Drilling bill voted down
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published February 21, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.
The House agriculture committee Friday killed a proposal to limit the involvement of the Division of Wildlife in issuing oil and gas drilling permits.
The vote on HB 1255 was 7-6.
Health agencies and the wildlife division have become more involved in the oil and gas permitting process since Democrats gained control of the legislature, and a Democratic governor last year began making appointments to the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission.
Proponents of HB 1255 argued that tighter restrictions on drilling proposed by the commission could violate the property rights of landowners.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R- Yuma, the main sponsor of the bill, said landowners have a greater stake in the issue than environmentalists who opposed the bill.
"They're not talking about their property rights being trampled on," Gardner said of the environmental group Earth Justice.
Opponents made few comments before the Friday vote or during lengthy proceedings on the bill earlier in the week.
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