Washington – A Colorado bill designed to reduce the impact of oil and gas drilling on wildlife could serve as a model for federal law, state Rep. Dan Gibbs will tell a House committee today.
Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, is scheduled to appear at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on how a surge in oil and gas drilling in the West is affecting the environment.
Gibbs’ bill, which passed the state House on Monday, would require Colorado’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to consult the Colorado Division of Wildlife on the effects of drilling on such things as animal habitats and mating.
Concerns about the effects of drilling have united hunting and wildlife interests, who were previous political foes.
“I’m going to make a pitch to say, ‘Hey, maybe Congress should take a look at it,”‘ Gibbs said. “Animals don’t know … when they’re going from state lands to federal lands.”
The House committee is looking at ways to balance oil and gas development and environmental interests, said Lawrence Pacheco, spokesman for Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, who is on the panel.
“This is becoming a bigger issue as we see more oil and gas development in the West,” Pacheco said.
One possibility at the federal level would be to require the Bureau of Land Management, which issues oil and gas drilling leases, to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the Forest Service, Gibbs said.
Yet some analysts questioned whether additional legislation is necessary, as the federal government is already required to assess the impact of oil and gas drilling on animal habitats.
“Existing federal law already obligates the Bureau of Land Management to protect wildlife and consult with the Forest Service,” said David Alberswerth, senior policy adviser at the Wilderness Society, an environmental group.
“The concern we’ve had is that the federal government hasn’t been doing the job they’re already required to do.”
That’s one of the issues the hearing may cover, Pacheco said, adding that legislation might “put teeth” into the existing rules.
Other witnesses at the hearing will include representatives from an oil and gas exploration company and a conservation organization that supports regulated recreational hunting.
