A statewide certifications program that would allow some businesses to operate at higher capacity limits than the COVID-19 dial allows will start accepting applications Friday.

The “5 Star” Certified Business Variance Program by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rewards businesses that implement extensive safety measures to surpass guidelines.

Certified businesses in areas where Level Red restrictions are in place, including El Paso, Adams, Arapahoe, Denver and Douglas counties, where indoor dining is banned, would be allowed to operate at lower Level Orange restrictions: 25% capacity.

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For a Level Red county to be eligible for the program, it must record declines in the number of positive COVID-19 cases, positive rate and hospitalizations for two weeks straight, the agency said.

The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC plans to submit an application to offer the program in El Paso County “as soon as we are allowed to, so we can be ready,” said Rachel Beck, the chamber’s vice president of government relations. When the program might be up and running remains unclear because many of the state guidelines are not yet in writing and the chamber is concerned about the “administrative burden” the guidelines would require.

“This program is quite a bit different than we and 44 other (business) groups proposed and what was tested in Mesa County, so we are taking time to evaluate how to implement it and determine if it meets the need of business,” Beck said.

“We want to make sure it doesn’t collapse of its own weight. We have been in multiple talks with the city (of Colorado Springs), El Paso County, El Paso County Public Health and the restaurant industry about who would be on the administrative committee and how to handle inspections and complaints.”

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Luke Travins, managing partner of Concept Restaurants, which owns four local restaurants, said the program would “create another level of bureaucracy for an industry that is already among the most regulated. We already have so many levels of enforcement … This proposed structure creates all these committees, new paid staff and an application and inspection process. Before the pandemic, we already had all these inspections and everything has been stepped up since then.”

Travins said he wants local officials to instead focus on getting El Paso County back to Orange status so restaurants can reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity.

He called the program a “stalling tactic” since many restrictions could be lifted by the time the program begins operating; he estimates up to 30% of the population might have received a COVID-19 vaccine by that point.

Certified businesses in Level Orange, Yellow or Blue counties would be able to operate at lower level regulations after meeting certain thresholds.

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“5 Star certification reassures employees and customers that businesses are adhering to enhanced guidance in other areas,” officials said in a news release.

The highest risk “Purple” counties are not eligible for the program.

State officials took nearly 1,000 comments on draft regulations before rolling out the program.

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Before the program takes hold, counties must appoint committees to oversee the program.

Those committees will judge businesses on their measures to fight coronavirus, including health and safety plans, ventilation and measures to protect those who face the most risk if they contract the virus.

In the event a business does not comply with the mandatory requirements, the committee can remove the certification.

CDPHE also has the right to remove the program from any county that is found to not be performing enforcement, or if cases and hospitalization begin to rise the program may be suspended.

If a county reaches more than 90% of its ICU capacity, the program is automatically suspended, according to the release.