While a partisan standoff over congressional redistricting grabbed headlines in the closing hours of the General Assembly, House lawmakers closed ranks today to pass a bipartisan measure to cut red tape and spare jobs in industries including steel, oil and gas.

Senate Bill 235, sponsored by Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, and Reps. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, and Keith Swerdfeger, R-Pueblo West, seeks to streamline the air-quality permit application process facing Colorado businesses by allowing them to hire private engineers to perform “modeling” analysis for the permits.

Pace supports the inclusion of third-party engineers for work previously limited to inspectors of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Pace says the option of hiring a private engineer will help clear up backlogs within the department due to a limited number of engineers within the department.

“This bill will allow businesses across the state, like the Rocky Mountain Steel Mill in Pueblo, to remain open for business,” said Pace.  “By cutting red tape in the air-quality inspection process, we will clear up the backlog and prevent businesses from having to shut down as they await their inspections.”

Giron says Pueblo’s steel mill can remain open without having to lay people off or shut down completely with the passage of SB 235.

“This will not only help industries around the state, but it will have a direct effect on employees of the steel mill who will retain their jobs,” said Giron.

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