With knuckles still smarting from the last fight, state lawmakers are gearing up to go another 10 rounds over new rules governing oil and gas drilling in Colorado.
In the next week, a Senate panel is set to hear Senate Bill 229, a measure from Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, that would allow private property owners to overrule wildlife protection requirements in the rules when it comes to drilling on their land.
“I’m a strong believer that I want limited restriction on a person’s private property,” Isgar said.
The bill was introduced last week, a day before lawmakers in the House killed the strikingly similar House Bill 1255. That bill, from Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, would have done all that Isgar’s bill does, but it would have gone further to cut out mandatory consultations the rules require drillers to have with the Division of Wildlife before getting a well permit.
On Monday, Sen. Mike Kopp, a Littleton Republican who was 1255’s Senate sponsor, gave muted praise to Isgar’s bill. “It doesn’t go as far as the Gardner bill, but at least it’s a step in the right direction,” Kopp said.
The bills take aim at one of the most delicate issues in the rules: the tricky balance among mineral rights owners’ abilities to develop what they own, the state’s ability to protect wildlife and water quality, and property owners’ ability to determine what people do on their land. (Because Colorado law recognizes a “split estate,” the person owning the land may not own the minerals underneath.)
Supporters of the rules, including Gov. Bill Ritter, have said they are vital to protecting the state’s environment.
Both Isgar’s and Gardner’s bills are ultimately undercard bouts for the bigger fight next month, when the whole slate of new rules comes up for legislative review.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
