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 (23.7)
Page 3, Line 18as 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(23.7) "Vegetative fuel" means any dead or dry plant
Page 3, Line 22material that can burn and contribute to a fire, including
Page 3, Line 23leaves, grass, shrubs, ground litter, dead leaves, and fallen pine
Page 3, Line 24needles.
Page 3, Line 25SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 32-1-1002, add (1)(i)
Page 3, Line 26as follows:
Page 3, Line 2732-1-1002. Fire protection districts - additional powers and
Page 4, Line 1duties - definitions - vegetative fuel removal. (1) In addition to the
Page 4, Line 2powers specified in section 32-1-1001, the board of any fire protection
Page 4, Line 3district has the following powers for and on behalf of the district:
Page 4, Line 4(i) (I) A fire protection district may establish, in its
Page 4, Line 5discretion, a program to require the removal of vegetative fuel
Page 4, Line 6from privately owned real property within the boundaries of the
Page 4, Line 7district, and a fire protection district that establishes a
Page 4, Line 8program shall adopt policies consistent with the 2024
Page 4, Line 9International Wildland-urban Interface Code or the standards
Page 4, Line 10and codes adopted or issued by the Colorado wildfire resiliency
Page 4, Line 11code board.
Page 4, Line 12(II) A fire protection district that establishes a program
Page 4, Line 13pursuant to section (1)(i)(I) of this section may assess a fine in
Page 4, Line 14accordance with this subsection (1)(i)(II). For each incident of
Page 4, Line 15vegetative fuel on a property, a fire protection district must
Page 4, Line 16provide to an owner or occupier of the privately owned real
Page 4, Line 17property written notice of the requirement to remove
Page 4, Line 18vegetative fuel from a property and the amount of a potential
Page 4, Line 19fine. At least ten days after providing a first notice, if the
Page 4, Line 20vegetative fuel has not been removed, a district may provide a
Page 4, Line 21second written notice to the owner or occupier containing the
Page 4, Line 22same information. At least ten days after providing a second
Page 4, Line 23notice, if the vegetative fuel has not been removed, a district
Page 4, Line 24may assess a fine against the owner or occupier by providing
Page 4, Line 25written notice of the fine to the owner or occupier. The amount
Page 4, Line 26of a fine must be approximately equal to the cost of removal of
Page 4, Line 27the vegetative fuel on the property and must not exceed three
Page 5, Line 1hundred dollars per property per incident. A fine is waived if the
Page 5, Line 2owner or occupier removes or causes the removal of the
Page 5, Line 3vegetative fuel within ten days of receiving notice of an
Page 5, Line 4assessment of a fine.
Page 5, Line 5(III) A fire protection district that establishes a program
Page 5, Line 6pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section must use the
Page 5, Line 7money collected from a fine assessed pursuant to this section
Page 5, Line 8only to remove vegetative fuel on private real property within
Page 5, Line 9the district's jurisdiction. A fire protection district must
Page 5, Line 10prioritize use of the money to assist a low-income owner or
Page 5, Line 11occupier, a senior owner or occupier, or an owner or occupier
Page 5, Line 12with a disability to remove vegetative fuel from the owner or
Page 5, Line 13occupier's property.
Page 5, Line 14(IV) A fire protection district that establishes a program
Page 5, Line 15pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall establish a
Page 5, Line 16process for a person that owns or occupies property that is
Page 5, Line 17subject to a fine imposed by the fire protection district pursuant
Page 5, Line 18to subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section to file an objection to the
Page 5, Line 19fine with the district's board. A district's board may waive the
Page 5, Line 20fine in all or in part, in its discretion, if it determines that:
Page 5, Line 21(A) The fine was not assessed in compliance with
Page 5, Line 22subsection (1)(i)(II) of this section;
Page 5, Line 23(B) The owner or occupier filing an objection is
Page 5, Line 24financially unable to pay all or a portion of the fine; or
Page 5, Line 25(C) An owner or occupier against which a fine was
Page 5, Line 26assessed has removed or caused the removal of the vegetative
Page 5, Line 27fuel after the assessment of the fine.
Page 6, Line 1(V) A fire protection district that establishes a program
Page 6, Line 2pursuant to subsection (1)(i)(I) of this section shall adopt rules
Page 6, Line 3and policies after public notice and comment to implement this
Page 6, Line 4subsection (1)(i) and shall post the adopted rules and policies on
Page 6, Line 5the district's website.
Page 6, Line 6SECTION 4. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 6, Line 7takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 6, Line 8ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 6, Line 9that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 6, Line 10of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 6, Line 11act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 6, Line 12effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 6, Line 13November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the
Page 6, Line 14official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.