that will help the public determine whether the owner or operator is in compliance with rules establishing applicable air quality control regulations (records). The bill requires an owner or operator of a stationary source to make the records publicly available and accessible through a link on the owner or operator's public website.
The department of public health and environment is required to include a link on its website directing members of the public to the website of an owner or operator where the records are available.
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 finds and declares that:
Page 2, Line 3(a) Congress enacted the "Clean Air Act" in 1963 when electronic and digital business records were nonexistent;
Page 2, Line 4(b) Colorado continues to suffer from high levels of air pollution
Page 2, Line 5and, in the summer of 2024, exceeded the United States environmental protection agency's ozone limits for 40 days;
Page 2, Line 6(c) In May of 2023, the United States environmental protection
Page 2, Line 7agency issued a limited disapproval of Colorado's state implementation
Page 2, Line 8plan after finding that Colorado's practice of providing emission records
Page 2, Line 9to the state only on request did not sufficiently allow practical public
Page 2, Line 10access to information necessary to determine compliance with the "Clean Air Act";
Page 2, Line 11(d) In July of 2023, Colorado's attorney general filed a petition
Page 2, Line 12with the United States court of appeals for the tenth circuit for review of the United States environmental protection agency's disapproval;
Page 2, Line 13(e) The case will likely be settled, and Colorado will be allowed
Page 2, Line 14to continue its current practice of making air pollution records available
Page 2, Line 15to the state upon request, but not making the records accessible to the
Page 2, Line 16public;
Page 3, Line 1(f) Air pollution emissions travel from a polluter's private property into the air of other private property owners and into public spaces;
Page 3, Line 2(g) People have a right to know what pollutants and discharges are emitted into the air they breathe and onto the property they own;
Page 3, Line 3(h) Pollution records are now kept in easily accessible electronic
Page 3, Line 4and digital formats that were unknown when congress enacted the "Clean Air Act";
Page 3, Line 5(i) The cost of electronic database storage for records is nominal, ranging from one cent to 20 cents per gigabyte; and
Page 3, Line 6(j) It is in the public interest and supports the health and welfare
Page 3, Line 7of Colorado residents to require that pollution records be both available to the state for inspection and accessible to the public.
Page 3, Line 8SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 25-7-109.7 as follows:
Page 3, Line 925-7-109.7. Emissions records - public accessibility - civil
Page 3, Line 10penalties. (1) Public accessibility of emissions records. (a) Beginning
Page 3, Line 11January 1, 2027, an owner or operator shall make all emissions
Page 3, Line 12records that the owner or operator is required by state or
Page 3, Line 13federal law to maintain publicly available and accessible
Page 3, Line 14through a link on the owner or operator's public website. The
Page 3, Line 15owner or operator shall maintain the records in a digital format that is downloadable.
Page 3, Line 16(b) An owner or operator shall update the records
Page 3, Line 17maintained on the owner or operator's public website pursuant
Page 3, Line 18to subsection (1)(a) of this section following the same schedule
Page 3, Line 19as the records are made available to the state; except that, any
Page 3, Line 20records provided to the state more often than once monthly
Page 4, Line 1may be uploaded to the owner or operator's public website on a
Page 4, Line 2monthly basis. For records that are provided to the state on a
Page 4, Line 3quarterly basis or less often, the owner or operator shall
Page 4, Line 4update such records on the owner or operator's public website
Page 4, Line 5on or before the first day of the month following when the records are made available to the state.
Page 4, Line 6(c) The records may be redacted to protect confidential business information.
Page 4, Line 7(d) (I) This section applies to records that are generated on or after December 1, 2026.
Page 4, Line 8(II) Nothing in this section requires an owner or operator
Page 4, Line 9to include records that were generated before December 1, 2026, on the owner or operator's public website.
Page 4, Line 10(2) Civil penalties.Civil penalties assessed and collected
Page 4, Line 11for violations of this section pursuant to section 25-7-122 must
Page 4, Line 12be credited to the air quality enterprise cash fund created in section 25-7-103.5 (4).
Page 4, Line 13SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 25-7-122, amend (1)(b) introductory portion as follows:
Page 4, Line 1425-7-122. Civil penalties - rules - definitions. (1) Upon
Page 4, Line 15application of the division, the division may collect penalties as
Page 4, Line 16determined under this article 7 by instituting an action in the district court
Page 4, Line 17for the district in which the air pollution source affected is located, in accordance with the following provisions:
Page 4, Line 18(b) Any person who violates any requirement or prohibition of a
Page 4, Line 19final order of the division or commission, an applicable emission control
Page 4, Line 20regulation of the commission, the state implementation plan, a
Page 5, Line 1construction permit, any provision for the prevention of significant
Page 5, Line 2deterioration under part 2 of this article 7, any provision related to
Page 5, Line 3attainment under part 3 of this article 7, or any provision of or
Page 5, Line 4commission rule adopted pursuant to section 25-7-105, 25-7-106,
Page 5, Line 525-7-106.3, 25-7-108, 25-7-109, 25-7-109.5, 25-7-109.7, 25-7-111,
Page 5, Line 625-7-112, 25-7-113, 25-7-114.2, 25-7-114.5, 25-7-118, 25-7-141,
Page 5, Line 725-7-146, 25-7-206, 25-7-403, 25-7-404, 25-7-405, 25-7-407, 42-4-403,
Page 5, Line 842-4-404, 42-4-405, 42-4-406, 42-4-407, 42-4-409, 42-4-410, or
Page 5, Line 942-4-414 is subject to a civil penalty of not more than forty-seven
Page 5, Line 10thousand three hundred fifty-seven dollars per day for each day of the violation; except that:
Page 5, Line 11SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 25-7-103.5, amend (1) introductory portion, (1)(f), (4)(a), and (4)(c)(III) as follows:
Page 5, Line 1225-7-103.5. Air quality enterprise - legislative declaration -
Page 5, Line 13fund - definitions - gifts, grants, or donations - rules - report - repeal.
Page 5, Line 14(1) Legislative declaration. The general assembly
herebyPage 5, Line 15(f) Effective engagement with local communities often requires
Page 5, Line 16trusted third-party data and verification regarding emissions and
Page 5, Line 17environmental performance, and making emissions data available
Page 5, Line 18and accessible to the public increases trust among, and effective engagement with, local communities;
Page 5, Line 19(4) Fund - enterprise fees and other revenue. (a) There is
Page 5, Line 20
herebyPage 5, Line 21The fund consists of money credited to the fund pursuant to this
Page 5, Line 22subsection (4), payments for other purposes as authorized under
Page 5, Line 23subsection (3)(c)(VIII) of this section, civil penalties credited to the
Page 6, Line 1fund pursuant to section 25-7-109.7, and any other money that the
Page 6, Line 2general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund. The state
Page 6, Line 3treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the fund to the fund.
Page 6, Line 4(c) Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the
Page 6, Line 5enterprise to accomplish the purposes set forth in subsection (3)(c) of this section, including to:
Page 6, Line 6(III) Provide publicly available and accessible, high-quality,
Page 6, Line 7independent, and trusted data regarding pollutant emissions from
Page 6, Line 8stationary sources and concentrations to reduce waste of valuable
Page 6, Line 9products and resource streams, enhance cost-effective regulatory
Page 6, Line 10compliance, allow for community engagement and transparency
Page 6, Line 11regarding pollutant emissions and stationary source processes,and support corporate environmental, social, and governance objectives;
Page 6, Line 12SECTION 5. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 6, Line 13takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 6, Line 14ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 6, Line 15that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 6, Line 16of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 6, Line 17act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 6, Line 18effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 6, Line 19November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.