Colorado
Colorado landfill emission rules could force mountain counties to hike trash fees. Lawmakers are seeking a solution.
Local officials in Colorado’s mountain counties are warning that new state emission regulations for landfills could force them to raise residents’ trash collection fees.
The rules, which were passed last year by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, require public and private landfills that meet certain thresholds for methane emissions to install new pollutant control and monitoring systems, end open flare burning of methane and be equipped with biofilters.
Those rules go into effect in 2029, but certain landfills have up to three years after that to install the emission capture and monitoring technology.
Rural counties with publicly-owned landfills say the measure, while well-intentioned, will be expensive to implement, and could force officials to hike trash collection, commonly called tipping fees, to help cover the costs.
“Several of these counties would be looking at many millions of dollars to buy this equipment in order to be compliant,” said Kelly Flenniken, executive director for Colorado Counties, Inc., which represents all 64 of the state’s counties. “While compliance is something we do want to do, we are really struggling with how we best do that and how we balance that requirement with all of the rest of the requirements that counties have to deliver.”
In Garfield County, officials estimated last year that the regulations could cost $2 million to $2.5 million in upfront costs, with upwards of $100,000 in annual operating costs, though they will now need to reexamine the cost impacts since the rules have been finalized. The county’s landfill director, Deb Fiscus, said in an email that those costs will mean an increase in tipping fees, though the county doesn’t yet know how much.
The same could be true in Pitkin County, home to Aspen, where infrastructure costs could be around $3.5 million, with an additional $200,000 to $400,000 in yearly operating expenses, and Summit County, where officials are projecting $3 million in upfront costs, with an additional $200,000 to $500,000 each year for compliance.
Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said the county’s landfill is already operating at a roughly $3 million deficit, and officials are now looking to borrow money from one of its enterprise funds to help cover the landfill’s costs.
Pogue said even without the new state regulations, “We have been concerned that we will already have to do a tipping fee increase.”
“As someone who has worked so hard in every way possible to try and create some fiscal relief for Summit County residents, and believes deeply that affordability is incredibly difficult for so many Summit County residents, that is not something that I feel comfortable doing,” she said.
Bill seeks to help with counties’ costs
State lawmakers are racing to pass a funding solution this legislative session.
Senate Bill 101 would allow landfill owners to tap money in the state’s community impact cash fund to help pay for new methane capture and monitoring infrastructure. The cash fund, created by lawmakers in 2022, is generated by fines on air polluters and primarily goes toward environmental projects in communities affected by air pollution. The bill would prioritize publicly-owned landfills for the dollars over private ones.
The bipartisan measure is sponsored by Sens. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, and Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, as well as Rep. Chris Richardson, R-Elbert County. It passed the Senate unanimously on April 20 and is now being considered in the House.
“I think we have a responsibility as a state to control methane and keep our air clean and do what we can to combat climate change,” Roberts said during the bill’s first committee hearing on April 13. “But the reality on the ground is that counties have to grapple with the costs of that.”
The bill represents a heavily watered-down version of its original self. Initially, the legislation included a provision requiring the Air Quality Control Commission to create a waiver process for operators to request more time for compliance. It also would have shielded operators from penalties for noncompliance if they could show that the reason was purely due to financial inability.
Those provisions were stripped after facing pushback from environmental groups, who felt the original bill would allow landfill owners to skirt the state’s clean air rules and could jeopardize climate goals.
Landfills are the third-largest emitter of methane in Colorado, according to state data, and the greenhouse gas is the second-largest driver of climate change after carbon dioxide. While methane has a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide, it is also more potent, with a warming effect that is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a 20–year-period, according to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
Some of the bill’s environmental opponents were groups that had advocated for the new methane rules last year, which they said had already been negotiated with local governments and landfill operators to reach a compromise.
“The final rule is the most cost-effective means to achieve the necessary and desired results in reduction in air pollution,” said Megan Kemp, Colorado policy representative for Earthjustice, during the bill’s April 13 committee hearing.
Mounting pressures
Local officials say they’re hopeful the bill, in its current state, will unlock desperately needed funding opportunities for landfills that can help mitigate the cost impacts on residents.
Still, some are disappointed that key elements were dropped from the legislation.
“I absolutely understand and appreciate the concern of the environmental community and their advocacy,” Pogue said, “but a little more flexibility would have been fair given the budget constraints that local governments have right now.”
Pogue added that counties like hers have already invested heavily in programs meant to make their landfills cleaner. Several Western Slope communities were lauded in a report last year by environmental advocates that highlighted recycling and waste diversion programs, which it said help lower emissions and reduce pollution.
“Most of the landfills out here in western Colorado want to do the right thing,” Tyler Carvell, Pitkin County’s landfill director, said of the state’s new methane regulations. “No one wants to expose their population to more methane than they need to. But they just need time to make it happen.”
