2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) › PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENTS (§§ 24-30-101 — 24-36-306) › Article 33.5 - Public Safety (§§ 24-33.5-101 — 24-33.5-2704) › Part 12 - DIVISION OF FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL (§§ 24-33.5-1201 — 24-33.5-1239) › Section 24-33.5-1227 - Wildfire preparedness fund - creation - gifts, grants, and donations authorized - wildfire preparedness plan - report

(1)
(a)
(I)
There is hereby created in the state treasury the wildfire preparedness fund. The fund consists of all money that may be appropriated thereto by the general assembly, all private and public money received through gifts, grants, reimbursements, or donations that are transmitted to the state treasurer and credited to the fund, all money transferred to the fund from the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund created in section
23-31-313(10)
, money transferred pursuant to subsection (1.5)(a) of this section, and money transferred pursuant to subsections (1)(a)(II) and (1)(a)(III) of this section. All interest earned from the investment of money in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The money in the fund is hereby continuously appropriated for the purposes indicated in this section. Any money not expended at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not be transferred to or revert to the general fund.
(II)
On July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, the state treasurer shall transfer eighty-six thousand three hundred sixty-four dollars from the general fund to the wildfire preparedness fund.
(III)
On March 21, 2021, the state treasurer shall transfer three million dollars from the general fund to the wildfire preparedness fund.
(b)
By executive order or proclamation, the governor may access and designate money in the wildfire preparedness fund for wildfire preparedness activities; except that money in the wildfire preparedness fund that has been transferred from the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund created in section
23-31-313(10)
may be used only for the purposes set forth in subsection (1)(c)(II) of this section, and except as set forth in subsection (1)(c)(IV) of this section. The division shall implement the directives set forth in such executive order or proclamation. As soon as practicable after issuing the executive order or proclamation, the governor shall notify the joint budget committee of any money so accessed and designated.
(c)
(I)
Except as provided in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (c), the division may use the moneys in the wildfire preparedness fund to provide funding or reimbursement for the purchase of fire shelters by volunteer fire departments in order to comply with applicable federal requirements.
(II)
The division shall use money in the wildfire preparedness fund transferred from the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund created in section
23-31-313(10)
to:
(A)
Increase upgrades to fire engines acquired through the federal excess personal property program that are on loan to local fire departments;
(B)
Increase technical assistance in wildland fire preparedness to counties, municipalities, and fire protection districts; and
(C)
Ensure, in conjunction with the wildfire preparedness plan developed pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, that state firefighting equipment is fully operational and both available to and coordinated with the equipment capacities of fire protection districts and that county, municipality, and fire protection districts personnel are fully trained in the use of such equipment.
(III)
The division may use moneys in the wildfire preparedness fund for the purpose of training, equipping, or supervising one or more hand crews employed by veterans' fire corps programs in Colorado for wildland fire mitigation and suppression.
(IV)
The division of homeland security and emergency management shall use the money transferred to the wildfire preparedness fund in accordance with subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section:
(A)
As the state match for federal hazard mitigation assistance grants to local governments that are used to mitigate wildland fire hazards; and
(B)
To provide local governments that are eligible to receive the federal grants specified in subsection (1)(c)(IV)(A) of this section with strategic planning assistance for wildland fire hazard mitigation.
(d)
The general assembly finds that the implementation of this section does not rely on the receipt of adequate funding through gifts, grants, or donations. Therefore, the notice requirements specified in section
24-75-1303(3)
are inapplicable to the wildfire preparedness fund.
(1.5)
(a)
At the end of any state fiscal year commencing with the 2022 state fiscal year, the state treasurer shall transfer any money in the aviation resources line of the annual general appropriation act for that same state fiscal year that would otherwise revert to the general fund into the wildfire preparedness fund created in subsection (1)(a) of this section. Money transferred by the state treasurer into the wildfire preparedness fund in accordance with this subsection (1.5)(a) must be used for the purpose of traditional mitigation efforts including but not limited to maintaining staff and necessary equipment for prescribed fire projects; mechanical and other fuels treatment projects; project planning, coordination, and agreements; and community assistance and planning efforts. As long as money transferred into the wildfire preparedness fund pursuant to this subsection (1.5)(a) is being expended for one of the purposes specified in this subsection (1.5)(a), the division may allocate the money to any such purpose as will maximize the impact of such funding as the division may determine in its sole discretion.
(b)
Not less than once every three years commencing January 15, 2025, the division shall report to the joint budget committee concerning the amount of money transferred into the wildfire preparedness fund pursuant to subsection (1.5)(a) of this section during the prior three-year period, the amount expended by the division from the money transferred into it, and the purposes for which the money has been expended.
(2)
(a)
To effectively implement section
24-33.5-1226
and to provide recommendations to the governor related to use of the disaster emergency fund pursuant to section
24-33.5-706
and the wildfire preparedness fund created in subsection (1) of this section, the director, a representative of the county sheriffs of Colorado, a representative of the Colorado state fire chiefs' association, the director of the office of emergency management created in part 7 of this article, and the adjutant general or his or her designee shall collaborate to develop a wildfire preparedness plan designed to address the following:
(I)
The amount of aerial firefighting resources necessary for the state of Colorado at times of high and low wildfire risk;
(II)
The availability of appropriate aerial firefighting equipment and personnel at times of high fire risk to respond to a wildfire;
(III)
The availability of state wildfire engines and staffing of the engines at different levels of wildfire risk;
(IV)
The availability of wildfire hand crews, including state inmate wildfire hand crews, at different levels of wildfire risk; and
(V)
A process for ordering and dispatching aerial firefighting equipment and personnel that is consistent with, and supportive of, the statewide all-hazards resource mobilization plan prepared pursuant to section
24-33.5-705.4
.
(b)
The wildfire preparedness plan recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall be updated each March 15. Notwithstanding section
24-1-136(11)
, the director shall submit a written report of the wildfire preparedness plan to the governor and the members of the general assembly no later than each April 1.
(c)
The director, the representative of the county sheriffs of Colorado, the representative of the Colorado state fire chiefs' association, the director of the office of emergency management created in part 7 of this article, and the adjutant general or his or her designee shall not receive additional compensation for the collaboration required by this subsection (2) for the development of the wildfire preparedness plan.
(3)
The director may enter into agreements to provide firefighting services, including personnel or firefighting aircraft, engines, or other vehicles to federal, state, or local agencies. Any moneys received pursuant to such agreements shall be credited to the wildland fire cost recovery fund created in section
24-33.5-1220(4)
.
(4)
Procedures governing the development, adoption, and implementation of community wildfire protection plans by county governments are specified in section
30-15-401.7
, C.R.S. Nothing in this section affects section
30-15-401.7
, C.R.S.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 287,§6, eff. 6/22/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 255,§11, eff. 6/18/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 18,§2, eff. 3/21/2021.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 274,§44, eff. 5/29/2018.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 201,§5, eff. 5/4/2018.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 190,§5, eff. 5/3/2017.
Amended by 2015 Ch. 184,§4, eff. 5/12/2015.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 313,§2, eff. 5/31/2014.
(1) This section is similar to former § 24-33.5-1226 (3), (4), and (5) as it existed prior to 2013.
(2) Amendments to subsection (1)(a)(I) by SB 21-054, SB 21-281, and SB 21-166 were harmonized. Amendments to subsection (1)(b) by SB 21-054 and SB 21-281 were harmonized.
(1) For the short title ("Veterans Fire Corps Act") and the legislative declaration in SB 15-205, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 184, Session Laws of Colorado 2015. (2) For the legislative declaration in SB 21-281, see section 1 of chapter 255, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.