SB 24-127

Senate Bill 24-127 in Colorado establishes a new commission within the Department of Natural Resources to create and manage rules for dumping materials into state waters like streams and wetlands. This bill aims to protect these water bodies by ensuring that regulations are at least as strict as federal standards from before May 25, 2023. It also sets up an enforcement division to handle violations, with fines of up to $10,000 per day for non-compliance. The bill has been signed into law and will be implemented by the state starting in July 2024, using funds allocated from the severance tax operational fund. This affects anyone planning activities that involve discharging materials into Colorado's waterways.

Official Summary

The bill creates the stream and wetlands protection commission (commission) in the department of natural resources (department) and requires the commission to develop, adopt, and maintain a dredge-and-fill permit program (permit program) for: Regulating the discharge of dredged or fill material into certain state waters; and Providing protections for state waters, which protections are no more restrictive than the protections provided under the federal "Clean Water Act" as it existed on May 24, 2023. The bill creates the stream and wetlands protection division (division) in the department to administer and enforce the permit program. The commission is required to promulgate rules as expeditiously as is prudent and feasible concerning the issuance of permits under the permit program. Until the division implements such rules, the bill prohibits the water quality control division in the department of public health and environment from taking any enforcement action against an activity that includes the discharge of dredged or fill material into state waters if the activity causing the discharge is conducted in a manner that provides for protection of state waters consistent with the protections that would have occurred through compliance with federal law prior to May 25, 2023. The bill establishes enforcement mechanisms for the permit program. A person who violates the terms of a permit, a rule, or a cease-and-desist order or clean-up order is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per day per violation. The bill directs the state treasurer to transfer $600,000 from the severance tax operational fund to the capital construction fund on July 1, 2024, for the implementation of the bill. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)