Colorado § 35-1-114 - Agricultural drought and climate resilience office - creation - grants for agrivoltaic demonstration and research projects - rules - definitions.

§ 35-1-114. Agricultural drought and climate resilience office - creation - grants for agrivoltaic demonstration and research projects - rules - definitions.

(1) Legislative declaration. The general assembly hereby:

(a) Finds that:

(I) Severe droughts, as well as unaddressed water demands associated with urban growth, will add pressure to Colorado's already strained water supply in all of Colorado's watersheds;

(II) More frequent and severe droughts will add pressure to Colorado's already strained water supply; and

(III) A strong, prosperous, diverse, and resilient agricultural sector is fundamental to the fabric of Colorado;

(b) Determines that:

(I) Colorado's agricultural producers are stewards of our lands, waters, and ecosystems, but they cannot shoulder the burden of water scarcity without addressing water-saving measures being implemented and sustained in urban areas; and

(II) Colorado's agricultural sector is a leader in implementing practices that build resiliency, conserve our water supplies, provide an economic base for rural communities, and enhance our environment; and

(c) Declares that:

(I) Creating the agricultural drought and climate resilience office will support and elevate producers in their resiliency efforts through nonregulatory, voluntary, and incentive-based programs without negatively impacting the overall rural economic viability of agricultural operations and rural communities; and

(II) The agricultural drought and climate resilience office can best address and mitigate agricultural climate-related issues on a wide scale by providing support to and assisting agricultural producers in implementing practices that minimize the impacts of climate change.

(2) Office created.

(a) (I) There is created in the department the agricultural drought and climate resilience office. The office may provide voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and incentives, including grants, that increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to drought or the climate.

(II) In awarding grants in accordance with the commissioner's rules adopted pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, the office shall give strong consideration to grant applications that propose using grant money to conduct a new or ongoing demonstration or research project as a means to study the potential, benefits, and tradeoffs of agrivoltaics in the state. Any agrivoltaic study awarded a grant pursuant to this subsection (2)(a)(II) must include findings on the additional costs, including the additional capital and ongoing maintenance costs, for the use of agrivoltaics as compared to traditional photovoltaics. The additional costs must be quantified on both a dollar-per-megawatt and a dollar-per-megawatt-hour basis.

(b) The office shall advise the commissioner, the Colorado agricultural value-added development board created in section 35-75-203, other state agencies, and the governor on the impact to agriculture of drought and climate policies and programs.

(c) The commissioner shall appoint the head of the office.

(3) (a) Rules. The commissioner may promulgate rules necessary for the administration of the office's assistance, programs, and incentives, including grants, consistent with this subsection (3). Before promulgating the rules, the commissioner shall convene a stakeholder group, including representatives of organizations whose membership consists of agricultural producers engaged in the production of the top ten agricultural commodities produced in Colorado, members of the state conservation board created in section 35-70-103 (1)(a), and representatives of the solar energy development industry. The stakeholder group shall advise the commissioner as to the needs of the agriculture industry to respond to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural production and solutions from the solar energy development industry on providing feasible solutions for producing electricity on agricultural lands while contributing ecological and agricultural benefits.

(b) Assistance, programs, and incentives.

(I) Except for a program, assistance, incentive, or support administered by the office to address immediate needs as a result of disaster, including wildfire and drought, or that was in existence on January 1, 2021, a program, assistance, incentive, or support administered by the office must include new or ongoing demonstration or research projects to demonstrate or study the use of agrivoltaics to:

(A) Help prepare for and mitigate the impacts that climate change or drought have on agriculture;

(B) Reduce energy costs in agriculture;

(C) Improve the economic resilience of agricultural producers;

(D) Minimize negative environmental impacts of photovoltaic energy production facilities on soil health, native vegetation, state and federally listed species, wildlife migration corridors, and the species, habitats, and ecosystems that are of the greatest conservation need; and

(E) Provide other statewide environmental benefits, as identified by the office.

(II) Grants awarded by the office must pay for implementation of practices to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change or drought on agriculture or to provide direct adaptation support for impacted agricultural communities, including mental health resources, conflict resolution assistance, and risk-management guidance. A grant award may pay no more than five percent of administrative expenses incurred by an agricultural producer to implement the practices.

(III) The department shall, at least thirty days before opening the grant application process, make available, on its website, information related to the grant program to agricultural producers.

(IV) A grant authorized pursuant to this section must receive final approval by the commission before a final award can be issued.

(V) The department shall post on its website all applications for grant awards. Within fifteen days after awarding a grant, the department shall post on its website the name of the individual or entity receiving a grant, the amount of the grant awarded, the project or projects to be funded by the grant, and the duration of the grant award.

(4) Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Agrivoltaics" means one or more solar energy generation facilities directly integrated with agricultural activities, including crop production, grazing, animal husbandry, apiaries, cover cropping to improve soil health or insect habitat benefits or carbon sequestration, or production of agricultural commodities for sale in the retail or wholesale market.

(b) "Office" means the agricultural drought and climate resilience office created in subsection (2) of this section.

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (HB 21-1242), ch. 332, p. 2143, § 1, effective June 24. L. 2023: (1)(c)(II), (2), and (3) amended and (4) added, (SB 23-092), ch. 218, p. 1125, § 2, effective August 7.