For the better part of a year, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has been trudging through the complicated process of creating new rules to govern the booming oil and gas industry.
It has been thorough and contentious, but we’re glad to see it’s also a study in the art of appropriate compromise.
The commission’s proposal to drop a particularly controversial proposal — one that would force drillers to stop work for 90 days during key times for wildlife — is an example of a good-faith effort to bridge the gap between competing interests.
The original rule, which was supported by wildlife and conservation groups and opposed by industry, would have allowed regulators, as a “fallback position,” to force drillers to stop for 90 days when certain species of wildlife were mating or wintering.
David Neslin, acting director of the oil and gas commission, said the commission will recommend a collaborative process that will look comprehensively at all drilling activity in an area.
Operators would have to work with the state Division of Wildlife to come up with a wildlife management plan. Neslin said a 90-day ban could be one of the practices agreed upon, but not necessarily. There might be other measures, such as off-site mitigation or the phasing in of drilling activity that might better serve wildlife, he said.
Both sides, it seems, can live with the change, but neither is completely happy — which is pretty much the definition of a compromise.
Energy development is important to Colorado, but so is the state’s abundant wildlife. The key to the process, particularly from a public policy point of view, is whether the Division of Wildlife takes a firm position on behalf of wildlife and the environment during the collaborative process. As stewards of the state, they should be expected to do so.
The area expected to be most affected by the rules is the Piceance Basin, a part of western Colorado with natural gas reserves and varied wildlife. It’s home to Colorado River cutthroat trout, sage grouse, elk and one of the largest herds of migratory mule deer in the country.
Higher energy demands, and therefore higher energy prices, are putting pressure on this and other sensitive areas in Colorado.
There are twice as many drilling rigs working in Colorado as there were five years ago. During the same time, the number of active oil and gas wells in the state have increased 40 percent. That’s more than 35,000 wells.
Colorado’s legislature, which mandated the oil and gas regulatory overhaul in 2007, was right to do so. It has been a long, hard slog and it’s far from over, but the care and attention are evident in the process. We look forward to seeing the rules in their totality.
