2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 33 - PARKS AND WILDLIFE (§§ 33-1-101 — 33-61-107) › GREAT OUTDOORS PROGRAM (§§ 33-60-101 — 33-61-107) › Article 61 - PRODUCTION FEES FOR WILDLIFE AND LAND REMEDIATION (§§ 33-61-101 — 33-61-107) › Section 33-61-103 - Fee for oil and gas production - remediation of harm to wildlife and land - cash fund

(1)
(a)
In furtherance of its business purpose pursuant to section 33-9-105, the division shall impose a production fee for wildlife and land remediation to be paid quarterly by every producer that applies to all oil and gas produced by the producer in the state on and after July 1, 2025.
(b)
(I)
No later than one week after October 1, 2025, and no later than one week after the first day of each calendar quarter thereafter, the commission shall calculate, including performing any necessary measurement unit conversions to calculate, the average oil spot price and the average gas spot price for the previous calendar quarter and publish the average oil spot price and the average gas spot price on the commission's website. The commission shall routinely provide written guidance to the division on factors relevant to the production fee amounts, including guidance on the current condition of the oil and gas market and the market's sensitivity to higher or lower production fee amounts. In preparing the written guidance, the commission shall:
(A)
Take into consideration emergencies, national security needs, extreme market disruptions, and extreme new regulatory burdens on producers; and
(B)
Not act in an arbitrary and capricious manner.
(II)
No later than one month after the commission publishes the average oil spot price and the average gas spot price for the previous calendar quarter on the commission's website pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section, the division shall set the production fee amounts applicable to the previous calendar quarter, notify the executive director of the production fee amounts set, and publish the production fee amounts on the division's website. Prior to adopting the production fee amounts, the division shall consult with the commission on the appropriate production fee amounts for the previous quarter and take into account the maximum amounts described in section 33-61-102 (12) and other relevant factors.
(III)
On or before the last day of the second month following the previous calendar quarter, every producer shall file a return and pay the production fee for wildlife and land remediation for the previous calendar quarter in accordance with section 33-61-106.
(c)
(I)
The executive director shall collect, administer, and enforce the production fee for wildlife and land remediation on behalf of the division in accordance with this article 61 and article 21 of title 39.
(II)
For the purpose of minimizing compliance costs for producers and administrative costs for the state, when the executive director collects the production fee for wildlife and land remediation, the executive director shall also collect the production fee for clean transit in the same manner.
(d)
The executive director shall transmit any fees collected pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fees, minus the costs to the department of revenue for administering the fees pursuant to section 33-61-104, which costs shall be credited to the oil and gas production fees collection fund created in section 33-61-104 (1), to the fund.
(e)
Any money that the department of revenue collects and transmits to the state treasurer pursuant to this article 61:
(I)
Is collected for the division, which is an enterprise pursuant to section 33-9-105;
(II)
Is custodial money intended for the division and held temporarily by the department of revenue and the state treasurer solely for the purpose of crediting the money to the fund; and
(III)
Based on the division's status as an enterprise, is not subject to section 20 of article X of the state constitution at any time during its collection, transmission, and use.
(2)
No later than March 1, 2030, and every fifth March 1 thereafter, the division shall complete an analysis of the production fee amounts, the amount of revenue generated by the fees, and the use of the fee revenue in order to ensure that the division is continuing to impose production fee amounts that are reasonably calculated to not exceed the overall costs of providing the remediation services described in subsection (3) of this section. The division shall post the analysis on the division's website.
(3)
(a)
The climate resilient wildlife and land cash fund is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of production fees for wildlife and land remediation credited to the fund pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section, any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund, and any federal money or gifts, grants, or donations received. The state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the fund to the fund. Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the division for the purposes specified in subsection (3)(b) of this section.
(b)
The division shall only expend money in the fund for the following remediation services to partially mitigate the impacts of oil and gas operations:
(I)
Creating new state parks and new state wildlife areas, with a primary focus on benefits to wildlife and native biodiversity;
(II)
Slowing biodiversity loss and improving ecosystem resilience;
(III)
Improving wildlife connectivity and migration corridors;
(IV)
Acquiring and leasing lands and waters for the protection of wildlife and habitats;
(V)
Restoring lands, including through improvements in grassland, forest, watershed, shrubland, riparian, and aquatic ecosystem health;
(VI)
Native species conservation, rehabilitation, and reintroduction, except for the reintroduction of grizzly bears and gray wolves that negatively impact livestock;
(VII)
Continued research and monitoring of threats to Colorado wildlife and ecosystems, including from climate change and oil and gas operations;
(VIII)
The provision of grants, awards, easements, or other agreements solely to assist in implementing the remediation services described in this subsection (3); and
(IX)
the division's direct and indirect costs, as well as the direct and indirect costs of the recipients of grants, awards, easements, or other agreements described in subsection (3)(b)(VIII) of this section, in implementing the remediation services described in this subsection (3).
Added by 2024 Ch. 184,§ 6, eff. 5/16/2024.