Colorado legislature advances local authority to set idling rules

The Colorado General Assembly has voted to send the governor a bill that would revise idling rules.

State law has a uniform idling standard that prohibits a vehicle from idling for more than five minutes within any 60-minute period. Certain exceptions apply.

Local governments are prohibited from enacting a resolution or ordinance concerning vehicle idling that is more stringent than the state idling standard.

The Senate voted 22-12 to advance a bill that would authorize a local government to enact an idling resolution or ordinance that is identical to, or more stringent than, the state idling standard.

House lawmakers already approved the bill on a 45-18 vote.

Local authority challenged

Advocates say the bill is intended to give local governments another tool in the tool box to create idling solutions that work for them. The authorization would apply to vehicles with a gross weight of at least 14,000 pounds.

During Senate floor discussion, Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Dakota Ridge, added that HB1341 is a commonsense bill to address “environmental injustice.”

She said the bill would give Colorado localities the same ability to enact stricter idling rules as other regions around the country with “ground-level ozone pollution problems.”

Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, said he had a problem with the local control aspect of the legislation.

“If you are going to talk about local control, it needs to be local control at the local level all the way down. Not just what the state tells you,” Pelton said.

Sen. Perry Will, R-New Castle, added that the idling revision would be problematic for truck drivers.

“There are places in Colorado you turn the truck off and take your sleep, it’s not going to start in the morning,” Will said. “This bill just doesn’t work for commercial truckers.”

The bill has moved to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk. He can sign it into law, veto it or let it become law without his signature. LL

More Land Line coverage of Colorado news is available.