DURANGO — La Plata County will decide this week whether to finish two years of work on new oil and gas rules or wait until the state completes an overhaul of its regulations.
At issue is whether the county’s rules would conflict with or duplicate new regulations by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Industry representatives have asked the La Plata County commissioners to wait because of the uncertainty. Environmentalists say it is in the county’s best interest to move ahead. State regulators have said they’ll work with the county.
Tom Dugan, a Durango lawyer representing the Colorado Petroleum Association in the state proceedings, said the odds of the county’s rules being tested in court will increase if it acts independently. He said a 1992 Colorado Supreme Court ruling on what happens when state and local rules conflict didn’t spell out details.
