Colorado § 35-10.5-101 - Legislative declaration.

§ 35-10.5-101. Legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly finds that:

(a) The accumulation of excess or unwanted pesticide products may pose a risk to human health or the environment because:

(I) Pesticide product containers may be compromised by lengthy or improper storage, leading to an increased potential for release into the environment; and

(II) The accumulation of excess or unwanted pesticide products may increase the potential for improper disposal of those products or their containers when suitable and safe disposal options are lacking and may cause those products or the contents of their containers to seep into soil, leach into groundwater, or come into contact with humans or other organisms, which increases the potential for environmental contamination or human health risk; and

(b) The establishment of a program that reduces the potential risks associated with the incorrect or otherwise unlawful disposal of eligible pesticide products and recycling of pesticide product containers supports public health and the environment.

(2) The general assembly further finds that:

(a) A commercial applicator or private applicator may lack reliable opportunities for the disposal of pesticide products or the recycling of pesticide product containers because:

(I) A commercial applicator or private applicator cannot dispose of or recycle pesticide products in household or residential waste programs because the applicators possess too high of a volume of excess or unwanted pesticide products or otherwise possess restricted-use pesticide products that require special handling beyond what a household or residential waste program can provide; and

(II) There are a limited number of disposal facilities available to commercial applicators and private applicators. These facilities are geographically dispersed and thus inconvenient or cost prohibitive to access or use for commercial applicators and private applicators that are not located near the facilities.

(b) The establishment of a disposal and recycling program would incentivize a commercial applicator's or private applicator's proper and timely management of excess or unwanted pesticide products by providing a predictable, convenient, cost-effective, and lawful opportunity for a commercial applicator or private applicator to dispose of eligible pesticide products or recycle pesticide product containers; and

(c) Manufacturers or distributors of eligible pesticide products that register their products for sale or distribution in the state also benefit from a pesticide disposal program because the program:

(I) Reduces a registrant's environmental footprint by promoting the sustainable and safe use of that registrant's eligible pesticide product throughout the product's entire life cycle;

(II) Lessens the registrant's burden of independently managing the disposal of eligible pesticide products; and

(III) Aligns with product stewardship and sustainability goals shared across the pesticide industry and supported by the requirement in the "Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act", 7 U.S.C. sec. 136 et seq., that, in order to be registered as a pesticide product, the product's label include directions for safe storage, use, and disposal and further supported by the requirement that refillable and nonrefillable pesticide product containers meet specific design and construction standards.

(3) Therefore, the general assembly declares that:

(a) To promote public health and the environment and to provide protection from the potential risks posed by the improper disposal of eligible pesticide products or recycling of pesticide product containers, commercial applicators and private applicators that use the business services described in section 35-10.5-105 (1)(a)(I) and applicants that register an eligible pesticide product with the commissioner for sale or distribution in the state should support the development and administration of a pesticide product disposal and container recycling program created as an enterprise in the department;

(b) The activities of the enterprise should be funded by revenue generated from:

(I) Pesticide product disposal fees paid by commercial applicators and private applicators that use the business services described in section 35-10.5-105 (1)(a)(I); and

(II) Pesticide registration product disposal fees paid annually by applicants that register an eligible pesticide product with the commissioner for sale or distribution in the state;

(c) It is appropriate for commercial applicators and private applicators that dispose of eligible pesticide products through the program to pay the pesticide product disposal fee imposed by the enterprise, as these applicators are the direct beneficiaries of the business services provided by the enterprise;

(d) It is also appropriate for applicants that register an eligible pesticide product with the commissioner for sale or distribution in the state to pay the pesticide registration product disposal fee imposed by the enterprise, as these applicants benefit from a program that provides for the disposal of many of the eligible pesticide products that these applicants sell or distribute in the state;

(e) Consistent with the determination of the Colorado supreme court in Nicholl v. E-470 Public Highway Authority, 896 P.2d 859 (Colo. 1995), that the power to impose taxes is inconsistent with enterprise status under section 20 of article X of the state constitution, the general assembly concludes that the pesticide product disposal fee and the pesticide registration product disposal fee are fees, not taxes, and the enterprise operates as a business because the pesticide product disposal fee and the pesticide registration product disposal fee are:

(I) Imposed for the specific business purpose of developing and administering the pesticide product disposal and container recycling program; and

(II) Collected at a rate that is reasonably related to the overall cost of the business services being provided; and

(f) So long as the enterprise qualifies as an enterprise for purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution, the revenue from the pesticide product disposal fees and the pesticide registration product disposal fees imposed, collected, and administered by the enterprise is not state fiscal year spending, as defined in section 24-77-102 (17), or state revenues, as defined in section 24-77-103.6 (6)(c), and does not count against either the state fiscal year spending limit imposed by section 20 of article X of the state constitution or the excess state revenues cap, as defined in section 24-77-103.6 (6)(b)(I)(G).

Source: L. 2026: Entire article added, (HB 26-1111), ch. 155, p. 869, § 1, effective May 26.