Fountain, CO Environmental Rules: Vehicle Idling Restrictions (2026)

050, 'Engine idling,' adopted by Ordinance No. 1570 on July 10, 2012, makes it unlawful for any person to idle or permit the idling of a stationary diesel-fuel-burning bus or motor vehicle, or any other stationary motor vehicle, for more than 15 consecutive minutes in any hour, within city limits, at any time of day or night. Subsection A closes the obvious workaround: an owner or operator cannot circumvent the limit by repeatedly turning a diesel engine on and off whenever the outside temperature is 22 degrees Fahrenheit or above.

Subsection B goes further for unattended vehicles, flatly barring any unattended diesel-powered vehicle from idling at all, regardless of the 15-minute allowance that applies to attended vehicles. Subsection C carves out safety-driven exceptions: the limit does not apply when an engine must run in idle mode for safety reasons, including cranes and forklifts used in construction and maintenance, ambulances and other public safety vehicles, nor does it apply to stationary diesel generation stations or public utility equipment. The rule applies citywide with no exemption for cold-weather warm-up below 22 degrees, meaning the anti-circumvention clause, not the underlying 15-minute cap, is what relaxes in freezing conditions.