Panel gives OK to nine rules guiding energy companies

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 20, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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State oil and gas regulators gave preliminary approval Wed- nesday to a package of new rules guiding how energy companies exploring for oil and gas protect public health and the environment.

Over two days, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has approved nine rules dealing with protecting water, limiting odors and disclosing chemicals and other topics. They also gave an initial nod to about 40 less controversial rules.

As it did Tuesday, a trade group complained that the rules were developed without enough say from energy companies and showed an "anti-industry" bias.

"As proposed, these rules are unnecessary, costly, foster business uncertainty and go well beyond the intent of the Colorado General Assembly," said Meg Collins, president of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, in a statement.

Collins said she hoped the commission could still arrive at more balanced rules, but criticized the process as "flawed."

"Stakeholder discussions at the tail end of this proceeding should have occurred months ago. That failure smacks of a political agenda driving regulations and not real world problems needing to be addressed," she said.

But commission director Dave Neslin said the rules "reflect substantial input from industry and other parties. . . . They ended up being a blending of approaches."

Neslin said he would "respectfully disagree" with Collins and her view that industry views was largely shunted aside.

"Maybe they wanted to write the rules," Neslin said. "Maybe they wanted the commission to use their rules."

The new regulations are tied to a five-year boom in gas drilling in Colorado, where annual applications for permits to drill have tripled since 2003 and are on pace to quadruple by the end of this year.

That increase in drilling has sparked complaints from hunters, residents and environmentalists about the impacts on land and water of so many trucks, drill rigs, roads and noise.

In response, legislators in 2007 approved two laws that called for tougher regulations to protect quality of life, health, environment and wildlife from the growing footprint of oil and development.

Environmentalists tracking the rulemaking have expressed concerns over some changes to the regulations, but say they are largely satisfied with regulators' efforts.

At the end of the meeting Wednesday, commissioners went into closed session - over objections from some industry representatives - in part to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit over the rules.

"It provides an opportunity to receive advice from counsel," Neslin said.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

What's next

* Still ahead are three days of deliberations, Sept. 9-11, over proposed rules to protect wildlife, build waste pits and handle drilling permits. After those discussions, the commission will vote on whether to give final approval to the entire slate of new regulations, probably sometime in September.

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