The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has voted 6-3 to deny a plan to delay parts of a proposed overhaul of the state’s drilling regulations.
The commission decided that postponing portions of the rulemaking would not be in the public interest given the current energy boom, said David Neslin, the commission’s acting director.
Colorado issued a record 6,368 drilling permits in 2007, according to commission records.
The new rules — the most extensive revision in more than a decade — seek to protect public health, drinking water and wildlife, as well as tighten operating requirements for things such as odor and runoff.
The draft rules were issued March 31 with a deadline of August for adoption.
Energy industry companies and groups sought delayed consideration of new regulations on things such as drinking water and wildlife protection.
“The state is attempting to accomplish over the course of 12 days what previously took five years to complete during the 1994 revision,” said Meg Collins, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
