Second Regular Session
              Sixty-eighth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                 INTRODUCED
                                                           
                                                           
 LLS NO. 12-0651.01 Chuck Brackney x2295 HOUSE BILL 12-1004
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 Bradford, 
 
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 King S., 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 House Committees
 Senate Committees
 
 
 Economic and Business Development
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                         A BILL FOR AN ACT
       Concerning requiring local building codes to allow the use
            of lumber milled from certain trees as building
            framing material.
       
       
                           Bill Summary
       
            (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
       not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill
       passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that
       applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at
       http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.)
       
            The bill requires county and municipal building codes to allow the
       use of lumber milled from lodgepole pine and Englemann spruce trees
       having a grade of "stud" or better as building framing material. County
       and municipal building codes must also encourage the use of lumber
       milled from these trees for this purpose.
       
       
       
       Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
            SECTION 1.  Short title - legislative declaration. (1)  This act
       shall be known and may be cited as the "Colorado Timber Act".
            (2) (a)  The general assembly hereby finds that:
            (I)  The state of Colorado has been in the midst of an epidemic of
       beetle infestation since the 1990s;
            (II)  This infestation has affected more than three million acres of
       Colorado's forests;
            (III)  Colorado's stock of lodgepole pine trees and Englemann
       spruce trees have been particularly hard hit, with losses totaling over three
       million trees for these species; and
            (IV)  Lumber from these trees is often not used in Colorado and is
       shipped for sale out of state, in part because use of this lumber is
       prohibited by local building codes.
            (b)  The general assembly declares that using the lumber from trees
       that have been damaged by beetles but that is still structurally sound and
       durable for building in Colorado would be beneficial to the state by:
            (I)  Providing a market for the lumber that is currently left unused
       or shipped out of state;
            (II)  Providing jobs for harvesting, processing, and selling this
       lumber in the state; and
            (III)  Keeping Colorado resources in Colorado.
            (c)  The general assembly therefore declares that:
            (I)  The ability to used beetle-killed lumber in Colorado is a matter
       of statewide concern; and
            (II)  High-grade Colorado lumber should be allowed to be used in
       all communities across the state for the framing of buildings.
            SECTION 2.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-28-201, add (4)
       as follows:
            30-28-201.  Commissioners may adopt - emission performance
       standards required - use of lumber milled from lodgepole pine and
       Englemann spruce trees. (4)  On and after the effective date of
       this subsection (4), every board of county commissioners of a
       county that has enacted a building code, and thereafter every
       board of county commissioners of a county that enacts a
       building code, shall enact a building code provision to permit
       the use of lumber milled from lodgepole pine trees or
       Englemann spruce trees having a grade of "stud", "no. 2", "no. 1",
       or "select structural" under the grading standards of the west
       coast lumber inspection bureau or its analogous successor
       organization as suitable material for the framing of buildings.
       The building code provision must also encourage the use of
       lumber milled from these trees for use as building framing
       material.
            SECTION 3.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 31-15-601, add (3)
       as follows:
            31-15-601.  Building and fire regulations - use of lumber milled
       from lodgepole pine and Englemann spruce trees - emission
       performance standards required. (3)  On and after the effective
       date of this subsection (3), every governing body of a
       municipality that has enacted a building code, and thereafter
       every governing body that enacts a building code, shall enact
       a building code provision to permit the use of lumber milled from
       lodgepole pine trees or Englemann spruce trees having a grade
       of "stud", "no. 2", "no. 1", or "select structural" under the
       grading standards of the west coast lumber inspection bureau
       or its analogous successor organization as suitable material
       for the framing of buildings. The building code provision must
       also encourage the use of lumber milled from these trees for
       use as building material.
            SECTION 4.  Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds,
       determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
       preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.