Carvell said he wishes lawmakers had provided a pathway in their bill to give local governments more time to comply as they scramble to identify funding.
While lawmakers’ bill gives landfill operators another avenue to receive state dollars through the community impact cash fund, it does not inject any new funding into that account, and counties will have to compete with other entities and projects to receive the money.
Like most publicly-owned waste facilities, Pitkin County’s landfill is funded through enterprise dollars, which usually means fees for services, rather than general tax revenue. Carvell said that will almost certainly mean raising trash fees for residents to help pay for the new costs.
“I’m not really sure without some additional funding sources that there’s a way around it,” he said.
Carvell said that while the county projects that infrastructure costs will be around $3.5 million, those estimates are in today’s dollars, and inflation will likely push those figures even higher by the time counties actually have to implement the new systems.
Another concern for Carvell is ensuring the county has the personnel to maintain the new landfill systems, given the staffing pressures already facing high-cost-of-living resort areas. With those new systems also come rules for how quickly landfill operators must respond to issues.
“Most of my staff don’t even live within an hour of the landfill,” he said, adding, “It’s going to be really hard to find qualified people and have the budget to pay them enough in a certain range where they can actually deal with these problems.”
Colorado
Colorado neighbors lament likely closure of Roxborough library; $22 million regional library breaks ground nearby
For 22 years, the Roxborough library in Roxborough Village has served the entire Roxborough Park community. But that chapter might be coming to a close, as Douglas County Libraries prepares to break ground on a near-$22 million library in a growing master-planned Colorado community nearby.
A new regional library will be built near the intersection of West Titan Road and Taylor River Circle across from the incoming Douglas County School District elementary school in Sterling Ranch. It will also serve communities such as Louviers, Chatfield, Solstice and the greater Roxborough Park community.
“It’s an opportunity for this whole development to centralize a little bit,” said Alex Taylor, president for Sterling Ranch Community Board District No. 2
Taylor was among the first 100 residents to live in Sterling Ranch, and he can’t wait to take his two sons to the library when it opens near their home.
“Having an additional space for the kids to go and find the new set of books,” Taylor said. “Creating a centralized space for everybody in all of the various communities in this region to be able to congregate.”
The 18,000-square-foot library will break ground in Sterling Ranch this summer. But this developing situation does not satisfy everyone in the community.
“Don’t take ours to give them theirs,” community member Denise Martinez said.
Seven minutes away at the Roxborough library, some neighbors don’t want to say goodbye to their longstanding community hub. But the library board has set the lease to terminate next year.
“It would be devastating to this community on so many different levels,” Martinez said.
Martinez says the smaller Roxborough library is one of the only shared amenities in the community and is walkable for many.
“I truly believe that this is the hub of the community,” Martinez said. “This is the gathering spot.”
“Our community has been here for over 40 years, and people have paid into the library system for that amount of time,” said Ephram Glass, president of Roxborough Village Metropolitan District. They’ve been paying their property taxes. The library has been accumulating all this funding, so that they could build a new facility for Roxborough, and now for that money to then go to a brand new community that hasn’t been paying in for decades, I think a lot of people will be very pissed off.”
Glass and Martinez both enjoy taking their children to the library. They say it’s a close walk or bike ride from Roxborough Primary and Intermediate School and worry about children losing accessibility to the library.
“It would take an hour and 16 minutes walking to the new facility from this one, or a 25-minute bike ride. There’s really no shoulder,” Martinez said. “This doesn’t give our kids access at all. I mean, they will ultimately not be able to go to the library unless they have a ride.”
“I imagine some kids will take the e-bikes over. Many will just not go,” Glass said.
Glass is a member of the Roxborough Village HOA, which he says offered to donate a parcel of land near the existing Roxborough library with no strings attached.
“The board chose the Sterling Ranch site as the best site,” said Bob Pasicznyuk, executive director at Douglas County Libraries.
Pasicznyuk says there have long been plans to open a larger library in the area. He says DCL chose the other site, which was donated by the Sterling Ranch developer, partially because it was centrally located in northwest Douglas County.
“Ultimately around 35,000 people will live just in Sterling Ranch alone. The audience base would then go up to say (50,000) or 60,000. Right now it’s about half that many,” Pasicznyuk said.
Pasicznyuk says the all-in cost of the library in Sterling Ranch will be $21.6 million. That includes $250,000 for an outdoor porch, $200,000 for an outdoor children’s play area and $450,000 for other outdoor improvements, including a seating area, trellis and event and trail space.
Martinez is upset those outdoor amenities will come at the cost of the library and not the Sterling Ranch developer.
“I just think that it’s ridiculous to build a park and a veranda and even insist upon those things,” Martinez said. “I just do not understand what that really has to do with literacy or books or the library. I was kind of shocked by that actually.”
