Colorado § 24-33.5-1226 - Wildfire emergency response fund - creation - gifts, grants, and donations authorized - rules.

§ 24-33.5-1226. Wildfire emergency response fund - creation - gifts, grants, and donations authorized - rules.

(1) (a) There is hereby created in the state treasury the wildfire emergency response fund, which fund shall be administered by the division. The division is authorized to seek and accept gifts, grants, reimbursements, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of this section. The fund consists of all moneys that may be appropriated thereto by the general assembly, any moneys transferred to the fund by the state treasurer pursuant to section 24-33.5-706 (4.5) or transferred pursuant to section 10-3-209 (4), C.R.S., and all private and public funds received through gifts, grants, reimbursements, or donations that are transmitted to the state treasurer and credited to the fund. All interest earned from the investment of moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The moneys in the fund are hereby continuously appropriated for the purposes indicated in this section. Any moneys not expended at the end of the fiscal year remain in the fund and do not transfer or revert to the general fund.

(b) The general assembly finds that the implementation of this section does not rely on the receipt of adequate funding through gifts, grants, or donations. Therefore, the notice requirements specified in section 24-75-1303 (3) are inapplicable to the wildfire emergency response fund.

(2) At a minimum, the division shall use the moneys in the wildfire emergency response fund to provide funding or reimbursement for:

(a) The first aerial tanker flight or the first hour of a firefighting helicopter operating on a wildfire at the request of any county sheriff, municipal fire department, or fire protection district; and

(b) The employment of wildfire hand crews to fight a wildfire for the first two days of a wildfire at the request of any county sheriff, municipal fire department, or fire protection district, with a preference for the use of wildfire hand crews from the inmate disaster relief program created in section 17-24-124, C.R.S.

(2.5) In addition to any other purpose for the use of money in the wildfire emergency response fund specified in this section, the division may use money in the fund to provide wildfire suppression assistance to county sheriffs, municipal fire departments, or fire protection districts throughout the state at no cost to such entities pursuant to annual guidelines published by the division in the wildfire preparedness plan required by section 24-33.5-1227 (2)(a).

(3) On an annual basis, the governor may authorize the division to increase the use of the wildfire emergency response fund to provide funding or reimbursement for additional aerial tanker flights or additional usage of wildfire hand crews to fight a wildfire. The director shall include a request for such authorization in, and in accordance with, the annual wildfire preparedness plan recommendations developed pursuant to section 24-33.5-1227 (2).

(4) Nothing in this section precludes or prevents the governor, in his or her discretion, from authorizing additional increases or decreasing the use of the wildfire emergency response fund if the actual wildfire situation is more or less severe than anticipated at the time the wildfire preparedness plan required under section 24-33.5-1227 (2) was prepared.

(5) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2013.)

(6) (a) On June 15, 2021, if possible, or as soon as possible thereafter, the state treasurer shall transfer six hundred thousand dollars from the wildfire preparedness fund created in section 24-33.5-1227 and one million two hundred thousand dollars from the Colorado firefighting air corps fund created in section 24-33.5-1228 to the wildfire emergency response fund.

(b) On July 1, 2021, the state treasurer shall transfer six hundred thousand dollars from the wildfire preparedness fund created in section 24-33.5-1227 and one million two hundred thousand dollars from the Colorado firefighting air corps fund created in section 24-33.5-1228 to the wildfire emergency response fund.

Source: L. 2012: Entire section added, (HB 12-1283), ch. 240, p. 1113, § 16, effective July 1. L. 2013: Entire section amended, (SB 13-270), ch. 250, p. 1313, § 3, effective May 23. L. 2021: (2.5) added, (SB 21-113), ch. 17, p. 93, § 1, effective March 21; (6) added, (SB 21-258), ch. 238, p. 1253, § 6, effective June 15. L. 2022: (2.5) amended, (SB 22-002), ch. 339, p. 2438, § 2, effective June 3; (2.5) amended, (SB 22-212), ch. 421, p. 2978, § 56, effective August 10.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 23-31-309 as it existed prior to 2012.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2012 act adding this section, see section 1 of chapter 240, Session Laws of Colorado 2012. For the legislative declaration in SB 21-258, see section 1 of chapter 238, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.