With the passage of HB21-1266, the State’s Industrial sector must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by the year 2030, compared to what it released in 2015. As a result, there are ongoing rulemakings with the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC). The most recent was the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Management for Manufacturing Phase 2 rule (GEMM 2). The Chamber led a coalition of ten member companies on the GEMM 2 rulemaking which included meeting regularly with our affected members and our legal counsel to identify strategies and advocate for the best outcome for Colorado’s businesses.
Our outside Legal Counsel, Doug Benevento and Aaron Tucker with Holland and Hart filed several documents with the AQCC on behalf of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. These included a pre-hearing statement with an alternate proposal, a rebuttal, several motions, and a presentation. Our primary issues included, but were not limited to, making the timelines for compliance less aggressive, prioritizing cost-effectiveness, ensuring the success of a credit market, and establishing a GHG Reduction Account to aid compliance. The Chamber also sent a letter to Governor Polis citing these concerns which can be found here.
The GEMM 2 hearing at the AQCC was on September 21 and 22 with public comment the evening of September 20. Meghan Dollar, SVP of Government Affairs and Political Operations joined our outside counsel in a presentation to the AQCC that outlined the importance of balancing Colorado’s economy when contemplating GHG reductions and compliance. While the final rule still has flaws, the Chamber was pleased that AQCC left open important pathways to compliance for our members. Particularly in setting up a pathway to create a GHG Reduction Fund and successfully pushing back compliance dates that were in the original draft rule.
The issue has been significantly covered by the media in the links below.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/09/26/colorado-greenhouse-gas-smokestack-rules-air-pollution/
https://www.cpr.org/2023/09/25/colorado-climate-rules-manufacturers-environmental-groups/
For questions or additional information contact Meghan Dollar, SVP of Governmental Affairs and Political Operations ([email protected]).