EN-08-1-Rules Concerning The Development of Colorado's Oil & Gas Reserves

WHEREAS Colorado has large reserves of oil and natural gas and the development of these reserves is not only an important economic opportunity for our state, but also an important part of reducing our nation’s dependency on foreign energy supplies, and WHEREAS Colorado is also home to some of the most spectacular wildlife habitat in the world and it is important to ensure that development of our energy resources is done in a manner that takes other important natural resources into account, and WHEREAS the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is required  to promulgate rules concerning public health and wildlife involving  the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) in the development of appropriate regulations, and WHEREAS the COGCC is responsible for overseeing the development of Colorado’s oil and gas reserves and aspects of this responsibility are highly technical, and require educational and/or professional experience to be proficient in this decision-making, and WHEREAS oil and gas development is a capital intensive and high-risk business requiring regulatory consistency and predictability to justify investment, and WHEREAS oil and gas operations contribute billions to Colorado’s economy and employs between 50,000 to 100,000 people, and WHEREAS existing COGCC rules governing oil and gas development are robust and some of the strongest in the nation and have been continually updated and improved over the last 40 years; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Club 20 believes that rules regarding the development of Colorado’s oil and gas reserves should:

• Support and encourage the responsible development of Colorado’s oil and gas reserves, and

• Provide an efficient and timely process for the regulation, application, and issuance of permits to drill, avoiding unnecessary or conflicting regulation, and

• Provide appropriate protections for public health, wildlife, and the environment, and

• Respect the rights of private landowners and not be used to place additional land-use restrictions on private land, and

• Respect the right of mineral owners to develop all minerals, and

• Be analyzed to assess their cumulative economic effects on industry and the State and local governments, and

• Considers any changes to the industry’s tax and/or regulatory burden, and

• Be at the state level with local government input.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that input from technical and industry experts should be adequately reflected in all regulatory oversight, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, concerning the enforcement of oil and gas regulations, the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife should ensure consistency with local wildlife management plans and maps where such plans exist.

Adopted 4/4/2008

Amended 9/6/2013

Amended 4/12/2019

Resolution in PDF Format