New CO Bill To Address Toxic Air Pollutants

DENVER, CO — At a press conference at the Capitol on Monday, Colorado lawmakers and climate activists rallied support for a newly proposed bill: the Public Protections From Toxic Air Contaminants Act.

This bill would strengthen clean air protections in addition to those imposed by HB 20-1265 and HB 21-1189, which were passed in 2020 and 2021 and required greater monitoring of air toxins by facilities as well as a warning to communities when spikes in pollution occurred, a news release said.

"The bill will direct the state to establish health-based air quality standards for air toxics, protecting the health of industrial workers, communities of color and working families," Lizeth Chacón, Executive Director of Colorado People's Alliance said. "It will provide an opportunity for the state to ensure that corporations can no longer jeopardize our air quality and health."

If passed, the bill will limit toxic emissions, strengthen the reporting and monitoring of air pollution and will look at the cumulative impacts of air pollution across the state, Chacón said. The bill will also clarify that the "Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment may regulate air more stringently than the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Every Coloradan deserves safe and healthy air to breathe, but too many of us — especially in low-income communities and communities of color — are exposed to deadly emissions from polluters that spew chemicals into our air," Sen. Julie Gonzales (D) said. "This legislation both empowers our state to ensure the health and safety of Coloradans and holds corporations accountable for their pollution."

Becca Curry, a policy counsel for Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain office said in the release that Colorado is in far worse standing compared to other states when it comes to regulating the kinds of air pollutants that are harming communities.

"By passing this bill, the legislature can send a strong signal to the residents of this state that their health and well-being comes first," Curry said. "It should be a no-brainer that corporations be required to report their toxic emissions and get them under control if they are harming people who live near these facilities."

The concept behind this bill is years in the making, Chacón said. It is the result of a door-to-door program with the community that was conducted in an effort to figure out the issues Coloradans most cared about; air and water quality came to the forefront of those discussions.

"Communities of color and low-income communities that have disproportionately faced the impacts from these corporations deserve better, so we need to work to ensure that we are prioritizing our health and safety and not the bottom line of corporations," she added. "It's time for us to eliminate pollution hot spots by putting people's health first."