State commission blocks bid to expand public review into minor business emissions changes

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project

New emissions rules for minor modifications gets (thankfully) voted down.

There’s something noteworthy towards the end of the Sum and Substance article linked at bottom.**

The part I want to focus on begins under the heading “A debate over minor modifications”. Don’t make the same (initial) mistake I did and take it from the words that the debated would be minor!

The minor modifications here refer to a change in a factory or plant’s process which might slightly alter the amount of pollution they emit. Quoting the article:

“APCD [Air Pollution Control Division] staffers, for example, wanted to change the current permitting process for minor modifications — facility upgrades at major-emitter sites that are designed to allow greater production and could result in small increases of NOx or VOC emissions.”

The rest of that same paragraph gives the import.

“Companies applying for minor-modification permits now can proceed with work immediately under state rules, but division leaders wanted to require that some of these projects instead go through a period of public notice and public comment.”

Why does this matter? Think it through. If you were running a factory and wanted to expand to meet demand, and could do so without having to increase you emissions substantially, you could do that now without having to ask and go through a time-consuming process.

If this rule change were to go through, if it did require public notice and comment that would significantly slow down your ability to expand. Comment provided by a representative of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce (publisher of The Sum and Substance) gives a sense of the time involved, quoting from the article:

“Colorado Chamber regulatory affairs advisor Dave Kulmann argued, however, that requiring even minor changes to go through the division’s lengthy, backlogged construction-permitting process could turn a four-month project into one that takes two years.”

Exactly. If you wanted to expand and faced that, would you even bother? If you were thinking of opening a factory in Colorado and knew this would be your future, would you bother?

Thankfully the Air Quality Control Commission voted this one down 6 to 3.

I have a feeling this won’t be the last time something like this is tried, however. I will keep my eyes and ears open and post if I hear of future efforts. If you hear, please share.

Efforts like these are the quintessential examples of business killing regulation. We already have plenty of that and need no more.

**The article is, overall, a good one on updates to the state’s ozone reduction plan. Worth a read.

Business gets mixed results as Colorado updates ozone reduction plan

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

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