COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The El Paso County planning commission has unanimously endorsed proposed regulations for governing oil and gas drilling in unincorporated areas of the county.
The planning commission endorsed the proposals Wednesday. The Gazette reports () county commissioners are expected to consider them Jan. 19.
The proposed rules don’t address hydraulic fracturing, which is an oil and gas extraction process that the state already regulates. But they do cover visuals impact of a drilling operation; monitoring water and air quality; controlling noise; providing financial assurances for things that might go wrong; and devising emergency response plans.
Andrew Casper of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association says state regulations already provide oversight, and the level of drilling in the county doesn’t call for such a comprehensive regulatory scheme like what’s been proposed.
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Information from: The Gazette,
