HB 25-1241
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
HB 25-1241: PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY OF EMISSIONS RECORDS
Prime Sponsors:
Rep. Marshall; Garcia
Sen. Cutter; Kipp
Published for: House Appropriations
Drafting number: LLS 25-0673
Fiscal Analyst:
Matt Bishop, 303-866-4796
matt.bishop@coleg.gov
Version: First Revised Note
Date: March 26, 2025
Fiscal note status: The revised fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House Energy
and Environment Committee.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill requires certain polluting facilities to make records of their emissions publicly available.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis:
State Revenue State Expenditures
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $426,203 to the Department of
Public Health and Environment.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
1
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures $497,748 $864,573
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 3.5 FTE 6.3 FTE
1
Fund sources for these impacts are shown in the tables below. Page 2
March 26, 2025 HB 25-1241
Table 1A
State Expenditures
Fund Source
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
General Fund $426,203 $742,990
Cash Funds $0 $0
Federal Funds $0 $0
Centrally Appropriated $71,545 $121,583
Total Expenditures $497,748 $864,573
Total FTE 3.5 FTE 6.3 FTE
Summary of Legislation
The Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) regulates the amount of pollution
allowable from stationary sources, which include buildings and facilities. Beginning
January 1, 2026, the bill requires the owner of a stationary source to post on their website copies
of records that they submit to state or federal government following the same schedule that
those records are made available to government entities. Stationary source owners may redact
confidential business information from these records. A violation of the reporting requirement is
subject to a civil penalty.
Assumptions
Although the regulatory activities of the Air Quality Control Commission are typically funded
from the Stationary Sources Control Fund, the fiscal note assumes that the expenditures
identified in this bill require General Fund due to the long-term balance of the cash fund.
State Revenue
Public disclosure of emissions records is expected to lead to discovery of additional violations of
emission limits by stationary sources. To the extent that this leads to additional settlements or
civil penalties, state revenue will increase. This revenue, which is classified as a damage award
and not subject to TABOR, has not been estimated.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in CDPHE by about $500,000 in FY 2025-26 and $865,000 in
FY 2026-27 and subsequent years. These costs, paid from the General Fund, are summarized in
Table 2 and discussed below. Page 3
March 26, 2025 HB 25-1241
Table 2
State Expenditures
Department of Public Health and Environment
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Personal Services $328,480 $559,285
Operating Expenses $4,224 $7,168
Capital Outlay Costs $46,690 $0
Legal Services $46,809 $176,537
Centrally Appropriated Costs $71,545 $176,537
FTE – Personal Services 3.3 FTE 5.6 FTE
FTE – Legal Services 0.2 FTE 0.7 FTE
Total Costs $497,748 $864,573
Total FTE 3.5 FTE 6.3 FTE
Department of Public Health and Environment
The bill increase expenditures in the department to conduct rulemaking, build and maintain a
webpage, investigate complaints, and conduct additional enforcement actions against polluters.
Staff
CDPHE staff requirements include 0.5 FTE in FY 2025-26 only to conduct rulemaking.
Currently, there are about 13,000 active stationary sources owned by about 2,300 companies.
Under current law, CDPHE is required to investigate each complaint that is not clearly frivolous.
Starting January 1, 2026, emissions disclosures are expected to increase the number of
complaints made to CDPHE about companies’ compliance. The fiscal note assumes an additional
300 complaints received each year. Evaluating each complaint, investigating as necessary, and
taking appropriate enforcement actions requires 5.6 FTE per year. Standard operating and
capital outlay costs are included. Investigation and enforcement costs are prorated in the first
year for a January 1 start date.
Legal Services
CDPHE requires 350 hours of legal services in FY 2025-26 and 1,320 hours in subsequent years
to conduct rulemaking and to pursue additional enforcement actions. Legal services are
provided by the Department of Law at a rate of $133.74 per hour.
Centrally Appropriated Costs
Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated with this bill are
addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long Bill or
supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These costs, which may include
employee insurance, supplemental employee retirement payments, indirect cost assessments,
and other costs, are shown in Table 2. Page 4
March 26, 2025 HB 25-1241
Technical Note
There is a statute of limitations for CDPHE to pursue enforcement actions against violations of
air quality regulations that begins when the department knows or should have known of the
violation. If the bill’s record disclosure requirements constitute a notification to CDPHE of
potential emissions violations, it would drive significant costs for the department to investigate
and pursue enforcement actions. While the fiscal note assumes that CDPHE is not required to
review companies’ public records, the bill does not clarify if the reporting requirements
constitute notice of potential violations or not.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed.
State Appropriations
For FY 2025-26, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $426,203 to the Department of
Public Health and Environment, and 3.3 FTE. Of this amount, $46,809 is reappropriated to the
Department of Law, with an additional 0.2 FTE.
Departmental Difference
The Department of Public Health and Environment and the Department of Law estimate that the
bill requires $6.5 million and 49.8 FTE in FY 2025-26 and $14.0 million and 121.7 FTE in
FY 2026-27. The CDPHE estimate assumes that the department is required to proactively
monitor and inspect companies’ public emissions records, and address new complaints for each
of the state’s 13,000 stationary sources through inspections.
The fiscal note assumes that CDPHE is responding to record-related complaints under current
law, as these records are already available on the department’s website and likely inclusive of
any federal law records requirements. It also assumes that the lower number of records required
to be posted under the amended bill will reduce the volume of new complaints the department
receives as a result of the bill.
State and Local Government Contacts
Law Public Health and Environment
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.