Colorado Revised Statutes Title 30. Government County § 30-20-1401. Legislative declaration--rules--enforcement--recyclable material

(a) In order to protect the environment and the public health, there is a special need to address problems created by the disposal of waste tires and the lack of recycling and beneficial reuse of waste tires;

(b) In adopting this part 14, the general assembly has encouraged the development of techniques for resource recovery, recycling, and reuse of waste tires; however, there is still room for improvement regarding the management of waste tires in Colorado;

(c) The management of waste tires at the state level promotes economic development and provides substantial environmental impacts across the state;

(d) It is in the state's interest to provide for the recovery, recycling, reuse, and management of waste tires through a government-run enterprise;

(e) Providing statewide waste tire recycling, beneficial reuse, and management constitutes a valuable service and benefit, and a waste tire management enterprise would provide useful business services to tire retailers, automobile dealers, automobile repair shops, service stations, automotive fleet centers, waste tire haulers, waste tire collection facilities, waste tire processors, recycling and waste facilities, landfills, consumers, and all residents of Colorado;

(f) The waste tire management enterprise will aid in the proper management of waste tires by providing financial incentives and rebates for the recycling of waste tires into end-use tire-derived products, which financial incentives and rebates directly compensate people who properly dispose of or recycle waste tires, provide fee payers more convenient waste tire and disposal options, increase the production of tire-derived products, and positively impact human health and safety and the environment;

(g) It is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interest of the state to acknowledge that, by providing the business services specified in this part 14, the enterprise engages in an activity conducted in the pursuit of a benefit, gain, or livelihood and therefore operates as a business;

(h) Consistent with the determination of the Colorado supreme court in Nicholl v. E-470 PublicHighwayAuthority, 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, it is the conclusion of the general assembly that the waste tire enterprise fee collected by the enterprise is a fee, not a tax, because the fee is imposed for the specific purpose of allowing the enterprise to defray the costs of providing the business services specified in sections 30-20-1404 and 30-20-1405 to consumers who ultimately pay the enterprise fee, which enterprise fee is imposed at rates that are reasonably calculated based on the cost of providing the services needed by those consumers;

(i) So long as the enterprise qualifies as an enterprise for the purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution, the revenue from the waste tire enterprise fee collected 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); and

(j) The enterprise created in this part 14 is necessary to continue Colorado's management of waste tires and provide incentives to local governments; for-profit waste tire management, recycling, and reuse companies; and other organizations that are involved in waste tire recycling, beneficial reuse, and management.

(2)(a) The commission, in consultation with the enterprise, shall promulgate rules for the implementation and enforcement of sections 30-20-1403, 30-20-1404, and 30-20-1405, as applicable.

(b) The commission, in consultation with the department, shall promulgate rules for the implementation and enforcement of sections 30-20-1403 and 30-20-1405.5 and other sections of this part 14, as applicable.