Under the Dome: Workforce Package and More Air Quality Measures
5 Weeks remain in 2022 Legislative Session with More Bills to Come
April 1, 2022
Air Quality Improvement Investments
Senate President Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) introduced Senate Bill 193 regarding “Air Quality Improvement Investments”. Another all encompassing measure, with spending over $125M, the bill includes the following primary elements:
- Creates the $25M “industrial and manufacturing operations clean air grant program” in the Colorado energy office to award grant money to private entities, local governments, and public private partnerships for voluntary projects to reduce air pollutants from industrial and manufacturing operations.
- Creates the $12M “community access to electric bicycles grant program” through which the office awards grant money to local governments and nonprofit organizations that administer or plan to administer a bike share program or an ownership program for the provision of electric bicycles in a community. There is also created a “community access to electric bicycles rebate program”.
- Creates the $15M “diesel truck emissions reduction grant program” through which the
division of administration in the CDPHE awards grant money to certain private and public entities for decommissioning diesel trucks and replacing the trucks with newer model trucks. - Creates the $65M “electrifying school buses grant program” through which the department, with technical assistance from the office, awards grant money to school districts and charter schools to help finance the purchase and maintenance of electric-powered school buses, the conversion of fossil-fuel-powered school buses to electric-powered school buses, charging infrastructure, and upgrades for electric charging.
- Infrastructure and the retirement of fossil-fuel-powered school buses.
- Updates the definition of federal act regarding the reference to the federal Clean Air Act.
- $7M to the CDPHE to finance the aerial surveying of pollutants
- Other more technical additions for review
