Environmental Sustainability Circular Economy

Section 1 of the bill repeals the pollution prevention advisory board and the pollution prevention advisory board assistance committee when the bill takes effect, repeals the recycling resources economic opportunity program on October 1, 2025, and repeals the front range waste diversion enterprise and replaces it with the Colorado circular communities enterprise (enterprise). The enterprise, in merging and modernizing the purposes of the recycling resources economic opportunity program and the front range waste diversion enterprise, awards grants and other funding and provides technical assistance to local governments, nonprofit and for-profit businesses, public and private schools, and institutions of higher education throughout the state that pursue a circular economy for waste management, including waste diversion and aversion. Section 1 also creates the statewide voluntary sustainability program to support businesses engaging, or looking to engage, in sustainability efforts.

Under current law, user fees are imposed on operators of attended solid waste disposal sites (operators) to finance the recycling resources economic opportunity program and the front range waste diversion enterprise. Section 2 applies those fees to the enterprise, requiring operators of sites located outside of the front range to pay a fee of either 2 or 4 cents per load transported for disposal and requiring operators of sites located in the front range, between July 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, to pay a fee of 74 cents per cubic yard per load transported for disposal and, on and after January 1, 2025, to pay a fee of 78 cents per cubic yard per load transported for disposal. Sections 3 through 10 make conforming amendments.
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)