“This program is wasting people’s time and money,” said Renfroe. He said Weld and Larimer counties should be exempt unless there is reliable data pointing toward a need for the program.

“The air is clean, and audits are showing that the program is not living up to its intended results,”  said Renfroe.

The pending measure will resemble Renfroe’s and Vaad’s House Bill 11-1082, which failed to pass in the 2011 session. It would have repealed legislation passed in 2010 expanding the Denver metro area’s long-standing and often-criticized auto emissions-testing program into Weld and Larimer counties.

The program requires each vehicle over four years old to undergo a tailpipe-and-treadmill test at state-designated garages operated by a contractor, sometimes requiring hours-long waits by motorists during peak periods.

Opposition to the program is far from unanimous, however, with Democrats even in Larimer and Weld counties typically supporting it.

Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collin, said earlier this year that erring on the side of caution when health issues come into play is the more prudent path despite any inconveniences or costs to motorists.

“We want to make sure that we run the program so that it’s not over-burdensome—especially in these hard economic times—but also look at public health issues,” said Kefalas.

The emissions program also employs random, drive-by tests, conducted by roadside monitors, as a backup to the mandatory tailpipe tests. However, the state auditor recently determined that the roadside monitors can yield false positives for dirty emissions. The Legislative Audit Committee decided earlier this week to advance legislation that would limit the roadside testing to identifying clean vehicles only. That way, motorists whose vehicles fail the random tests still can go to one of the program’s regular testing stations and get a fresh test. Under current law, owners of vehicles that happen to drive by one of the monitors and get a clean bill of health may renew their vehicle registration without having to take a regular tailpipe test.

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That trend now has the department  mulling how to wean Colorado off of a tax on gasoline altogether and steer the state instead toward a tax based on miles driven.

Department spokeswoman Stacey Stegman says talks right now are strictly preliminary and are geared toward possible legislation to create   the framework of a revenue-collection system—the blanks would be filled in later—and putting together a legislative task force to study the concept.

“We keep tabs on this issue and watch what other states are doing, but there is no plan at the moment—it’s just something to explore and consider,” said Stegman. ”

The advent of alternative-fuel vehicles like electric cars is just the latest development adding impetus to the department’s concerns; more efficient gasoline-burning cars have been the cause of a years-long, steady drop in gas-tax revenue.

Boulder’s Democratic Rep. Claire Levy, who drives a hybrid gas-electric car, says she is keen on the concept.  Times are ripe for the conversation to begin, says Levy. Pointing to a three-year downward trend in revenue collected at the pump, Levy contends that the department won’t be able to keep up with road maintenance.

“It’s definitely time to start looking at alternative ways to pay for our roads,” said Levy. “We can’t keep going with business as usual.”

House Transportation Committee Chair Glenn Vaad, R-Mead, also says the time may be ripe to look at alternative ways, based on miles traveled rather than gallons purchased, to fund roads—but taxpayers would need to warm up to the idea.

“It would take an evolutionary period,” said Vaad. “But in the meantime  these vehicles are not paying their fair share.”

Fair share is important, say both Vaad and Levy, since all vehicles contribute to the wear and tear of roadways regardless of what makes them run.  Vaad says traditional pay-at-the-pump revenue collection has evolved into inequalities.

Levy notes that owners of electric cars and hybrids, who generally pay more for their vehicles in exchange for zero-to-greatly-reduced gas costs and consumption,  need to realize the effect that paradigm shifts in gas consumption have had on the state’s ability to fund transportation needs.

“They must understand that their vehicles cause wear and tear on the roads too,” said Levy. “Gas consumption doesn’t mirror road usage anymore.”

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Rep. Glenn Vaad, R-Mead, who sponsored similar legislation last spring, is having his proposal to suspend the testing drafted by legislative staffers for introduction in the 2012 legislative session.

“It made sense (during the spring 2011 session), and it makes even more sense now,” said Vaad.

Vaad says another year of data has yielded little to suggest the program should continue although controversy over the numbers themselves,  and the need for the testing, suggest the bill will again meet with considerable opposition.

“It certainly looks like it was a revenue issue, not a clean-air issue, since the county is already in compliance with EPA standards,” said Vaad. “Why continue the program when  the monitoring shows that there is not a problem?.

House Bill 1082, sponsored in the 2011 session by Vaad and Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, would have repealed legislation passed only a year earlier by a Democratic-led legislature  expanding the Denver metro area’s long-standing and often-criticized auto emissions-testing program into Weld and Larimer counties.

That program requires each vehicle over four years old to undergo a tailpipe-and-treadmill test at state-designated garages operated by a contractor, sometimes requiring hours-long waits by motorists during peak periods.

Vaad’s new proposed measure, like last year’s, will allow for the program to be reinstated should air-quality numbers breach the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable threshold in ground level ozone.

The threshold for emissions is currently .075 by EPA standards, with measurements in the Greeley and Fort Collins areas from 3 monitors averaging out to .071 on up to .072 on a 3-year rolling average—the method by which the levels are calculated.

Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway says the testing, which he estimates costs motorists in Weld County $5 million annually, is spinning the wheels  of citizens needlessly and producing negligible results given that newer vehicles rarely fail the test and older vehicles are being phased out by sheer age.

“Why are we making our citizens go through this?” asks Conway. “This program doesn’t do anything to reduce ozone. We’re already in compliance, and it is costing people valuable time and money.”

Yet, Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, of Larimer County, who voted against suspending the program last year, says he has not changed his mind.  Kefalas says he disagrees with an interpretation of the numbers that suggests the vehicle testing isn’t warranted and that health concerns should take precedence.

“It’ a matter of how you look at the data,” says Kefalas. “There’s still legitimate public health concerns, particularly for those who are most vulnerable to air quality such as those with asthma.”

According to Lucinda Smith, Senior Environmental Planner with the City of Fort Collins, the numbers have  measured up to .080 in the west Fort Collins area.

The EPA, which takes a look at the standards every five years, is due to review the thresholds in 2013. There was talk of lowering the threshold to .070, earlier than 2013, but the agency recently decided to put off the decision until the next five-year meeting.

As a way to address some of the cost issues of continuing the program, Kefalas says he is considering legislation seeking to clarify and to expand on what he says is a little-known provision in the program that provides need-based funding for repairs to vehicles failing the test.  Balance is key says Kefalas.

“We want to make sure that we run the program so that it’s not over-burdensome—especially in these hard economic times—but also look at public health issues,” he said.

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State law exempts the materials used in transportation projects from state-imposed sales and use taxes, but cities and counties are free to assess their own sales taxes and sometimes do.  The tax can add up when applied to building materials like asphalt for paving a new roadway.

The department maintains that the added cost decreases money available for yet other needed projects, exacerbating already meager transportation funds.

Department spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said the department, which discussed the idea at an August meeting, is interested in pursuing the issue legislatively.

“Adding a tax onto public projects when public funds are scarce just doesn’t make any sense,” said Stegman. “When a government agency is working in an area making improvements, local governments are charging us for the privilege.”

Republican Rep. Glenn Vaad, of Mead, says he would be happy to consider sponsoring a bill exempting CDOT from local taxes.  Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to pay more taxes, says Vaad.

“It’s counter-intuitive to be using tax revenues to pay additional taxes,” said Vaad. “People in Colorado are suffering, the state is lacking funds, and further taxation is not part of the solution.”

However, Sen. Jeanne Nicholson, D-Black Hawk, vice chair of the Senate Local Government and Energy Committee, says if such legislation were introduced, it likely would encounter considerable push-back from local governments.

“Exempting CDOT from these taxes could create significant problems for some communities, and they wouldn’t like it one bit,” said Nicholson. “Some places could absorb the tax exemption, and it wouldn’t be significant, but poorer areas wouldn’t be able to absorb it at all.”

Yet, Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, notes that  the state is facing even tougher challenges than some local governments, and the idea may be worth considering.

“The state is hurting, everybody’s hurting, but the cities aren’t hurting as much as the state,” said Tochtrop. “The bottom line is that people need jobs, and if the money saved by CDOT in taxes produces more jobs, then it’s an idea worth looking at.”

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In a presentation to the Transportation Legislative Review Committee, the Colorado Department of Transportation got quickly to the point, delivered by CDOT’s Chief Financial Officer Ben Stein.

“I will venture to surmise that the gravy train has come to an end,” said Stein. “They’ve been passing out more money than they’ve been collecting through gas taxes,” said Stein. “We are going to be more reliant on state funds than ever. Relying on federal revenues to sustain the system going forward, given what we’re all seeing in Washington today, and their history, is not something that I would bet on. ”

Department Director Don Hunt said Colorado needs to look inward.

“We aren’t going to get bailed out here by the federal government,” said Hunt. “There’s no way.  It’s up to us as a state to be the state that we want to be.”

One possible way for the state to wean itself off federal dollars is to begin looking at alternatives to the gas tax, Hunt said. Approximately 18 cents per gallon of gas sold goes to the federal government and 22 cents  goes to the state, he said. Colorado may want to consider more pay-for-use scenarios such as tolling, he said.

“We don’t have the policy yet, but one of the things we’re thinking about is wherever we are able to add capacity to a state highway, should it be free? We’re at that point,” said Hunt.

Hunt told the panel that tolling, which is already in use on some roadways, helps pave the way for expansions such as on U.S. 36, where the goal is to have dedicated lanes in both direction for car-poolers or toll-paying vehicles. Hunt said a tolling revenue will cover about a third of the project’s cost.

Meanwhile, with just over 50 percent of the state’s roadways deemed by the Transportation Department to be in poor condition, committee chair Glenn Vaad, a Republican state representative from Mead, said Colorado drivers are looking to the department for answers. Vaad noted the state’s motorists already are paying gas taxes and added vehicle registration fees.

“I hear from colleagues and constituents about the conditions of roadways. They want to know–does the department recognize what’s happening to the roadway system?” said Vaad.

Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, asked about money that had been set aside by the provisions of a measure, Referendum C, passed by the voters in 2005 allocating revenue to K-12 education, higher education, health care and transportation.

“It was kind of a windfall to transportation,” said Fischer. “A lot more money went into the general fund for transportation than backers anticipated.  I’m wondering how much of Referendum C money, percentage-wise, went to transportation as opposed to some of the other things it was intended for.”

Legislative Council staffer Kate Watkins responded that it’s difficult to calculate how much of that revenue stream has actually gone into transportation.

“There is some difficulty in really identifying what revenue from Referendum C went where, and a lot of it has to do with the fungibility of money,” said Watkins. “Basically we don’t know exactly where the Referendum C dollars go.”

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The House gavel, when the legislative session resumes in January, will be handed over to Republican Rep. Frank McNulty, of Highlands Ranch, by outgoing Democratic Speaker Terrence Carroll, of Denver.  McNulty, who will preside over the chamber as its next speaker, was cheered by collegues who had helped him orchestrate the Republicans’ successful bid to regain a majority–albeit by only one vote.

“It is indeed a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” said McNulty. “We fought hard to get here, and we look forward to governing.”

However, McNulty acknowledges that the road ahead will not be easy.

“Our excitement is tempered by the fact that too many Coloradans still are out of work,” said McNulty. “We know we have a challenge in front of us, and a state budget challenge, and that is what our job is going to be.”

Also likely tempering the GOP’s enthusiasm over its victory in the House is the fact that the Senate will remain in Democratic hands as will the Governor’s Office in the wake of Tuesday’s mixed election results.

House Democrats, who held their own leadership elections this morning, were more subdued in their proceedings as they regrouped with a newly configured leadership team.  Rep. Sal Pace, of Pueblo, will serve as their minority leader.

On hand to lend encouragement to his fellow Democratic elected officials was Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper, who spoke to the group.

One of his goals in the coming months, says Hickenlooper, is to make Colorado a place that defines itself by its ability to get past the acrimony of negative campaign rhetoric.  Hickenlooper indicated that a key component will be to find a way to work with Republicans.

“If we can begin to break down some of the partisan walls,” said Hickenlooper, “if we can get to the place where we can be collaborative, put down our weapons and see where we can work together, that becomes a huge part of our identity, our brand as a state.”

Leadership Election results:

House Republicans

House Speaker: Frank McNulty (uncontested)

Majority Leader: Amy Stephens (uncontested)

Assistant Majority Leader: Mark Waller (ucontested)

Majority Whip: B.J. Nikkel (uncontested)

Caucus Chair: Carole Murray (uncontested)

House Democrats

Minority Leader: Sal Pace (over Andy Kerr)

Assistant Minority Leader: Nancy Todd (over Beth McCann)

Whip: Claire Levy (over Daniel Kagan)

Deputy Whip: Dickie Lee Hullinghorst (over Matt Jones, who withdrew)

Caucus Chair: Lois Court (uncontested)

Senate Democrats

President: Brandon Shaffer (uncontested)

Majority Leader: John Morse (uncontested)

Assistant Majority Leader Lois Tochtrop (uncontested)

Caucus Chair: Morgan Carroll (uncontested)

JBC: Mary Hodge and Pat Steadman

Senate Republicans

Minority Leader: Mike Kopp (uncontested)

Assistant Minority Leader: Bill Cadman (uncontested)

Whip: Scott Renfroe (uncontested)

Caucus Chair: Mark Scheffel (uncontested)

JBC: Kent Lambert

Renfroe says vehicle-emissions testing is not only unnecessary but also unpopular among his constituents, who have been petitioning local officials to gather more data before moving ahead. Leading the charge against the program are the Weld County commissioners, who are backing Renfroe’s effort. The first-term lawmaker anticipates that Larimer County commissioners will be supportive as well.

“The air in those counties is actually clean and below the standards set by the EPA for 2013,” Renfroe said. “We’re being forced into this program because Denver’s air is not clean, and this is one way to (raise Denver’s average) for a better air-quality rating.”

Today, Renfroe and Greeley Republican Rep. Glenn Vaad introduced Senate Bill 95, which would repeal last year’s legislation expanding the air-quality program. That measure, sponsored by Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins,  and Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, will usher in a vehicle-testing regimen long familiar to Denver area motorists, who can face hours-long waits for their vehicles to undergo treadmill tests at designated facilities before they can renew their auto registration.

However, another Greeley lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Jim Riesberg, maintains that the program should move forward despite data indicating current compliance with the EPA standards, and he said he stands behind his vote for last year’s bill expanding the policy into Weld and Larimer.

“I voted for the bill last year after meeting with the people at Air Quality Control and felt that this was something that we need to do,” said Riesberg, who acknowledged his own county commissioners are adamantly opposed to the program.

Riesberg points to more stringent requirements that the EPA will put into effect in 2013, and he says those could moot today’s clean-air standards.

“More comprehensive testing that includes detection of previously untested pollutants may or may not find us in compliance,” Riesberg said.