Colorado is among at least 18 states losing millions of dollars because they're dramatically undercharging polluters for fees collected to operate air quality programs, according to a report released Wednesday by a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group.

In Colorado, regulators are missing out on more than $2.8 million to help cover the costs of writing pollution permits, monitoring air quality, inspecting industrial sites, enforcing clean air laws and other activities within the state's Air Pollution Control Division.

That $2.8 million amounts to a 66 percent cut in the $4.3 million regulators in Colorado could collect under the Clean Air Act, according to the report by the Environmental Integrity Project. The fees are collected from a variety of air pollution sources, including power plants, refineries, cement kilns and chemical plants.

"Colorado's clean air is facing unprecedented threats, especially from rampant oil and gas drilling," said Jeremy Nichols of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action. "Unfortunately, while polluters are getting a bargain, our air is getting smoggier and hazier."

Activists and others have complained of shortfalls in Colorado's clean air oversight. Grand Junction is lobbying - so far unsuccessfully - for installation of air monitors to gauge pollution from oil and gas operations on the Western Slope, Nichols said.

Some also have complained that regulators can't keep pace with the fast-growing industry.

The report found that Colorado charges a per-ton pollution fee on major categories of emissions, such as sulfur dioxide, of less than $25. That's far below the nearly $40 minimum allowed under Clean Air Act amendments passed in 1990.

The chief of Colorado's Air Pollution Control Division had yet to examine the entire report, but spokesman Christopher Dann said the division would consider the issues it raised.

"We're certainly not closed off to anything," he said.

Dann pointed out, however, that there are "nuances" in fee structures from state to state that make direct comparisons tricky. In Colorado, for example, separate fees associated with other air quality permits and pollutants could offset shortfalls in the fees examined by the report.

He noted, too, that the state and federal Environmental Protection Agency have "an ongoing dialogue" about the way the state's air pollution program operates, "and they've historically viewed our program favorably."

Stan Dempsey of the Colorado Petroleum Association said his organization is willing to discuss higher fees, but argued that Colorado's program is already sufficiently funded. Therefore, "so what?" if the state doesn't collect the full amount, he said.

Ethnie Groves, a spokeswoman for Xcel Energy, said the utility already pays about $1 million a year to the state in such fees. She said Xcel believes the state runs its program well and sees no reason to raise fees.

More fees, please?

$25 is roughly what Colorado regulators charge major polluters per ton of common emissions, such as nitrogen oxides and smog- forming compounds. The money helps the state run its air pollution regulatory program.

$39.48 is the minimum amount allowed per ton by the federal Clean Air Act amendments of 1990.

$2.8 million is the annual amount forfeited by Colorado's Air Pollution Control Division by charging fees lower than the minimum set by federal law.

Source: Environmental Integrity Project

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048