Colorado § 43-1-116 - Engineering, design, and construction division - created - duties - environmental justice and equity branch.

§ 43-1-116. Engineering, design, and construction division - created - duties - environmental justice and equity branch.

(1) There is hereby created, in the department of transportation, the engineering, design, and construction division, the head of which shall be the chief engineer.

(2) The engineering, design, and construction division and the office of the chief engineer are type 2 entities, as defined in section 24-1-105, and exercise their powers and perform their duties and functions under the department of transportation and the executive director.

(3) The engineering, design, and construction division shall be responsible for all engineering, design, and construction operations of the department.

(4) The department shall update the bidding rules regarding prequalification requirements, including the contract amounts for which a bidder is required to submit an audited financial statement reviewed by a certified public accountant. In addition, the chief engineer shall develop a policy regarding how previous relevant experience and the bonding capacity of a contractor will be considered when evaluating proposals and bids submitted for public projects.

(5) The environmental justice and equity branch is created in the engineering, design, and construction division. The function of the environmental justice and equity branch is to work directly with disproportionately impacted communities, as well as with other department programs, in the project planning, environmental study, and project delivery phases of transportation capacity projects. The environmental justice and equity branch shall identify and address technological, language, and information barriers that may prevent disproportionately impacted communities from participating fully in transportation decisions that affect health, quality of life, and access for disadvantaged and minority businesses in project delivery.

Source: L. 91: Entire part R&RE, p. 1041, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2017: (4) added, (SB 17-211), ch. 373, p. 1936, § 1, effective August 9. L. 2021: (5) added, (SB 21-260), ch. 250, p. 1412, § 28, effective June 17. L. 2022: (2) amended, (SB 22-162), ch. 469, p. 3431, § 220, effective August 10.

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration in SB 21-260, see section 1 of chapter 250, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.

(2) For the short title (the "Debbie Haskins 'Administrative Organization Act of 1968' Modernization Act") in SB 22-162, see section 1 of chapter 469, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.