Small business applauds withdrawal of horrendous regulatory proposal
DENVER, July 23, 2021—The state’s leading small-business association today thanked its coalition partners for helping win suspension of a horrendous regulatory proposal that would have severely handicapped every employee’s ability to get to work.
“It’s hard to believe such a regulation would have even been proposed,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “We’re all for clean air but prohibiting workers from getting to their jobs is not the way to achieve it.”
Gagliardi referred to Regulation No. 22, a proposal put forth by the Air Pollution Control Division within the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment that would have required employers to enact policies such as flexible scheduling, remote work, public transportation options, and ridesharing. With absolutely no understanding of the regulatory burdens employers are already under with compliance and cost, the proposed regulation also called on them to identify an “employee transportation coordinator” and survey their employees on how they get to and from work.
In a July 19 letter, the CDPHE announced it would revise its proposal. “After reviewing the various prehearing statements in this rulemaking, the state recognizes that many of the businesses, employees, and local communities that will be impacted by the rule have concerns about the Employer Traffic Reduction Program (ETRP) as currently proposed.”
In a pre-hearing statement, NFIB pointed out that “Employees without access to affordable housing in close proximity to the workplace and who are unable to access reliable and affordable public transportation have no choice but to commute by an SOV [single occupancy vehicle]. Employers find that the farther an employee resides from the workplace the less likely that employee will remain with the employer. Employees desire to reside close to their place of work, however, for many it is impossible due to the lack of affordable housing.”
For more information about the proposed regulation and small businesses’ concern with it, click here to go to a story on NFIB Colorado’s webpage.
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, [email protected],
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
Keep up with the latest Colorado small-business news at www.nfib.com/colorado or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CO or on Facebook @NFIB.CO
###
For 78 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Colorado
1700 Lincoln Street, 17th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
303-860-1778
www.nfib.com/colorado
Twitter: @NFIB_CO
Facebook: NFIB.CO
