First Regular Session
Sixty-second General Assembly
LLS NO. R990690.01 Pam
Cybyske
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVES Taylor and Miller;
also SENATOR Chlouber.
AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK AND NATURAL RESOURCES
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1037
CONCERNING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S
OVERFILING AGAINST REGULATED ENTITIES IN COLORADO WHERE
COLORADO HAS ALREADY TAKEN ENFORCEMENT ACTION.
WHEREAS, Protection of public health and the environment
are among the highest priorities of government that requires a
united and uniform effort at all levels of government; and
WHEREAS, The United States Congress has enacted environmental
laws to ensure the protection of the nation's environment and
consequently the health of the citizens of the United States;
and
WHEREAS, These federal environmental laws often provide
for the primacy of their administration and enforcement to be
delegated to the individual states; and
WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is responsible for the administration and enforcement
of these federal environmental laws; and
WHEREAS, States that have been delegated primacy
have demonstrated to the EPA that they have adopted laws, regulations,
and policies at least as stringent as federal laws, regulations,
and policies; and
WHEREAS, The individual states are best able to administer
and enforce these environmental laws for the benefit of all of
their citizens and the citizens of the United States in general;
and
WHEREAS, The EPA and the states have bilaterally
developed policy agreements over the past twentyfive years
that reflect the roles of the states and the EPA, recognizing
that the primary responsibility for enforcement action resides
with the individual states, with EPA taking enforcement action
principally where an individual state requests assistance or is
unwilling or unable to take timely and appropriate enforcement
action; and
WHEREAS, Inconsistent with these policy agreements,
the EPA has levied fines and penalties against regulated entities
in cases where the state previously took appropriate action consistent
with the agreements to bring such entities into compliance; and
WHEREAS, Colorado statutes give authority to the
appropriate state agencies for the administration and enforcement
of state and federal environmental laws; and
WHEREAS, The EPA continues to enforce federal environmental
laws despite Colorado's primacy and has acted in areas of violations
where the state has already acted; and
WHEREAS, The EPA has been unwilling to recognize
the importance of Colorado's ability to develop methods for the
state to meet the standards established by the EPA and federal
environmental laws while recognizing state and local concerns
and circumstances unique to Colorado; and
WHEREAS, A cooperative effort between the state and
the EPA is essential to ensure such consistency while making certain
to consider state and local concerns; and
WHEREAS, The EPA has been hesitant to recognize that
economic incentives and rewarding compliance are acceptable alternatives
to acting only after violations have occurred; and
WHEREAS, The EPA's current enforcement practices
and policies result in detailed oversight and overfiling
of state actions causing the weakening of Colorado's ability to
take effective compliance actions and resolve environmental issues;
and
WHEREAS, The current EPA enforcement policy and actions
have had and continue to have an adverse impact on working relationships
between the EPA and Colorado and many other western states; and
WHEREAS, The Western Governors' Association has adopted
"Principles for Environmental Protection in the West"
which encourages collaboration and not polarization between the
EPA and the states, and further encourages the replacement of
the command and control structure of the EPA with economic incentives
encouraging results and environmental decisions that weigh costs
against benefits in taking actions; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtysecond General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That we ask Congress to require the
EPA to recognize that the State of Colorado has the requisite
authority, expertise, experience, and resources to administer
delegated federal environmental programs by:
(a) Affording Colorado flexibility and
deference in the administration and enforcement of delegated federal
environmental programs;
(b) Refraining from overfiling against
recognized violators where Colorado has negotiated a compliance
action in accordance with its approved EPA management systems,
so long as that compliance action achieves compliance with applicable
requirements; and
(c) Allowing Colorado the ability to develop
plans for achieving national environmental standards established
by the EPA that are tailored to meet local conditions and priorities.
(2) That we ask Congress to require the
EPA to enter into memoranda of understanding with the individual
states that outline performance and set joint goals and measures
to ensure compliance with federal environmental laws while recognizing
that states that have achieved primacy in environmental programs
have the right to direct compliance actions.
(3) That we ask Congress to require the
EPA to develop policies and practices that recognize that:
(a) Successful environmental policy and
implementation are best accomplished through balanced, open, inclusive
approaches where the public and private stakeholders work together
to formulate locallybased solutions to environmental issues;
(b) Threats of enforcement action to force
compliance with specific technology or processes may not result
in environmental protection but, instead, reward delay and litigation,
cripple incentives for technological innovation, increase animosity
between government, industry, and the public, and increase the
cost of environmental protection; and
(c) Effective management of environmental
compliance is dependent upon the EPA shifting its focus from threats
of enforcement action to one of compliance and the use of all
available technologies, tools, and actions of the individual states.
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each member of Colorado's Congressional Delegation, the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance, and the Regional Administrator of EPA Region VIII.