Section 43-1-128 - Environmental impacts of capacity projects - additional requirements - legislative declaration - definitions(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:(a) Transportation capacity projects that are intended to alleviate traffic congestion, address mobility, and improve travel time reliability by increasing the capacity of highways in major transportation corridors can cause adverse environmental impacts, including but not limited to incremental acceleration of climate change, and adverse health impacts;(b) These impacts fall most heavily on communities adjacent to projects, including disproportionately impacted communities;(c) To minimize the adverse environmental and health impacts of planned transportation capacity projects and address inequitable distribution of the burdens of such projects, it is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interests of the state and all Coloradans to require the department and metropolitan planning organizations, which are the state's primary transportation planning entities with responsibility for selecting and funding transportation capacity projects, to engage in an enhanced level of planning, modeling and other analysis, community engagement, and monitoring with respect to such projects as required by this section; and(d) The requirements of this section are in addition to and shall to the extent practicable be executed concurrently with, and do not supplant, any other requirements or processes, including federal safety and state of good repair requirements, for transportation planning, project prioritization, public outreach, project implementation, or transparency and accountability that are established by law, rule, or commission or department policy.(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(a) "Air pollutant" has the same meaning as set forth in section 25-7-103 (1.5).(b) "Criteria pollutant" means carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.(c) "Disproportionately impacted community" has the meaning set forth in section 24-4-109 (2)(b)(II).(d) "Greenhouse gas pollutants" means anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, nitrogen trifluoride, and sulfur hexafluoride.(e) "Statewide greenhouse gas pollution" has the same meaning as set forth in section 25-7-103 (22.5).(3) Effective as of July 1, 2022, the department shall establish and propose to the commission for its review implementing procedures and guidelines that require the department and metropolitan planning organizations to take additional steps in the planning process for regionally significant transportation capacity projects to account for the impacts on the amount of statewide greenhouse gas pollution and statewide vehicle miles traveled that are expected to result from such projects. Such guidelines and procedures shall apply to adoption of the next ten-year plan and subsequent planning cycles and shall fully evaluate the potential environmental and health impacts on disproportionately impacted communities. The commission shall, with such modifications as the commission may make subject to the requirements of this section and with opportunities for public involvement, adopt the procedures and guidelines. At a minimum, both the proposed and adopted procedures and guidelines must require the department and metropolitan planning organizations to:(a) Implement relevant rules and regulations issued pursuant to section 25-7-105;(b) Otherwise reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help achieve the statewide greenhouse gas pollution reduction targets established in section 25-7-102 (2)(g); (c) Modify their guidance documents to ensure that at least the same level of analytical scrutiny is given to greenhouse gas pollutants as is given to other air pollutants of concern in the state including consideration of the impact on emissions of greenhouse gas pollutants of induced demand resulting from regionally significant transportation capacity projects alongside traffic modeling; and(d) Consider the role of land use in the transportation planning process and develop strategies to encourage land use decisions that reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions.(4) If a planned transportation capacity project is a regionally significant project, as determined by the department with consideration given to federal law or regulations that define or describe such projects, the department shall, through its environmental study process:(a) Use federal environmental protection agency-approved models to determine air pollutant emission impacts for the planned project and provide monitoring and measurement of criteria pollutants prior to construction;(b) Develop and implement a particulate matter construction plan to provide continuous monitoring and transparent public reporting of concentrations, public alerts issued as soon as possible when exceedance events occur, and action plans to address emission levels on construction projects prior to exceedances, with particular focus on disproportionately impacted communities; and(c) Develop and implement a plan to mitigate air quality impacts on communities, including but not limited to disproportionately impacted communities adjacent to the project, with particular focus where feasible on mitigation of fine particulate matter pollution.(5) With the exception of the interstate highway 270 corridor improvement project, the requirements of subsections (4)(a) and (4)(c) of this section do not apply to any projects that have, on or before July 1, 2022, a signed record of decision, finding of no significant impact, or categorical exclusions as provided by the federal "National Environmental Policy Act of 1969", 42 U.S.C. sec. 4321 et seq.(6) To promote transparency and increase both public participation and public confidence in regionally significant transportation capacity project selection, planning, and implementation in communities, including but not limited to disproportionately impacted communities, the department shall, with opportunity for public input, review, update, and improve as necessary its public engagement program for planned transportation capacity projects. In doing so, the department shall create diverse and impactful ways to gather input from communities across the state by communicating in multiple languages and multiple formats and transparently sharing readily understandable information about potential adverse impacts, including but not limited to environmental and health impacts, of potential transportation capacity projects.Amended by 2023 Ch. 245,§ 21, eff. 5/23/2023.Amended by 2022 Ch. 81, §1, eff. 8/10/2022.Added by 2021 Ch. 250, §30, eff. 6/17/2021.L. 2021: Entire section added, (SB 21-260), ch. 1412, p. 1412, § 30, effective June 17. 2022 Ch. 81, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3). For the legislative declaration in SB 21-260, see section 1 of chapter 250, Session Laws of Colorado 2021. For the legislative declaration in HB 23-1233, see section 1 of chapter 245, Session Laws of Colorado 2023.