2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 25 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-59-106) › ADMINISTRATION (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-1.5-701) › Article 1.5 - POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1.5-101 — 25-1.5-701) › Part 1 - GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES (§§ 25-1.5-101 — 25-1.5-122) › Section 25-1.5-101 - [Effective 8/7/2024] Powers and duties of department - laboratory cash fund - office of suicide prevention - suicide prevention coordination cash fund - report - dispensation of payments under contracts with grantees - definitions

(1)
The department has, in addition to all other powers and duties imposed upon it by law, the powers and duties provided in this section as follows:
(a)
To close theaters, schools, and other public places, and to forbid gatherings of people when necessary to protect the public health;
(b)
(I)
To establish and enforce minimum general sanitary standards as to the quality of wastes discharged upon land and the quality of fertilizer derived from excreta of human beings or from the sludge of sewage disposal plants.
(II)
The phrase "minimum general sanitary standards" as used in this section means the minimum standards reasonably consistent with assuring adequate protection of the public health. The word "standards" as used in this section means standards reasonably designed to promote and protect the public health.
(c)
(I)
To collect, compile, and tabulate reports of marriages, dissolution of marriages, declaration of invalidity of marriages, births, deaths, and morbidity and to require any person having information with regard to the same to make such reports and submit such information as the board shall by rule or regulation provide.
(II)
For the purposes of this paragraph (c), the board is authorized to require reporting of morbidity and mortality in accordance with the provisions of section
25-1-122
.
(d)
To regulate the disposal, transportation, interment, and disinterment of the dead;
(e)
(I)
To establish, maintain, and approve chemical, bacteriological, and biological laboratories, and to conduct such laboratory investigations and examinations as it may deem necessary or proper for the protection of the public health.
(II)
The department shall transmit all fees received by the department in connection with the laboratories established pursuant to this paragraph (e), with the exception of fees received pursuant to part 10 of article
4
of this title that are credited to the newborn screening and genetic counseling cash funds created in section
25-4-1006 (1)
, to the state treasurer, who shall deposit them in the laboratory cash fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. The state treasurer shall credit all interest earned from the revenues in the fund to the fund. At the end of each fiscal year, the unencumbered balance of the fund remains in the fund. The revenues in the fund are subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly to the department to carry out its duties under this paragraph (e).
(f)
To make, approve, and establish standards for diagnostic tests by chemical, bacteriological, and biological laboratories, and to require such laboratories to conform thereto; and to prepare, distribute, and require the completion of forms or certificates with respect thereto;
(g)
To purchase, and to distribute to licensed physicians and veterinarians, with or without charge, as the board may determine upon considerations of emergency or need, such vaccines, serums, toxoids, and other approved biological or therapeutic products as may be necessary for the protection of the public health;
(h)
To establish and enforce sanitary standards for the operation and maintenance of orphanages, day care nurseries, foster homes, family care homes, summer camps for children, lodging houses, outdoor nature-based preschool programs, guest child care facilities and public services short-term child care facilities as defined in section
26.5-5-303
, hotels, public conveyances and stations, schools, factories, workshops, industrial and labor camps, recreational resorts and camps, swimming pools, public baths, mobile home parks, and other buildings, centers, and places used for public gatherings;
(i)
(I)
(A)
To establish sanitary standards and make sanitary, sewerage, and health inspections and examinations for charitable, penal, and other public institutions.
(B)
As used in this subsection (1)(i), "penal institution" means any local detention center, correctional facility, holding facility, secure residential treatment center, prison, camp, or other facility in which persons are or may be lawfully held in custody, including any public or private facility in Colorado that houses or detains noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings, including any facility that houses or detains minors, on behalf of the federal office of refugee resettlement or the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency.
(C)
With respect to the state institutions under the department of human services specified in section
27-90-104
or under the department of corrections specified in section
17-1-104.3 (1)(b)
, such inspections and examinations must be made at least once each year and additional unannounced inspections may be conducted after the annual inspection. Reports on such inspections of institutions under control of the department of human services or the department of corrections must be made to the executive director of the appropriate department for appropriate action, if any.
(D)
With respect to any facility that houses or detains noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings, such inspections and examinations must be made annually, and additional unannounced inspections may be conducted after the annual inspection.
(E)
Repealed.
