Legislative Agenda

We worked successfully with members of the Colorado General Assembly and our coalition partners to reduce and eliminate pollution, protect our lands and waters, and prioritize and safeguard wildlife.

Key wins include putting the wolverine on the path to reintroduction, ensuring pollinators and native plants are included in state conservation efforts, reinstating clean water protections for streams and wetlands and oil and gas fees to help lands and wildlife.

Another important win was the Joint Budget Committee approving Producer Responsibility, moving Colorado into the implementation stage of transforming our waste system.

Here were the bills we worked on in 2024:

HB24-1030 – Railroad Safety Requirements. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and signed by Governor

House Sponsors: Javier Mabrey, Tisha Mauro 

Senate Sponsors: Lisa Cutter, Tony Exum

HB24-1030 Railroad Safety Requirements bill will enhance railroad safety in Colorado through several key provisions:

• Incident Response: railroads must have plans and equipment ready to address hazardous material spills and emergencies, including coordination with local first responders.
• Wayside Detector Systems: railroads must disclose location and working state at these safety systems that are designed to detect potential issues with train equipment and track conditions.

By implementing these measures and others, the bill aims to reduce the risk of accidents and keep Colorado safe from environmental catastrophes like the recent derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

SB24-150 Processing of Municipal Solid Waste. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and sent to the Governor’s desk

House Sponsors: Meg Froelich

Senate Sponsors: Lisa Cutter, Dafna Michaelson Jenet

SB24-150‘s exclusion of incineration from state subsidies serves to steer waste management practices towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. These combustion facilities are notorious polluters and have no place in Colorado where we are already battling severe air pollution.

SB24-171 Restoration of Wolverines. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and sent to the Governor’s desk

House Sponsors: Tisha Mauro, Barbara McLachlan

Senate Sponsors: Perry Will, Dylan Roberts

Senate Bill 24-171 authorizes the reintroduction of the North American wolverine in the state by the division of parks and wildlife. Right now, there are only 250-300 wolverines left in the lower 48 states. These animals are at risk of forever disappearing from our lands. This bill has the potential to increase the Wolverine population significantly. Colorado has the mountain habitat where this species can thrive.

HB24-1379 Regulate Dredge & Fill Activities in State Waters. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and sent to the Governor’s desk

House Sponsors: Julie McCluskie, Karen McCormick

Senate Sponsors: Dylan Roberts, Barbara Kirkmeyer

HB-1379, will safeguard Colorado waters by restoring protections for our wetlands and streams. Because of a Supreme Court decision, many Colorado wetlands and streams were no longer protected from dredging and filling pollution that results from mining and development. 

Our wetlands and streams are essential for clean water and a healthy ecosystem. 98% of Colorado’s population depends on drinking water that comes from headwaters, ephemeral or intermittent streams, which are no longer protected. Wetlands also provide critical habitat for 80% of Colorado’s wildlife at some point in their lives.

SB24-127 Regulate Dredged & Fill Material State Waters. Vote NO.

Status: Failed Senate Committee on Finance 

House Sponsors: Shannon Bird

Senate Sponsors: Barbara Kirkmeyer

Senate Bill 24-127  falls far short of restoring the level of protections that Colorado waters had before the Sackett decision. In fact, SB 127 states new rules cannot be stricter than the federal guidelines and does not include all waters in Colorado’s current definition of state waters. The bill has inadequate protections.

HB24-1117 Invertebrates & Rare Plants Parks & Wildlife Commission. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and sent to the Governor’s desk

House Sponsors: Karen McCormick, Matt Soper

Senate Sponsors: Janice Marchman, Jeff Bridges

HB24-1117 is aimed at expanding the scope of the state’s wildlife conservation efforts to include invertebrates and rare plants. Their inclusion is vital – these species play critical roles in ecosystem health, agricultural productivity, and environmental resilience, and they are in decline. 

The bill identifies 75 invertebrates and 117 rare plants as species of greatest conservation need that are already part of the state’s wildlife action plan; it will allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to research and implement conservation measures to protect these species. 

SB24-081 Perfluoroalkyl & Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals. Vote YES.

Status: Passed and signed by Governor

House Sponsors: Cathy Kipp, Manny Rutinel

Senate Sponsors: Lisa Cutter

SB24-081 will phase out outdoor apparel, cleaning products, cookware, dental floss, menstruation products, ski wax, textile products and artificial turf with intentionally added PFAS. PFAS are human-made chemicals that are used in products because of their oil- and water- repelling capabilities, heat resistance, and friction-reduction qualities. These harmful chemicals build up in the bodies of humans over time and are toxic at low concentrations, causing major health problems.

SB24-230 Oil & Gas Production Fees

Status:  Passed and sent to the Governor’s desk

House Sponsors: Julie McCluskie, Elizabeth Velasco

Senate Sponsors: Steve Fenberg, Lisa Cutter

SB24-130 establishes a fee system on oil and gas production in Colorado to fund wildlife and land remediation. A fiscal analysis of the fees reveals this will be a big win for Colorado lands and wildlife, up to $50M annually. The bill establishes a sustainable funding source that directly ties industry impact to environmental remediation efforts.

Joint Budget Committee approval –  Producer Responsibility Program. Vote YES

Status: Passed by Joint Budget Committee (no additional step necessary)

HB22-1355, required the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) approve the draft plan for Colorado producer responsibility program. This was a unique process requiring only the JBC approval, which was given in April 2024. The program will be transformational to our waste management system in Colorado. Producer responsibility will assess a fee on producers for each piece of packaging. The fee will simultaneously send a price signal to producers to use less packaging and fund expansion of our recycling system. The program will reduce plastic pollution and more than double Colorado’s abysmal recycling rate.