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Weld County lost its last chance Thursday to delay a controversial emissions testing program slated to begin in two weeks, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Weld Commissioner Sean Conway appeared at the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission's monthly meeting Thursday in Denver to protest the Air Pollution Control Division's efforts to make emergency changes to the air quality control standards. Those new rules will go into effect in the most populous parts of Weld and Larimer counties on Nov. 1.
“As long as our data shows we're in compliance ... I'll continue to fight,” Conway said after an hourlong hearing that he admitted was his last chance to sway commissioners to delay the program. “There are people in this county who are significantly impacted by this. It's not right, and it's not warranted.”
The emissions program will test for pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone, testing that has been ongoing in Denver for years. It is different from the carbon monoxide emissions testing Weld residents were subjected to for years before the program ended several years ago.
The overarching logic of the program is that northern Colorado contributes to Denver's ozone, which the Environmental Protection Agency has been monitoring. Conway noted that on Thursday, for the first time, he heard someone on the commission admit that Denver could contribute to northern Colorado's ozone levels as well. He said Weld County has been in compliance with EPA standards since 2008, but the commission refuses to acknowledge it.
In 2009, the Legislature passed a law to add the testing program aimed at controlling ground-level ozone to northern Colorado, a move northern Colorado officials have been fighting since.
In March, the Air Quality Commission voted amid massive protests and requests for delays to include parts of Weld and Larimer counties. In that meeting, the commission spelled out pollutant levels cars couldn't exceed, in effect the levels that Denver and other metro counties couldn't exceed prior to 2008 when their standards increased. The idea was to phase northern Colorado vehicles into the higher standards of testing.
In interpreting those pollutant levels for northern Colorado's program, the Air Pollution Control Division inadvertently introduced 12 errors in the pollutant levels. Six levels were more stringent than intended and six were less. Staff members learned of the errors about two weeks ago, which required the commission to vote on emergency changes.
Conway and a representative from the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization asked the commission Thursday to delay the program and give the proper 60-day notice to the public so others could comment about the errors, but Air Quality Control Commission members refused.
They said delaying the program wasn't even on the table and suggested that Conway and other officials who wrote letters of protest were insensitive to their residents. Had the program been allowed to go through as is, they noted that 740 cars would immediately, and unfairly, fail their emissions tests, subjecting owners to costly repairs.
“I am concerned that elected officials from these areas feel it would better for us not to do the emergency order and go through the process even if it costs citizens time, money and heartache,” said commissioner Teresa Coons(CQ).
The commission voted unanimously to correct the 12 errors in an emergency order before the program begins, then make the rule permanent on Jan. 20, at its next meeting.
By then, the legislative session will have begun, Conway said, with a new governor, new legislators and commission member appointments. He said Weld legislators have vowed already to craft a bill to ban the program in Weld County.
“This was more about public relations today than it was about public health,” Conway said after the hearing. “They're so hellbound to show people they're right. ... We will have our day.”
Weld Commissioner Sean Conway appeared at the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission's monthly meeting Thursday in Denver to protest the Air Pollution Control Division's efforts to make emergency changes to the air quality control standards. Those new rules will go into effect in the most populous parts of Weld and Larimer counties on Nov. 1.
“As long as our data shows we're in compliance ... I'll continue to fight,” Conway said after an hourlong hearing that he admitted was his last chance to sway commissioners to delay the program. “There are people in this county who are significantly impacted by this. It's not right, and it's not warranted.”
The emissions program will test for pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone, testing that has been ongoing in Denver for years. It is different from the carbon monoxide emissions testing Weld residents were subjected to for years before the program ended several years ago.
The overarching logic of the program is that northern Colorado contributes to Denver's ozone, which the Environmental Protection Agency has been monitoring. Conway noted that on Thursday, for the first time, he heard someone on the commission admit that Denver could contribute to northern Colorado's ozone levels as well. He said Weld County has been in compliance with EPA standards since 2008, but the commission refuses to acknowledge it.
In 2009, the Legislature passed a law to add the testing program aimed at controlling ground-level ozone to northern Colorado, a move northern Colorado officials have been fighting since.
In March, the Air Quality Commission voted amid massive protests and requests for delays to include parts of Weld and Larimer counties. In that meeting, the commission spelled out pollutant levels cars couldn't exceed, in effect the levels that Denver and other metro counties couldn't exceed prior to 2008 when their standards increased. The idea was to phase northern Colorado vehicles into the higher standards of testing.
In interpreting those pollutant levels for northern Colorado's program, the Air Pollution Control Division inadvertently introduced 12 errors in the pollutant levels. Six levels were more stringent than intended and six were less. Staff members learned of the errors about two weeks ago, which required the commission to vote on emergency changes.
Conway and a representative from the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization asked the commission Thursday to delay the program and give the proper 60-day notice to the public so others could comment about the errors, but Air Quality Control Commission members refused.
They said delaying the program wasn't even on the table and suggested that Conway and other officials who wrote letters of protest were insensitive to their residents. Had the program been allowed to go through as is, they noted that 740 cars would immediately, and unfairly, fail their emissions tests, subjecting owners to costly repairs.
“I am concerned that elected officials from these areas feel it would better for us not to do the emergency order and go through the process even if it costs citizens time, money and heartache,” said commissioner Teresa Coons(CQ).
The commission voted unanimously to correct the 12 errors in an emergency order before the program begins, then make the rule permanent on Jan. 20, at its next meeting.
By then, the legislative session will have begun, Conway said, with a new governor, new legislators and commission member appointments. He said Weld legislators have vowed already to craft a bill to ban the program in Weld County.
“This was more about public relations today than it was about public health,” Conway said after the hearing. “They're so hellbound to show people they're right. ... We will have our day.”
