Committee trims and advances mold‑awareness bill to require public information and limited property disclosures

The House Energy and Environment Committee voted to send House Bill 12 02, a measure intended to increase public awareness about mold and water damage and to require certain disclosures in residential real‑estate transactions, to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable recommendation after sponsors narrowed the bill to reduce costs.

What the bill does: Sponsors described the legislation as a public‑health and consumer‑protection measure that will put basic information about mold on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) website, require landlords and sellers to provide a short written warning and link to that website, and require that property disclosure forms include known past mold events and remediation summaries for a set look‑back period. Representative Pascal said the bill ‘‘asks the website to have information on the health dangers of mold, including the potential for mold remediation and how to find mold testing and remediation professionals.’’

Why sponsors narrowed the bill: Committee testimony and discussions with the department and industry prompted sponsors to remove more expensive elements. The committee adopted amendments that removed a proposed CDPHE‑run registry of remediators and scopped back any large‑scale public advertising campaign; instead sponsors will rely on web postings and links to existing resources. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment testified it does not have the funded capacity to run a provider registry and warned a registry could be misread as a departmental endorsement of specific companies.

Stakeholder positions: Housing providers sought stronger limits on disclosure so that properties fully remediated would not remain indefinitely stigmatized; the Colorado Apartment Association and Realtors supported an amendment allowing a summary of past reports rather than requiring full technical reports in the transaction packet. Public‑health and patient‑advocacy witnesses, and several people who testified about debilitating health impacts they attribute to mold exposure, urged broader protections and clearer standards for remediation; clinical and public‑health witnesses cautioned that CDPHE currently lacks dedicated funding for mold work and that the department receives several mold inquiries monthly.

Committee action and vote: The committee adopted three amendments (L001, L002, L003) that narrowed scope and changed implementation details — notably removing the provider registry and any large advertising requirement, requiring web‑based information and permitting summaries instead of complete technical reports for property disclosures. The committee voted to send the bill to Appropriations with a favorable recommendation; the roll call recorded an 8–4 vote.

Remaining questions: Witnesses stressed the need for agreed standards of professional remediation and for consumer guidance about when remediation is ‘‘complete.’’ The CDPHE said it could provide a public information page but not a funded registry, and housing groups said the disclosure timeline and threshold warranted further refinement to avoid discouraging remediation or stigmatizing compliant properties.