Colorado: Update on SB 19-181
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 9:33 am
By JUDITH KOHLER | jkohler@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: March 7, 2019 at 3:30 pm | UPDATED: March 7, 2019 at 7:12 pm
A bill that would overhaul Colorado’s oil and gas regulations withstood moves to postpone action on it and let voters decide as it passed its second committee vote Thursday, continuing its quick advance through the legislature.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 4-3 to move Senate Bill 19-181 to the Appropriations Committee, which will consider it Friday. As with the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, which voted on the bill Wednesday, all the Democrats voted for the bill, while the Republicans voted against it.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg and his fellow Democrat, House Speaker KC Becker, would rewrite state law to change the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the main regulatory body. Currently, the commission is charged with fostering responsible oil and gas development while considering the impacts on public health and safety, the environment and wildlife.
The bill would make public safety and health and the environment the commission’s priority when it considers oil and gas drilling. It would also give cities and counties authority to regulate oil and gas activities under their land-use and planning powers.
At the start of Thursday’s hearing, committee members said their focus would be on the costs to the state of overhauling the oil and gas regulations. However, the discussion quickly morphed into the more far-ranging topic of the economic fall-out for the industry.
“We believe this in effect is a moratorium,” Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer said of the bill.
At a minimum, the new regulations would severely reduce oil and gas activity in Weld County, which leads the state in the number of producing wells, Kirkmeyer added. The result will be the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for schools and other government services, she said.
Real estate agents, oil and gas employees and members of business and industry organizations warned of the consequences for schools and the state and local governments if the changes in the bill make it tougher for companies to get their drilling permits approved. While new rules are being written to implement the law, one provision would allow the oil and gas commission director to hold up permits that might threaten public health or are contested by local governments. Critics say that would amount to a moratorium on new permits while the new rules are developed, which could take several months.
PUBLISHED: March 7, 2019 at 3:30 pm | UPDATED: March 7, 2019 at 7:12 pm
A bill that would overhaul Colorado’s oil and gas regulations withstood moves to postpone action on it and let voters decide as it passed its second committee vote Thursday, continuing its quick advance through the legislature.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 4-3 to move Senate Bill 19-181 to the Appropriations Committee, which will consider it Friday. As with the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, which voted on the bill Wednesday, all the Democrats voted for the bill, while the Republicans voted against it.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg and his fellow Democrat, House Speaker KC Becker, would rewrite state law to change the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the main regulatory body. Currently, the commission is charged with fostering responsible oil and gas development while considering the impacts on public health and safety, the environment and wildlife.
The bill would make public safety and health and the environment the commission’s priority when it considers oil and gas drilling. It would also give cities and counties authority to regulate oil and gas activities under their land-use and planning powers.
At the start of Thursday’s hearing, committee members said their focus would be on the costs to the state of overhauling the oil and gas regulations. However, the discussion quickly morphed into the more far-ranging topic of the economic fall-out for the industry.
“We believe this in effect is a moratorium,” Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer said of the bill.
At a minimum, the new regulations would severely reduce oil and gas activity in Weld County, which leads the state in the number of producing wells, Kirkmeyer added. The result will be the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for schools and other government services, she said.
Real estate agents, oil and gas employees and members of business and industry organizations warned of the consequences for schools and the state and local governments if the changes in the bill make it tougher for companies to get their drilling permits approved. While new rules are being written to implement the law, one provision would allow the oil and gas commission director to hold up permits that might threaten public health or are contested by local governments. Critics say that would amount to a moratorium on new permits while the new rules are developed, which could take several months.