Over-Regulation

     Over-regulation. Too many rules. Excessive laws. Serving as a County Commissioner, I’ve witnessed this firsthand over and over again! In Colorado, one of our most powerful (and dangerous) regulatory agencies is the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). It is the state’s version of the EPA. As with the EPA, CDPHE has been given free rein by the governor to regulate without having to go through the legislature. In most cases it’s gone overboard -- catering to a “green” agenda and not doing what’s best for our state and its residents. It’s implemented so many regulations that, in my opinion, it has made our state very unfriendly to business -- especially when it comes to energy production and production agriculture. It has also created a nightmare for local government agencies in many areas. One quick example -- at the county level it has become very expensive, and in some cases prohibitive, to operate our landfills. The CDPHE has tried to regulate our landfills with a “one size fits all” set of regulations. Wouldn’t it be better if they listened to the locals and worked on common sense solutions to everyday problems? How about for every new regulation the CDPHE implements we require they to take three existing ones off the books?