(II)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (i), the standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (i) with regard to space requirements, furnishing requirements, required special use areas or special management housing, and environmental condition requirements, including but not limited to standards pertaining to light, ventilation, temperature, and noise level, shall not apply to any penal institution operated by or under contract with a county or municipality if the penal institution begins operations on or after August 30, 1999, and if the governing body of the jurisdiction operating the penal institution has adopted standards pertaining to such issues for the penal institution pursuant to section
30-11-104 (1)
, C.R.S., or section
31-15-711.5
, C.R.S., whichever is applicable.
(j)
(I)
To:
(A)
Collect, compile, and tabulate public health information from data sources and data provided to the department, to the extent permissible under applicable federal and state data privacy laws, rules, and regulations and federal contracts, including information concerning race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity; except that nothing in this section requires any individual to provide information relating to the individual's race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity;
(B)
Establish a process for, and provide technical assistance relating to, the collection, compilation, and tabulation of public health information described in subsection (1)(j)(I)(A) of this section; and
(C)
Disseminate public health information;
(II)
To provide poison control services, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2002, and fiscal years thereafter, on a statewide basis and to provide for the dissemination of information concerning the care and treatment of individuals exposed to poisonous substances pursuant to article
32
of this title;
(k)
To establish and enforce standards for exposure to toxic materials in the gaseous, liquid, or solid phase that may be deemed necessary for the protection of public health;
(l)
To establish and enforce standards for exposure to environmental conditions, including radiation, that may be deemed necessary for the protection of the public health;
(m)
(I)
To accept and expend on behalf of and in the name of the state, gifts, donations, and grants for any purpose connected with the work and programs of the department.
(II)
Any such property so given shall be held by the state treasurer, but the department shall have the power to direct the disposition of any property so given for any purpose consistent with the terms and conditions under which such gift was created.
(n)
To carry out the policies of the state as set forth in part 1 of article
6
of this title with respect to family planning;
(o)
To carry out the policies of this state relating to the "Colorado Health Care Coverage Act" as set forth in parts 1 and 4 of article
16
of title
10
, C.R.S.;
(p)
To compile and maintain current information necessary to enable the department to answer any inquiry concerning the proper action to take to counteract, eliminate, or minimize the public health hazards of a hazardous substance incident involving any specific kind of hazardous substance. To make such information available and to facilitate the reporting of hazardous substance incidents, the department shall establish, maintain, and publicize an environmental emergency telephone service that shall be available to the public twenty-four hours each day. With respect to the powers and duties specified in this paragraph (p), the department shall have no rule-making authority and shall avail itself of all available private resources. As used in this paragraph (p), the terms "hazardous substance" and "hazardous substance incident" shall have the meanings ascribed to them in section
29-22-101
, C.R.S. The department shall coordinate its activities pursuant to this section with the Colorado state patrol.
(q)
(I)
To establish and maintain a statewide cancer registry providing for compilation and analysis of appropriate information regarding incidence, diagnosis, treatment, and end results and any other data designed to provide more effective cancer control for the citizens of Colorado.
(II)
For the purposes of this paragraph (q), the board is authorized to require reports relating to cancer in accordance with the provisions of section
25-1-122
and to have access to medical records relating to cancer in accordance with the provisions of section
25-1-122
.
(r)
To operate and maintain a program for children with disabilities to provide and expedite provision of health-care services to children who have congenital birth defects or who are the victims of burns or trauma or children who have acquired disabilities;
(s)
To annually enter into an agreement with a qualified person to perform necessary hazardous substance incident response actions when such actions are beyond the ability of the local and state response capabilities. Such response actions may include, but are not limited to, containment, clean-up, and disposal of a hazardous substance. Nothing in this article shall prevent the attorney general's office from pursuing cost recovery against responsible persons.
(t)
To operate special health programs for migrant and seasonal farm workers and their dependent family members and to accept and employ federal and other moneys appropriated to implement such programs;
(u)
To carry out the duties prescribed in article
11.5
of title
16
, C.R.S., relating to substance abuse in the criminal justice system;
(v)
To establish and maintain a statewide gulf war syndrome registry pursuant to part 19 of article
4
of this title providing for compilation and analysis of information regarding incidence, diagnosis, treatment, and treatment outcomes of veterans or family members of veterans suffering from gulf war syndrome;
(w)
(I)
To operate the office of suicide prevention, which is established in the division of prevention services in the department. The office of suicide prevention serves as the coordinator for crisis and suicide prevention programs throughout the state, including the Colorado suicide prevention plan established in section
25-1.5-112
and the crisis and suicide prevention training grant program established in section
25-1.5-113
. For the purposes of this subsection (1)(w), the term "comprehensive suicide prevention" or "suicide prevention" includes the following components:
(A)
Strategies or approaches that seek to prevent the onset of suicidal despair, commonly known as "suicide prevention";
(B)
Public health intervention supports, including community training, workforce development, quality improvement and provision of technical assistance to support the adoption of best suicide attempt behavior intervention and postvention practices and policies; and
(C)
Postvention responses to and support for individuals and communities affected by the aftermath of a suicide attempt.
