Empowered by a new state law and regulations, towns, cities, and counties across the Front Range are flexing their muscle and moving to regulate oil and gas operations that come to town.
Two years ago, sweeping legislation was signed into law reorienting Colorado’s approach to regulating oil and gas development. That, in turn, led to a complete overhaul of the state’s drilling rules. Those new regulations went into effect on 15 January.
The law, Senate Bill 181, and the new rules have touched off a cascade of action as more than a dozen local governments moved to update and strengthen local controls, something they had been blocked from doing before.
“Some governments moved right after SB 181 was passed,” said Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, deputy director of the League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans, which represent grassroots community groups.
“But others waited till the regulations were passed,” he said. “They heard all the testimony on health impacts and siting … and now they feel more educated, more confident and are moving forward.”
Local governments from Commerce City to Fort Collins, covering a huge swath of oil country, are set to adopt local drilling ordinances.
“Local governments are implementing and writing new regulations, and, for the most part, they are strengthening those regulations,” said Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League.
Until Senate Bill 181, local governments were blocked from enacting comprehensive oil and gas rules as the state asserted primacy over regulating the industry, with the aim of promoting oil and gas development.
The new law changed that, making the goal of state regulation the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as wildlife and the environment. It also clearly said local governments have the right to oversee oil and gas developments.
“It was a sea change in concept, a total reset of the way oil and gas operates in Colorado,” said K.C. Becker, the former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives and a sponsor of the bill.