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House approves water-quality rules for mobile-home parks after heated floor debate over penalties and appeal rights
Summary
House Bill 11-45, addressing water quality in mobile-home communities, passed as amended on March 4, 2026. Floor debate focused on adopting EPA objective standards for odor/color, enforcement authority for CDPHE, and whether park owners should have administrative hearing rights before civil penalties.
House Bill 11-45 — legislation to strengthen water-quality protections for mobile-home park residents — passed the House as amended on March 4, 2026 after extensive floor debate and multiple lost and offered amendments.
Sponsor Representative Velasco described firsthand experience with stained, odorous water in parks and urged the chamber to empower the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to test for contaminants and hold owners accountable. "We passed the bill my first year that I was here to make sure that there was testing done in all mobile home parks around the state," Velasco said, citing examples of arsenic and E. coli findings and the financial burden on residents who must buy drinking water.
Opponents and some committee members pushed back on enforcement mechanics. Representative De Graaf moved amendments (including L003) to restore an administrative hearing right for park owners before final civil penalties and to narrow vague statutory definitions; the amendment was debated but lost on some attempts and later similar language was rejected before the committee report was adopted. Lawmakers including Representative Brooks warned that steep, recurring fines (floor discussion cited potential $5,000–$10,000 per 30-day instance) could drive small operators out of business and inadvertently reduce affordable housing stock.
Other floor discussion addressed how many parks are affected and whether municipal water supply issues (rather than on-site systems) are the primary source of problems; testimony cited a JBC study that found most mobile-home parks received municipal water. Sponsors argued the bill targets owners who fail to maintain safe and usable finished water — including secondary characteristics such as odor and color — and aims to close enforcement loopholes and improve complaint processes.
The bill passed on the floor as amended; the transcript records the committee report adopted and the bill’s passage on voice vote. The bill assigns testing and enforcement roles to CDPHE and includes statutory definitions and enforcement provisions as debated on the floor.
