2021 Colorado Climate and Environmental Justice Legislation: A Year in Review

Image Credit: ellenm1 on Flickr, “Wind farm near Fort Collins, CO”

By Casey Morris

Colorado’s 2021 legislative session was extremely progressive on environmental justice and climate. Even environmental groups approved. The following are the major pieces of legislation to know about:

House Bill 21-1266 : Environmental Justice Disproportionate Impacted Community

Passed June 23, 2021; Signed by Governor Polis July 2, 2021

HB 21-1266 is the principal piece of environmental legislation from the past year. The act will create new emission targets for power plants, oil and gas operations, as well as the industrial and manufacturing sector. While less ambitious than its original form, the act still stands to impact Colorado’s climate goals as it establishes concrete steps in the implementation of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets established by the state in 2019 under HB 19-1261. The original bill would have regulated emissions economy-wide, however, the compromise dropped enforcement efforts for the transportation and buildings sectors.  The final act was the result of intense negotiation, a veto threat from Governor Polis, and an eventual compromise.

Under the new act, the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) is required to include greenhouse gasses in its list of air pollutants that are required to be reported in air pollution emission notices. It also requires that the economic impact analysis of greenhouse gas rules includes an examination of the social costs of greenhouse gasses. Additionally, the act established an environmental justice ombudsperson within the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment as well as a task force that will develop a plan to promote environmental justice throughout the state by November 2022.

 The act does not allow for a comprehensive cap and trade program. In an executive order released along with his signature on the act, Governor Polis stated HB 21-1266 does not “allow for an economy-wide cap-and-trade or cap-and-invest program. Nothing in these laws authorize the AQCC to pursue an economy-wide cap-and-trade or cap-and-invest program. My administration will not support any economy-wide cap-and-trade programs before the AQCC, and we will continue to oppose any such proposed rules brought by other parties.”

House Bill 21-1286: Energy Performance for Buildings

Passed June 18, 2021; Signed by Governor Polis June 24, 2021

In an effort to improve energy efficiency, HB 21-1286 requires that owners of large buildings annually report energy use to the Colorado Energy Office (CEO). The act required the director of the CEO to create a task force of building owners, building professionals, utility representatives, and local government representatives to recommend performance standards to be adopted as rules by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission. The standards must meet a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2026 (as compared to 2021 levels) and a 20 percent reduction by 2030.

Building owners will be required to pay a $100 fee per building to fund the program’s administration, and violations may result in a $500 fine per violation, with escalation for repeat offenders. The act also includes provisions for technology projects, including a database of buildings and owners covered by the act, as well as a publicly-accessible database with interactive maps and lists with buildings’ reported energy data.

Senate Bill 21-260: Sustainability Of The Transportation System

Passed June 8, 2021; Signed by Governor Polis June 17, 2021

SB 21-260 established $5 billion in funding for transportation in Colorado. The bill’s sponsors focused on the use of fees rather than taxes to avoid the need for voter approval under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). The act adds six new fees that will raise $3.7 billion over the next ten years. Those funds will be added to $1.4 billion from the Colorado general fund, existing fuel taxes, and one-time federal stimulus funding. The funds will be used for road repair, electric vehicle incentives, environmental mitigation, electric public transit vehicles, and other transportation improvements.

House Bill 21-1303: Global Warming Potential for Public Project Materials

Passed June 21, 2021; Signed by Governor Polis July 6, 2021

HB 21-1303 requires the Office of the State Architect and the Colorado Department of Transportation to establish policies regarding the climate change impacts of specific categories of eligible materials used to construct select public projects. The act defines “eligible materials” as those used in the construction of public projects, including asphalt, cement, concrete, glass, post-tension steel, reinforcing steel, structural steel, and wood structural elements.

Under the act, the Office of the State Architect is required to establish “maximum acceptable global warming potential” for eligible materials used in certain public projects under its purview. Similarly, the Department of Transportation must develop policies to determine, track, and record the greenhouse gas emissions of eligible materials used in projects it oversees consistent with the criteria of an environmental product declaration. Both agencies are required to “strive to achieve continuous reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in construction materials over time for the projects under their purview.”

Senate Bill 21-264: Adopt Programs Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Utilities

Passed June 15, 2021; Signed June 24, 2021

SB 21-264 requires all gas distribution utilities to file a clean heat plan with the Public Utilities Commission. The plans must demonstrate the GDU’s plans for the use of clean heat resources to meet clean heat targets set forth in the act. The targets require greenhouse gas emission levels to be reduced 4 percent by 2025 (as compared to 2015 levels) and 22 percent by 2030. The act directs the Air Quality Control Commission to initiate a rulemaking in 2022 to establish protocols for the recovered methane that utilities must use in emission reduction forecasts. It also requires the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to study the resources that would be required for safe and effective greenhouse gas sequestration injection wells.