2022 Colorado Code
Title 40 - Utilities
Article 2 - Public Utilities Commission - Renewable Energy Standard
Part 1 - General and Administrative Provisions
§ 40-2-108. Rules - Definitions - Legislative Declaration

1. The commission shall promulgate such rules as are necessary for the proper administration and enforcement of this title and shall furnish, without charge, copies of the appropriate rules to each public utility under its jurisdiction and, upon request, to any public officer, agency, political subdivision, association of officers, agencies, or political subdivisions and to any representative of twenty-five or more consumers. The commission shall be governed by the provisions of article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., for the promulgation and adoption of rules; except that, notwithstanding any provision of the said article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., to the contrary, the commission shall issue a decision whenever it adopts rules in accordance with this section.
2. Notwithstanding section 24-4-103 (6), C.R.S., any temporary or emergency rule adopted by the commission shall be effective until a permanent rule that replaces the temporary or emergency rule is effective but not for more than two hundred ten days after the date of adoption.
3. 1. The general assembly finds, determines, and declares that:
      1. Certain communities, both in Colorado and internationally, have historically been forced to bear a disproportionate burden of adverse human health or environmental effects, as documented in numerous studies, including the "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007" report by the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries; the federal environmental protection agency's annual environmental justice progress reports; and a 2021 report from the "Mapping for Environmental Justice" project at the Berkeley Public Policy/The Goldman School that shows how the pollution burden is distributed in Colorado, while also facing systemic exclusion from environmental decision-making processes and enjoying fewer environmental benefits; and
      2. The purpose of this subsection (3) is to ensure that the commission, in exercising its regulatory authority, will take account of and, where possible, help to correct these historical inequities.

   2. The commission shall promulgate rules requiring that the commission, in all of its work including its review of all filings and its determination of all adjudications, consider how best to provide equity, minimize impacts, and prioritize benefits to disproportionately impacted communities and address historical inequalities.
   3. 1. In promulgating rules pursuant to this subsection (3), the commission shall identify disproportionately impacted communities. In identifying the communities, the commission shall consider minority, low-income, tribal, or indigenous populations in the state that experience disproportionate environmental harm and risks resulting from such factors as increased vulnerability to environmental degradation, lack of opportunity for public participation, or other factors. Increased vulnerability may be attributable to an accumulation of negative or a lack of positive environmental, health, economic, or social conditions within these populations.
      2. When making decisions relating to retail customer programs, the commission shall host informational meetings, workshops, and hearings that invite input from disproportionately impacted communities and shall ensure, to the extent reasonably possible, that such programs, including any associated incentives and other relevant investments, include floor expenditures, set aside as equity budgets, to ensure that low-income customers and disproportionately impacted communities will have at least proportionate access to the benefits of such programs, incentives, and investments.

   4. As used in this subsection (3):
      1. "Cost-burdened" means a household that spends more than thirty percent of its income on housing.
      2. "Disproportionately impacted community" means a community that is in a census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States census, where the proportion of households that are low income is greater than forty percent, the proportion of households that identify as minority is greater than forty percent, or the proportion of households that are housing cost-burdened is greater than forty percent; or is any other community as identified or approved by a state agency, if:
         1. The community has a history of environmental racism perpetuated through redlining, anti-Indigenous, anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic, or anti-Black laws; or
         2. The community is one where multiple factors, including socioeconomic stressors, disproportionate environmental burdens, vulnerability to environmental degradation, and lack of public participation, may act cumulatively to affect health and the environment and contribute to persistent disparities.

      3. "Low income" means meeting one or more of the following criteria:
         1. Median household income less than or equal to two hundred percent of the federal poverty guideline;
         2. Median household income less than or equal to eighty percent of the area median income; or
         3. Qualification under income guidelines adopted by the department of human services pursuant to section 40-8.5-105.

Source: L. 13: p. 468, § 12. C.L. § 2923. CSA: C. 137, § 13. CRS 53: § 115-2-9. C.R.S. 1963: § 115-2-9. L. 64: p. 166, § 124. L. 69: p. 930, § 9. L. 89: Entire section amended, p. 1525, § 6, effective April 12. L. 93: Entire section amended, p. 2058, § 8, effective July 1. L. 95: Entire section amended, p. 232, § 1, effective April 17. L. 2021: (3) added, (SB 21-272), ch. 220, p. 1157, § 3, effective June 10.

Editor's note: Section 14 of chapter 220 (SB 21-272), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to conduct occurring on or after June 10, 2021.