Colorado Senate Passes Oil and Gas Bill in Decisive Vote

[TexasTowelie]

Following a series of conciliatory amendments offered by Democratic leadership, a sweeping proposal to overhaul Colorado oil and gas regulations has cleared a key hurdle in the Senate and appears on track to become law.

Today, March 13, lawmakers voted on party lines to approve Senate Bill 181, which would give local governments more control over drilling operations and direct state regulators to put greater emphasis on health and safety considerations. The bill is expected to easily pass the House, where Democrats hold a seventeen-seat majority, and be signed into law by Governor Jared Polis.

Its passage brings an end to several days of conflict on the Senate floor, marked by delay tactics from Republicans who objected to the speed with which Democrats have advanced the bill. After months spent meeting with interest groups and crafting the legislation behind closed doors, Democratic leadership announced SB 181 in a press conference at the Capitol less than two weeks ago.

“This bill does not solve every problem,” said Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, a Democrat from Boulder and the bill’s sponsor, on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “Nor does it by any means ease everyone’s concerns, whether from local governments’ perspective, from advocates or from industry, of course. But I think it is a very major step forward.”

Read more: https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-senate-passes-oil-and-gas-bill-in-decisive-vote-11266739

[Democrats_win]

1. Now the House takes up the bill.

Meanwhile, Oil and Gas is advertising that this bill is a betrayal of the 2018 election defeat of amendment 112. It's really comparing apples to oranges since 112 was about the distance from the well to residences and schools. This bill is much broader.

For one thing, it gives localities greater say in allowing drilling and it gives health a higher priority. Interestingly, it only slightly changes the "forced pooling" fiasco that forces unwilling land owners to take part and PAY for a portion of the drilling costs. I suppose this prevents a single land owner from stopping drilling. Still this is a very distasteful thing for freedom-loving Americans.

The local control issue is a BFD since the industry has sued localities, nationwide, to prevent them from acting against drilling within their boundaries! This is a nice change.

The following link is a summary of the bill. Go down and click on "read more" and you can read about section 12 which deals with forced pooling. It's a little hard to figure out. The problem won't be eliminated but the bill seems to slightly restrict its use and protects the surface rights of these property owners.

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-181