Despite terminating the lease, Pasicznyuk says the library board has not voted to close the Roxborough library just yet, but admits they have always consolidated smaller libraries when larger ones open.
“We’ve been 22 years in the second-floor strip mall rental, and while we’ve been glad for the opportunity, it’s going to be an amazing opportunity to move into a freestanding library with all the amenities that we have,” Pasicznyuk said.
“It isn’t good for this community. If you’re here to serve the community, why would you shut this down?” Martinez said.
Martinez started a Change.org petition to “Save Our Roxborough Library.” She now has more than 1,400 signatures.
“We need this. This is vital for our community,” Martinez said. “We just feel like we’re being absorbed.”
“It’s a prized amenity, so it makes sense that they want to keep it,” Pasicznyuk said. “I’ve never seen a reaction other than people love their library. So, even though you’re opening a new library, and I can describe 10 things about it that might be improvements over what we have today, people are going to, because they love their library, wish to keep what they have.”
Meanwhile, Taylor is excited for the library to open in Sterling Ranch next year.
“I’m absolutely empathetic to the fact that somebody might be disappointed that a library would move a few miles away from them versus where it’s historically been,” Taylor said. “The library will be something that everyone can enjoy. It’s going to be a library in Sterling Ranch, but not just for Sterling Ranch.”
Taylor says he’s been working with Sterling Ranch’s developers and the library on a partnership with the nearby Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve. They are hoping to bring some artifacts or replicas into the library and use a mammoth hunter-gatherer theme for the children’s areas.
“It is a major archeological site in this region that there is evidence of mammoth activity and human activity going back possibly as far as 9,000 years ago,” Taylor said.
Roxborough-area residents say they plan to attend the next library board meeting on June 24 to make their voices heard.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Organizers for the Pikes Peak or Bust Parade announced on Friday, June 19, that due to a lack of resources, the parade has been canceled.
Originally scheduled for July 11 in Downtown Colorado Springs, parade organizers said they could not secure the resources needed to produce the event at the level the community deserves.
“We know many of you were looking forward to the parade, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who offered their time, support, sponsorship, and enthusiasm,” said organizers.
While the parade will no longer be taking place on July 11, organizers said the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo will return on July 14 through July 18, and tickets remain on sale.
Organizers hope to see the Colorado Springs community at the rodeo, and they remain hopeful that the beloved tradition can return in the future.
Denver Post writers have explored Colorado’s many corners and offer ways to find fun, relaxation or something new for summer. Take a look at how you can expand your possibilities this season if you’re keeping travel close to home this year.
In the mountains
Colorado’s 10 most popular hikes, according to AllTrails
Colorado waterfall hike: Copeland Falls best this time of year in early morning
This hiking trail near Red Rocks will help you get in shape for 14er season
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
An Estes Park getaway can be about more than just the outdoors
Camping
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
Forest service now charging $20 for dispersed camping in Homestake Valley
Within driving distance
These adult summer retreats can help Coloradans escape burnout
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Looking for beach vibes? Here’s where to find them in landlocked Colorado
Movie-theater hotel adds vintage Airstreams, Quonset huts in San Luis Valley
Sleep in a treehouse, hike with llamas, stargaze and more summer whimsy
Pick your own flowers at these farms and garden centers in Colorado
Is city fishing safe? Yes, experts say, but there are updated guidelines to follow.
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Here’s where to fish with kids near Denver
Summer fun
Biodegradable pickleballs, size-inclusive skorts made in Colorado and other sports gear we love
More women are playing padel than ever — and for good reason
Meet the Boulder dogs cast in this summer’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Gravel biking events are a hot commodity in Colorado this summer
Want to get off your phone? Learn blacksmithing or floral design at these Colorado classes and makerspaces.
Beyond Colorado
10 tree-house hotels in the U.S. for you to commune with nature in comfort
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.
-
Seattle, WA1 minute agoSuarez’s no-hit try ends on Naylor double in seventh, but Boston still tops Seattle
-
San Diego, CA4 minutes agoNeymar expected to return from right calf injury and play for Brazil in World Cup against Scotland
-
Milwaukee, WI9 minutes agoToday’s Summerfest schedule and picks: Saturday, June 20
-
Atlanta, GA16 minutes agoAtlanta Ballet Returns to the Fox Theatre to Present Cinderella for One Weekend Only This Fall
-
Minneapolis, MN19 minutes agoMERAUDER, JUDGE, ARKANGEL and many more announced for Minneapolis’ Snow and Flurry 2026
-
Indianapolis, IN24 minutes agoThird Public Safety Camera Added on Washington Street in Downtown Indy
-
Pittsburg, PA31 minutes agoAnalysis: Most Pittsburgh‑area communities are losing residents — here’s why that might be OK
-
Washington, D.C34 minutes agoTrump’s DC makeover frenzy bewilders locals and visitors: ‘It’s like we’re under occupation’