(II)
The department is authorized to accept gifts, grants, and donations on behalf of the office of suicide prevention. The department shall transmit all such gifts, grants, and donations to the state treasurer who shall credit the same to the suicide prevention coordination cash fund, which fund is hereby created. The fund also consists of any money appropriated or transferred to the fund by the general assembly for the purposes of implementing section
25-1.5-112
. Any money remaining in the suicide prevention coordination cash fund at the end of any fiscal year must remain in the fund and must not be transferred or credited to the general fund. The general assembly shall make appropriations from the suicide prevention coordination cash fund for expenditures incurred by the department or the office of suicide prevention in the performance of its duties pursuant to this subsection (1)(w) and section
25-1.5-112
.
(III)
(A)
Notwithstanding section
24-1-136 (11)(a)(I)
, as part of the duties of the office of suicide prevention, on or before each November 1, the office of suicide prevention shall submit to the chairs of the senate health and human services committee and the house of representatives health, insurance, and environment committee, or their successor committees, and to the members of the joint budget committee, a report listing all crisis and suicide prevention programs in the state and describing the effectiveness of the office of suicide prevention in acting as the coordinator for crisis and suicide prevention programs. For the report submitted in 2013 and each year thereafter, the office of suicide prevention shall include any findings and recommendations it has to improve crisis and suicide prevention in the state. For the report submitted in 2024 and each year thereafter, The office of suicide prevention shall include a summary of the report pursuant to section 25-1.5-113.5 (5)(b).
(B)
(Deleted by amendment, L. 2012.)
(IV)
The department and the office of suicide prevention may collaborate with the school safety resource center and with each facility licensed or certified pursuant to section
25-1.5-103
in order to coordinate services related to crisis and suicide prevention, as that term is defined in this subsection (1)(w), including relevant training and other services as part of the Colorado suicide prevention plan established in section
25-1.5-112
. When a facility treats a person who has attempted suicide or exhibits a suicidal gesture, the facility may provide oral and written information or educational materials to the person or, in the case of a minor, to parents, relatives, or other responsible persons to whom the minor will be released, prior to the person's release, regarding warning signs of depression, risk factors of suicide, methods of preventing suicide, available resources for comprehensive suicide prevention, and any other information concerning suicide awareness, and prevention. The facility shall also provide oral and written information or educational materials to the person or, in the case of a minor, to parents, relatives, or other responsible persons to whom the minor will be released, prior to the person's release, concerning the after-effects of a suicide attempt. The department and the office of suicide prevention may work with facilities and the Colorado suicide prevention plan to determine whether and where gaps exist in comprehensive suicide prevention programs and services, including gaps that may be present in:
(A)
The comprehensive suicide prevention information and materials being used and distributed in facilities throughout the state;
(B)
Comprehensive suicide prevention resources available to persons who attempt suicide or exhibit a suicidal gesture and, when the person is a minor, to parents, relatives, and other responsible persons to whom a minor is released; and
(C)
The process for referring persons who attempt suicide or exhibit a suicidal gesture to comprehensive suicide prevention services and programs or other appropriate health-care providers for treatment.
(V)
The department and the office of suicide prevention shall prepare written information for primary care offices and providers throughout the state. The information must be region-specific concerning how to recognize and respond to a suicidal patient and include separate written information for providers and information that may be shared with patients.
(x)
To implement the state dental loan repayment program created in article
23
of this title;
(y)
To coordinate with the United States secretary of the interior and the United States secretary of agriculture to develop resource management plans consistent with this article for federal lands pursuant to
16 U.S.C. sec. 530
,
16 U.S.C. sec. 1604
, and
43 U.S.C. sec. 1712
;
(z)
To perform the duties specified in part 6 of article
10
of title
30
, C.R.S., relating to the Colorado coroners standards and training board;
(aa)
To determine if there is a shortage of drugs critical to the public safety of the people of Colorado and declare an emergency for the purpose of preventing the practice of unfair drug pricing as prohibited by section
6-1-714
, C.R.S.;
(bb)
To include on its public website home page a link to forms containing advanced directives regarding a person's acceptance or rejection of life-sustaining medical or surgical treatment, which forms are available to be downloaded electronically;
(cc)
To carry out the health survey for birthing parents and reporting requirements set forth in part 7 of this article 1.5.
