An opinion from the state legislature’s lawyers that one of the new rules governing oil and gas drilling in Colorado be repealed has added spice to the already fiery debate at the Capitol surrounding the rules.
The opinion says that a rule requiring that companies consult with the state Division of Wildlife on ways to protect animals before getting a drilling permit should be taken out because it wrongly puts the burden on the industry.
The memo — written by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services and sent Wednesday to lawmakers on the legal services committee — says legislators intended for the burden to be on the Division of Wildlife to initiate consultation when they passed bills in 2007 that kick-started the contentious rule-making process.
That may seem like a small thing, but it has momentarily scrambled the debate around the rules.
For starters, Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, says he intends to withdraw a bill he introduced this month dealing with wildlife drilling protections on private land, saying the legal opinion undercut interest in reaching a compromise on his bill.
“This really does change its whole dynamic,” Isgar said.
The opinion also promises to make Friday’s legal services committee debate over a bill reviewing the new rules that much more interesting. One reason: Lawmakers on either side of the issue don’t seem to agree with how much they can actually change the rules.
Committee member Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, said the legislature can just make sure the rules conform with the intentions of the bills that called for their creation.
“We will not be able to go far afield in making changes,” Schwartz said. “. . . I think it will be a good, sound, substantive conversation. But I don’t see many changes taking place in those rules.”
Sen. Greg Brophy, a Wray Republican who also sits on the committee, said the legislature has authority to rewrite whatever it likes in the rules — that view could lead to sweeping changes to the rules that took 18 months to write.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s wide open,” Brophy said. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to get the votes to get there.”
Indeed most Democrats, including Gov. Bill Ritter, vow a staunch defense of the rules.
David Neslin, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said his group is examining ways to make the legal opinion a moot issue before the legislature even gets the rules.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
