GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.-
Gov. Bill Ritter traveled to western Colorado on Tuesday to sign a dozen measures into law, including a major overhaul of energy regulation to give public health, wildlife and the environment a higher priority.
The measure will expand the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to nine members with the addition of the state’s top health and environmental officials. The measure (House Bill 1341) also decreases the number of members who must have a background in the industry to three, from five.
Ritter and others have said the commission had become too cozy with the industry it regulates. Industry officials disputed that and said they were concerned about losing expertise on the panel.
Ritter signed the bill Tuesday in Grand Junction, the last stop on his trip.
He also stopped in Glenwood Springs, where he signed a measure doubling the portion of state minerals tax revenues going to communities directly affected by development. Their new share will be 30 percent.
In Frisco, his first stop, Ritter signed a measure authorizing $1 million in experimental programs to fight pine beetles and restore forests. The beetles attack trees weakened by drought and have left thousands of acres of dead and dying trees across Colorado.
He also signed a measure that requires energy companies to use the best available technology to reduce the impact of exploration and drilling on wildlife and their habitat and directs the Oil and Gas Commission to work with state wildlife officials on regulations.
The new law was modeled on a proposal by 55 Colorado hunting and conservation groups. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, and a handful of hunters and anglers who testified before a congressional committee in March on their concerns about the effects on wildlife from energy development on public lands.
“We are thrilled that the governor will sign this measure, culminating unprecedented collaboration among a broad coalition of sportsmen, recreation and other conservation organizations,” said Clare Bastable, the Colorado Mountain Club’s conservation director.
Some of the other bills Ritter signed Tuesday will:
— Require health insurers to pay for cervical cancer immunizations.
— Increase fines for truckers who don’t put tire chains on their big rigs in bad weather.
— Require the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to ensure the accuracy of oil and gas production reporting.
— Require energy companies to review the latest technology to minimize land damage when they drill for oil and gas. The law is intended to reduce the conflicts when there’s a “split estate “—one party owns the land and another owns the minerals underneath. Companies that own or lease the minerals have the right to use of the surface to extract the minerals.
— Provide $7 million for community-based renewable energy projects around the state.
Ritter has until June 4 to act on 122 bills, according to Evan Dreyer, the governor’s spokesman.
