DENVER—Energy industry groups have lost their bid to limit the scope of proposed new regulations on oil and gas drilling in Colorado.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission voted 6-3 on Thursday to deny a request from industry groups and others to narrow the scope of the proposed overhaul of state regulations.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group, was joined by the Colorado Petroleum Association, several energy companies, some counties and the Colorado Association of Home Builders in arguing that the state is rushing through a comprehensive rewrite of the oil and gas regulations.
Howard Boigon, an attorney representing Bill Barrett Corp., complained about all the written material the parties, including the state commission, have to pore over before adoption of the new rules in mid-August. He and other industry representatives contend the rules proposed by state staffers go beyond what the Legislature intended, anyway.
“We’re not trying to stall. We’re not trying to filibuster,” Boigon said. “We’re asking that you take this in digestible gulps.”
Attorneys for environmental groups and other counties countered that limiting what the oil and gas commission considers would violate the intent of two laws approved last year and the public’s best interests in the face of Colorado’s record energy boom.
The proposed changes are “urgently needed and somewhat overdue,” said Mike Chiropolos of Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder-based environmental law and policy group.
The proposed rules would implement two laws passed last year to give more weight to public health, wildlife and the environment when making decisions about oil and gas development.
Ken Wonstolen, an attorney representing the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, filed a motion suggesting that regulators first concentrate on what he considers the laws’ main points, including ways to minimize impacts on wildlife and consultation among state agencies on oil and gas development.
State staffers and some oil and gas commission members said that approach would indefinitely delay proposed rules dealing with protecting water quality, public health and reclamation of wildlife habitat.
The industry and its supporters, including some legislators, have warned that the proposed rules could drive up costs and dampen companies’ interest in Colorado, where the industry generates billions of dollars in economic benefits and employs thousands of people.
Proponents of updating and expanding the regulations note that Colorado issued a record 6,368 drilling permits last year, six times the total in 1999. About a third more permits were approved in the first quarter of this year than a year ago and state officials say about 8,000 permits might be issued this year if the pace continues.
The oil and gas commission released the draft rules March 31 after three months of hearings and work sessions on preliminary proposals. Representatives from energy companies, environmental groups and local governments attended dozens of sessions in February and March on specific topics in the proposals.
