2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 25 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-59-106) › ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL (§§ 25-6.5-101 — 25-18.9-105) › Article 7 - AIR QUALITY CONTROL (§§ 25-7-101 — 25-7-1604) › Part 13 - THE SOUTHERN UTE INDIAN TRIBE/ STATE OF COLORADO ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION (§§ 25-7-1301 — 25-7-1309) › Section 25-7-1301 - Legislative declaration

(1)
The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(a)
The Southern Ute Indian tribe and the state of Colorado have entered into an intergovernmental agreement, as set forth in House Bill 00-1324, enacted at the second regular session of the sixty-second general assembly and found at
24-62-101
, C.R.S.;
(b)
Pursuant to said intergovernmental agreement, the tribe and the state have agreed to create a tribal/state environmental commission with the authority to promulgate rules and regulations for one air quality program for all lands, all persons, and all air pollution sources within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian reservation;
(c)
As governments that share contiguous physical boundaries, it is in the interest of the environment and all residents of the reservation and the state of Colorado to work together to ensure consistent and comprehensive air quality regulation on the reservation;
(d)
The establishment of a single collaborative authority for all lands within the exterior boundaries of the reservation best advances rational, sound, air quality management and will minimize duplicative efforts and expenditures of monetary and program resources by the tribe and the state;
(e)
Pursuant to the intergovernmental agreement, the tribe will seek delegation from the United States environmental protection agency to administer certain programs under the federal "Clean Air Act",
42 U.S.C. sec. 7401
et seq. (1970), as the same is in effect on November 15, 1990, such delegation being contingent upon the existence of the tribal/state commission and the intergovernmental agreement.
(2)
It is the intent of the general assembly in enacting this part 13 to establish state authority for the creation of a commission that will establish a separate reservation air program for all lands within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian reservation, as provided in the intergovernmental agreement. Therefore, for the duration of the intergovernmental agreement, all lands within the exterior boundaries of the reservation shall be subject to the authority of the commission and the provisions of the reservation air program, as described in this part 13 and in the intergovernmental agreement, and shall not be subject to the authority of the Colorado air quality control commission or the provisions of parts 1 to 12 of this article, except as otherwise provided in the intergovernmental agreement and in this part 13.
(3)
In article IV of the intergovernmental agreement, the tribe and the state agreed that neither party intended to alter the existing sovereignty or jurisdiction of any party, and by approving the intergovernmental agreement, neither party conceded or agreed to any jurisdiction of the other party that would not otherwise exist. To the extent the state has jurisdiction over non-Indians on fee lands within the exterior boundaries of the reservation, it is the intent of the general assembly in enacting this part 13 that the commission shall exercise such authority for the purposes set forth in this part 13.
(4)
The general assembly enacts this part 13 with the understanding that the tribe has also adopted tribal legislation that will carry out the terms of the intergovernmental agreement with respect to persons, air pollution sources, and lands within the reservation that are subject to the jurisdiction of the tribe.
(5)
The general assembly hereby declares that its intent in enacting senate bill 02-235 is to ratify the continued existence of the Southern Ute Indian tribe/state of Colorado environmental commission after December 13, 2001.
L. 2000: Entire part added, p. 107, § 1, effective March 15. L. 2002: (5) added, p. 1093, § 1, effective June 1.