Colorado State Archives

Executive Orders from the Administration of Governor Bill Owens 1999-2005

DENVER – Declaring that "Colorado must continue to enhance its air quality to protect the health and well-being of its citizens as well as its economic prosperity," Governor Bill Owens today announced his appointments to the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) and the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC).

The AQCC deals with air quality issues affecting the entire state including haze and visibility in our cities and national parks, rules regulating odor from hog farms as required by the 1998 voter approved Amendment 14, reduction of sulfur dioxide, and prescribed burning and wildfires on public lands.

"Colorado faces many statewide air quality challenges and I believe these appointees bring wide ranging scientific, technical, industrial and environmental backgrounds to the Air Quality Control Commission," Owens said.

Owens appointed the following individuals to the AQCC:

Owens made nine appointments to the Regional Air Quality Commission after issuing an executive order streamlining the commission from 37 members to 9. He noted that during the past two years, only 2 out of 16 RAQC board meetings had a majority of members attending. The RACQ is the lead agency for air quality in the Denver metropolitan area under the federal Clean Air Act.

"This new configuration will increase the accountability of board members to the citizens of the metropolitan Denver area while maintaining strong ties to local government," Owens said. "A new plan for maintaining compliance with federal carbon monoxide standards will shortly be due and the region must work to ensure it continues to meet ozone and fine particulate matter standards."

Owens appointed the following individuals to the RAQC:

"It is important to remember that the RACQ is working for clean air not just to meet federal regulations but most importantly for the health of the people who live in the metro area," Tucker said. "I am excited about this new, streamlined board and we will work with local government officials and other policymakers to implement a forward looking clean air policy for the region."

"The RAQC has been a successful architect of the metro area’s compliance with federal carbon monoxide standards," Scherer said. "I am pleased to have the opportunity to help design an efficient way to continue this progress and other priority areas."

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