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DENVER – The Colorado Chamber today provided comment in a public meeting held by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding its proposed rule to reclassify the Denver area’s air quality designation, which would severely impact the Colorado business community. The hearing was held in direct response to a letter request by the Colorado Chamber to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in April 2019.
The EPA’s proposed rule comes after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in March 2019 withdrew the state’s prior request to the EPA for an extension of the attainment date for the Denver area for one year, action which all but assured a lowering of the Colorado’s air quality rating from “moderate” to “serious” nonattainment for ozone. As the Colorado Chamber noted in its request letter to the EPA, the business community is deeply concerned that this reclassification would limit economic growth and lead to businesses leaving the state.
Testifying on behalf of the Colorado Chamber were John Jacus, Chair of the Colorado Chamber’s Energy and Environment Council, and Andrea Huggins, Chair of the Colorado Chamber’s Air Quality Subcommittee.
“EPA’s proposed rule to reclassify the Denver area as ‘serious’ nonattainment for the 2008 ozone standard is one such very significant proposal of great concern to the Chamber and its members,” Jacus said. “We are concerned that air quality regulation will have serious negative impacts on the regional economy and the overall business climate here in Colorado… The Chamber believes EPA’s proposed determination and related deadlines unnecessarily threaten economic harm to the Denver area, and we urge EPA to modify its proposed rule accordingly.”
Jacus and Huggins noted that the Colorado Chamber is truly the voice of industry in Colorado, as its members directly employ over 200,000 Coloradans in the private-sector workforce and include 40 local chambers of commerce, which in turn represent over 20,000 Colorado member companies with approximately 1,000,000 employees.
To read the full testimony from Jacus and Huggins on behalf of the Colorado Chamber, please click here.
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The Colorado Chamber of Commerce champions free enterprise, a healthy business environment and economic prosperity for all Coloradans. It is the only business association that works to improve the business climate for all sizes of business from a statewide, multi-industry perspective. What the Colorado Chamber accomplishes is good for all businesses, and that’s good for the state’s economy. It was created in 1965 based on the merger with the Colorado Manufacturers’ Association.