DENVER-
The Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a proposal that would require more people from outside the oil and gas business to regulate the industry, a main goal of Gov. Bill Ritter this year.
Harris Sherman, the state’s natural resources chief, helped negotiate changes to the original proposal that led the industry to drop its opposition.
Sherman said the measure (House Bill 1341) would be good for both the public and the industry, which he said provides both high-paying jobs and significant tax revenue to the state.
It faces a third reading in the Senate before going back to the House for consideration of amendments.
Sherman told lawmakers the state expects to approve 6,000 gas permits this year, six times as many as were approved in 2000.
Right now, all but two of the commission’s seven members must have a background in the industry. The bill would expand the commission to nine members by adding the directors of the natural resources and health departments, but only three of its members would have to have industry backgrounds.
The Colorado Petroleum Association and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association opposed the original proposal but are now taking a neutral position. The main reason is that lawmakers agreed to get rid of language that would have changed a provision in law which promotes the extraction of oil and gas in the most efficient way possible.
The industry feared that change was too broad and Sherman said it wasn’t necessary in order to allow the new commission to consider environmental and health impacts of drilling.