(2)
(a)
Notwithstanding any provision of this title 25, in contracting with any grantee for the provision of any service for the purposes of this title 25, the department may dispense up to twenty-five percent of the total value of the payments under the contract to the grantee immediately upon the execution or renewal of the contract.
(b)
As used in this subsection (2), "grantee" means a person that:
(I)
Is awarded a grant pursuant to a grant program that is managed or overseen by the department;
(II)
Pursuant to the conditions of the awarded grant, is a party to a contract with the department;
(III)
Is classified as a nonprofit organization or a charitable organization by the federal internal revenue service and has submitted written proof of such classification to the department; and
(IV)
Satisfies any criteria established by the department for the purpose of implementing this subsection (2).
Amended by 2024 Ch. 441,§ 4, eff. 8/7/2024.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 401,§ 3, eff. 6/5/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 399, § 7, eff. 6/7/2022.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 321, § 1, eff. 6/2/2022.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 123, § 68, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 219, § 1, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 49, § 4, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2020 Ch. 275, § 1, eff. 7/11/2020.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 333, § 4, eff. 8/8/2018.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 33, § 1, eff. 3/16/2017.
Amended by 2016 Ch. 364, § 3, eff. 6/10/2016.
Amended by 2016 Ch. 210, § 58, eff. 6/6/2016.
Amended by 2015 Ch. 165, § 3, eff. 5/8/2015.
L. 2003: Entire article added with relocations, p. 676, § 2, effective July 1; (1)(y) added, p. 1035, § 7, effective April 17; (1)(z) added, p. 1830, § 2, effective August 6. L. 2005: (1)(aa) added, p. 372, § 1, effective April 22. L. 2007: (1)(h) amended, p. 866, § 4, effective May 14. L. 2010: (1)(i)(I) amended, (SB 10-175), ch. 798, p. 798, § 58, effective April 29; (1)(bb) added, (HB 10 -1050), ch. 271, p. 271, § 2, effective August 11. L. 2011: (1)(e) amended, (SB 11 -161), ch. 34, p. 34, § 1, effective March 9. L. 2012: (1)(w)(III) amended and (1)(w)(IV) added, (HB 12-1140), ch. 619, p. 619, § 1, effective May 11. L. 2015: (1)(m)(I) amended, (SB 15-247), ch. 505, p. 505, § 3, effective May 8. L. 2016: (1)(h) amended, (SB 16-189), ch. 210, p. 769, § 58, effective June 6; (1)(w)(I), (1)(w)(II), and IP(1)(w)(IV) amended, (SB 16-147), ch. 1521, p. 1521, § 3, effective June 10. L. 2017: (1)(w)(III)(A) amended, (SB 17 -056), ch. 92, p. 92, § 1, effective March 16. L. 2018: (1)(w)(I), (1)(w)(II), (1)(w)(III)(A), and IP(1)(w)(IV) amended, (SB 18-272), ch. 2005, p. 2005, § 4, effective August 8. L. 2020: (1)(i)(I) amended, (HB 20-1409), ch. 1349, p. 1349, § 1, effective July 11. L. 2021: (1)(w)(I) and (1)(w)(IV) amended and (1)(w)(V) added, (HB 21 -1119), ch. 207, p. 207, § 4, effective September 7; (2) added, (HB 21-1247), ch. 1154, p. 1154, § 1, effective September 7.
(1) This section is similar to former § 25-1-107 (1)(c), (1)(e), (1)(f), (1)(g), (1)(h), (1)(i), (1)(j), (1)(m), (1)(n), (1)(q), (1)(s), (1)(t), (1)(u), (1)(v), (1)(w), (1)(y), (1)(z), (1)(aa), (1)(bb), (1)(cc), (1)(ff), (1)(hh), (1)(ii), and (1)(kk) as they existed prior to 2003.
(2) Subsection (1)(i)(I)(E) provided for the repeal of subsection (1)(i)(I)(E), effective July 1, 2021. (See L. 2020, p. 1349.)
2024 Ch. 441, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2021 Ch. 219, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2021 Ch. 49, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.
For the legislative declaration contained in the 2003 act enacting (1)(y), see section 1 of chapter 145, Session Laws of Colorado 2003. For the legislative declaration in SB 18-272, see section 1 of chapter 333, Session Laws of Colorado 2018. For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1119, see section 1 of chapter 49, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.