The Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s Air Quality Control Commission Thursday voted 8-1 to dismiss rulemaking for a controversial proposal that would have required large employers track how their employees get to and from work.

Dubbed the Employee Trip Reduction Proposal, it would have required large employers, those with more than 100 workers, to conduct a study of commuting habits among employees in an effort to reduce single-occupant gas-powered vehicle commutes.

What’s next for Colorado’s controversial commuter reduction plan

Expressing “frustration and disappointment,” the commissioners reluctantly withdrew the regulation-making hearings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday after the Air Pollution Control Division withdrew its support for the measure last month. That was after business groups and chambers of commerce universally opposed the regulations, which they called potentially expensive and time-consuming.

Commissioner Elise Jones was the sole vote in support of the plan, which she called a symbolic gesture.

“Symbolically, it’s hard to do this after we’ve had a record number of ozone alert days in a row,” Jones said. “I’ve had a lot of calls from people asking what we are doing to improve air quality, and what we’re doing to fix the problem. Now the headline is going to read we’re dumping this rulemaking.”

The program is now voluntary and the Division will provide resources for companies to survey employees and offer them things like public transit pass subsidies. Jones argued that voluntary is what’s happening now – and it’s not working evidenced by arguably the worst month of pollution metro Denver has ever had.

“The status quo is not working,” she said, adding she worried that if employers are “inconvenienced” the rulemaking can be “thwarted when people push back.”

The frustration came from what commissioners dubbed a misinformation campaign about the proposed regulations that would have affected 2,764 businesses with some 900,000 employees – and which could have cost them anywhere from $7,200 to $811,643 annually to implement – by Jan. 1, 2022, according to state records.

“We ran into a storm that was bigger than we anticipated and those rough waters sank the ship,” said Commissioner Anthony Gerber. “I’m not happy as there was obvious misinformation around this rule in the public comment.”

Some of those commenting thought they would have to move within 2.5 miles of their employer, or have to change child care arrangements – both of which were not true.

“I feel bad for the staff and stakeholders who spent hundreds of hours on this, only to have it go away,” Jones said.

Colorado has imposed strict requirements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Those requirements came from the Colorado legislature by way of HB19-1261 Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law in May of 2019. It includes goals of reducing “2025 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26%, 2030 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50%, and 2050 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90% of the levels of statewide greenhouse gas emissions that existed in 2005.”

Colorado backs off large company commuter rules, seeks voluntary compliance

Clay Clarke, Climate Unit supervisor from the Air Pollution Control Division, said they were confident many employers would participate voluntarily, and admitted the Division “was trying to do this in a short timeframe.”

“We’ll have more information going forward to understand what the problems are, what’s working and where there’s challenges,” Clarke said.