Lawmakers and lawyers went over the state’s proposed new rules for oil and gas drilling in excruciatingly fine detail Friday, the first round of what is likely to be a contentious and wonky fight over a bill that would sign off on the rules.
Dozens of witnesses testified on the bill, and the hearing lasted into the evening, a rarity for Fridays at the state Capitol. As of 7 p.m., the legislature’s Committee on Legal Services had yet to vote on the rules.
“You’re sitting in a bit of an unusual circumstance today,” Charles Pike, the director of the state’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services, told the committee. Because of the controversy surrounding the rules, they are being reviewed sooner than expected.
The measure — House bill 1292, innocuously titled “Rule Review Bill” — is the culmination of a process the state started two years ago when the legislature instructed the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to draft new rules protecting the environment and public health from the drilling boom.
The ensuing rule-making took 18 months and was marked by marathon hearings and heated Goldilocks-style arguments about whether the rules are too tough, not tough enough or just right.
The regulations impose a number of new requirements and permit procedures on drilling companies designed to prevent hazardous chemical runoff, mitigate impact on wildlife and make drilling operations better neighbors.
Sportsmen, environmental advocates and some gas-patch residents say the rules are vital to preserving Colorado’s landscape.
“I’m here looking for responsible energy development,” said Jim Ives, the former head of the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, a now-defunct trade group. “A lot of people forget that with the right to drill oil and gas reserves comes the responsibility to protect the environment.”
Industry advocates, though, say the rules are partially responsible for causing drilling companies to pull nearly half the rigs once operating in the state. Supporters of the rules say a rough economy is much more to blame.
Dozens of current and former energy workers rallied outside an industry forum Thursday to decry the rules as job-killers.
“I’m probably the most hated person in this room right now,” Jim Walker of Petron Development Co. said to the legislative committee Friday. “I am a small oil and gas operator.”
Witnesses on Friday, however, weren’t allowed to get into the merit of the rules. Committee chair Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, said the legislature’s job with the review is to check whether the rules fit within the boundaries set by the legislature two years ago.
“Our review here is very narrowly focused on whether these rules exceeded statutory authority,” Veiga said. “We are not focused on whether these rules are good public policy or bad public policy.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
