Colorado § 25-1-133.5 - Office of environmental justice - created - powers and duties - definitions.

§ 25-1-133.5. Office of environmental justice - created - powers and duties - definitions.

(1) (a) There is created in the department the office of environmental justice, the head of which is the director of the office, who shall be appointed by the executive director of the department and may employ staff as necessary to carry out the powers and duties of the office. The office is a type 2 entity, as defined in section 24-1-105, and exercises its powers and performs its duties and functions under the department.

(b) In carrying out its powers and duties, the office may collaborate with the environmental justice ombudsperson appointed pursuant to section 25-1-134 (1)(b), the environmental justice advisory board created in section 25-1-134 (2)(a), disproportionately impacted communities, local governments, other state agencies, the federal government, and other interested parties.

(2) The office shall:

(a) Increase state government engagement with and responsiveness to disproportionately impacted communities;

(b) Develop and manage the department's environmental justice goals, metrics, and objectives;

(c) Work with the environmental divisions within the department, the environmental justice ombudsperson, and the environmental justice advisory board to implement statutory environmental justice mandates, including benchmarks and targets set forth in the "Environmental Justice Act", as enacted in 2021 by House Bill 21-1266;

(d) Work with the division of administration to implement part 10 of article 8 of this title 25 concerning mobile home water quality by leading community engagement efforts with mobile home park residents;

(e) Coordinate environmental justice work within the department and with other state agencies as well as federal, local, and tribal government partners;

(f) Advance the department's language justice goals by providing translation and interpretation services for the department's environmental divisions; and

(g) Identify disproportionately impacted communities based on the best-available data and spatial analysis technology, including the Colorado EnviroScreen tool.

(3) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Colorado EnviroScreen tool" has the meaning set forth in section 24-4-109 (5)(a)(II).

(b) "Disproportionately impacted community" has the meaning set forth in section 24-4-109 (2)(b)(II).

(c) "Office" means the office of environmental justice created in subsection (1)(a) of this section.

Source: L. 2024: Entire section added, (HB 24-1338), ch. 259, p. 1715, § 2, effective May 28.