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BROOMFIELD, CO – Governor Jared Polis today signed Representative Dominique Jackson and Yadira Caraveo’s bill to improve air quality and protect public health into law.
“Focusing on Colorado’s air quality is about more than protecting the environment, it’s about improving public health at a time when respiratory threats are at an all time high,” said Rep. Caraveo, D-Thornton. “Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, I saw the dire public health consequences of poor air quality up close and personal in my pediatric clinic. This bill takes important steps towards cleaning up our air and protecting the health and wellbeing of all Coloradans.”
“This bill represents one of several bold, concrete steps the legislature took this year to improve the quality of the air we breathe and to protect public health,” said Rep. Jackson, D-Aurora. “While the dire effects of climate change become more apparent every day, and this pandemic rages on, it’s more important than ever to ensure we are meeting air quality standards and enforcing regulations here in Colorado.”
SB20-204 will protect Colorado’s public health and air quality by ensuring that environmental regulations are enforced and working to bring our state into compliance with federal ozone standards. It creates the TABOR-exempt Air Quality Control Enterprise in the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The Enterprise would conduct air quality monitoring, assessment, data analysis and research and report on it to the General Assembly to promote science-based air quality policy. Governor Polis also signed HB20-1155 into law, Representative Alex Valdez and Mike Weissman’s bill to give home buyers more options with regards to energy efficiency products and infrastructure in new homes, such as electric vehicle charging, electric water heating and solar panel systems.