HB 24-1366

HB 24-1366, known as the Sustainable Local Government Community Planning bill, requires Colorado counties and municipalities to include a climate action element in their master plans starting January 1, 2025. This element must outline climate goals, strategies, and any funding received for implementing these plans. The bill also mandates that transportation agencies work with local governments to develop plans that promote sustainable growth and efficient transportation systems, focusing on areas like pedestrian safety and multimodal transportation options. Signed into law, this means the requirements are now official state policy, affecting how local governments plan for future development and manage their resources related to climate action and transportation.

Official Summary

Section 1 of the bill requires state agencies to prioritize awarding grants that satisfy a list of criteria described in the bill. Sections 2 and 3 require, beginning January 1, 2025, upon updating a county or municipal master plan, a county or municipality (local government) to include a climate action element in its master plan. A climate action element must include climate-related goals, plans, or strategies and a description of any money from the federal, state, or a local government that a local government has received for the implementation of any of the plans or goals described in the climate action element. The bill requires a local government to provide the Colorado energy office (office) with the climate action element and then requires the office to deliver a copy of any climate element it receives to the department of local affairs, the Colorado department of transportation (CDOT), and any other state agency that the office determines. Section 4 requires CDOT to coordinate with metropolitan planning organizations to establish criteria that define growth corridors and identify these growth corridors. Having identified these growth corridors, the department and metropolitan planning organizations shall coordinate with local governments to develop transportation demand management plans for these growth corridors. Section 5 makes 2 changes related to the statewide transportation plan. First, the bill requires the statewide transportation plan to include: An examination of the impact of transportation decisions on land use patterns; The identification of highway segments where promotion of context-sensitive highway permitting and design can encourage the development of dense, walkable, and mixed-use neighborhoods in transit-oriented centers and neighborhood centers; and An emphasis on integrating planning efforts within CDOT to support multimodal transportation, neighborhood centers, and transit-oriented centers in infill areas as well as growth corridors through the associated transportation demand management corridor planning. Second, the bill requires CDOT to conduct a study in connection with the statewide transportation plan that identifies: Policy barriers and opportunities for the implementation of context-sensitive design, complete streets, and pedestrian-bicycle safety measures in locally-identified urban centers and neighborhood centers; and The portions of state highways that pass through locally identified transit-oriented centers and neighborhood centers that are candidates for context-sensitive design, complete streets, and pedestrian-bicycle safety measures.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)