Western & Rural Local Government Coalition

01/15/2021

Beginning today, January 15, the COGCC’s professional Commission will assume responsibility for reviewing and deciding oil and gas permitting and Senate Bill 19-181’s objective criteria permitting will cease. Our WRLG coalition of local governments looks forward to continuing to work with the Commission on permitting decisions based on how the Mission Change rules are written.

Our coalition spent much time over the past year participating in the Mission Change rulemaking process, collaborating with stakeholders, providing written and virtual testimony and proposed rule language. As most Coloradans know, our state is extremely diverse when it comes to different geology and topography ranging from the Eastern Plains through the Rocky Mountains on to the Western Slope – from urban vs. rural community differences to the subterrane differences of the DJ Basin vs. Piceance Basin.

WRLG Coalition efforts resulted in modifications to the Mission Change rule language that will better serve the entire state of Colorado – and in several cases, will give our local governments a more active role in the permitting process as they take effect on Jan. 15. You can find specific results from our year-long efforts on our coalition website: https://westernruralcoalition.com

Moving forward, our members plan to continue communicating about, and collaborating on issues that have an impact on less populated western and rural areas of Colorado. We are proud to have generated tangible and positive changes to the Mission Change rules and will continue to be a unified voice for Colorado’s western and rural communities.

The WRLG coalition of 23 Colorado counties has come together to provide a rural voice for the public welfare, environmental concerns & economic viability.

12/28/2020

This past year our members participated as a party in the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s (COGCC) and the Air Quality Control Commission’s (AQCC) Senate Bill 181 Mission Change rulemaking processes. WRLG collaborated with stakeholders, filed written materials including written testimony and proposed rule language, and testified at each of the rulemaking hearings. Our coalition worked to bring attention to areas where urban vs. rural or DJ Basin vs. Piceance specific rule provisions are needed to account for the very different geology, technology, topography and operational practices in Western Colorado natural gas basins.

Through our efforts, our 23 counties and municipalities had a strong, unified voice for our western and rural Colorado communities. Ninety-seven (97) named parties participated in the Mission Change rulemaking process, and WRLG was a formidable voice in the crowded field.
• WRLG collaborated with stakeholders and our elected officials to file written materials, backed by data in support of specific language revisions and rule changes.
• Similarly, our coalition members presented oral testimony at each of the COGCC and AQCC public hearings, providing western and rural perspective and opinion to balance out testimony from activists and special interests, including urban Front Range governments in those public hearings.
• In several cases our efforts to have western and rural Colorado community voices heard resulted in distinct edits to Mission Change rule language, while others resulted in modifications to language that better serves all parts of the state.
• Some rule revisions WRLG championed ultimately did not result in material changes, however those efforts did result in a better understanding from the COGCC and AQCC of how western and rural governments approach a variety of issues in the oil and natural gas industries.

While our coalition banded together specifically for the Mission Change rulemaking process, our members plan to continue communicating about, and collaborating on issues that have an impact on less populated western and rural areas of Colorado. We are proud to have generated tangible and positive changes to the Mission Change rules and will continue to be a unified voice for Colorado’s western and rural communities. We thank all of you for your support of our efforts, and wish you the best moving into the New Year.

10/07/2020

While the COGCC considers an arbitrary setback number that is FOUR TIMES what its staff recommended our local governments are trying to figure out how to make ends meet, and what that will look like moving forward.

Why the economically-prohibitive regulation without any increased health & safety benefit?

10/05/2020

Senate Bill 181 was very clear in enabling local governments to enact regulations and make oil and gas siting decisions, including setbacks, for their unique local communities if those decisions protect public health, safety and welfare. The COGCC cannot impair our local authority unless a local decision is not protective.

The decisions made in this Mission Change process MUST consider local governments’ intimate knowledge of their own ordinances, tax structure and land use/topography.

09/28/2020

Will the COGCC listen to our elected officials and take action? A 2,000 foot setback would mean important local services like fire, police and ambulance districts, schools and other social services won't receive the funding they need.

Again, if a 500 foot setback weren't in the best interest of public health and safety, why would the COGCC's own Staff make that recommendation? This is Front Range politics at the loss of rural Colorado.

09/27/2020

"One of the primary function of local government is to tailor these rules to what best fits our community, and you're taking that out of our hands at this point," Jackson County Commissioner Coby Corkle.

Our question for the COGCC is: Where is the co-equal ruling authority?

09/26/2020

"We need to figure out what works for each area of the state rather than pushing a 2,000-foot setback. We are not the Front Range, and we do not have oil and gas pushing up against subdivisions."

Why is the COGCC pushing forward with the creation of an arbitrary, One Size Fits All regulation?

09/25/2020

"In Northwest Colorado alone, our resource is different, our access to the resource is different, and so having a 2,000 foot setback will really have a significant economic impact to our communities," Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese.

If the "Keep it in the Ground" folks are right that this is about public health and safety, why did the COGCC Staff recommend a 500 foot setback and the Commissioners are discussing FOUR times that amount? Are we basing important decisions on science, or politics?

09/24/2020

Yesterday, Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky joined 630 KHOW, Denver's Talk Station and Ross Kaminsky to talk about the differences between Rural Colorado and the Front Range.

The Keep It In The Ground people have been saying "Nothing in suggests rural Colorado is less worthy of protection." Which, of course, was never the issue. The issue is that a 2,000 foot setback is completely arbitrary, and in no way should be the starting point for regulations.

You can listen to Commissioner Jankovsky's KHOW interview here: https://khow.iheart.com/content/2020-09-23-garfield-cty-commissioner-tom-jankovsky-on-the-threat-of-new-oilgas-regs/

On my show, CO Governor Jared Polis scoffed when I said that my listeners and I were afraid that his administration would use SB 181 to impose draconian rules and regulations on the oil and gas industries, and cost lots of jobs (both directly and indirectly). Sadly, I think my listeners are being pr...

09/23/2020

"Cows don't care where oil and gas operations are."

Yuma County (among others) can't rely on horizontal drilling to solve the massive issues a 2,000-foot setback would cause. Will the COGCC take into account the vast differences between Front Range & rural ?

09/22/2020

"There have been three drafts of rules when Senate Bill 181 rolled out this year, and none of them have mentioned 2,000 foot setbacks," Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky.

Three rounds of rules over the past 5 months have NEVER contemplated quadrupling the staff recommended 500’ setback to protect public health, safety and welfare of residents.

The COGCC is glossing over geologic, topographic and other limitations on how far a well pad can be from target minerals. In Western Colorado’s Piceance Basin and many other areas, vertical and directional drilling techniques--limited to a 2,000 foot lateral reach at most--prevent locating well pads long distances from the targeted minerals. Locally steep topography further limits potential well pad siting.

Representatives from the Western and Rural Local Government Coalition (WRLG) are asking for rules to account for these regional differences. For the COGCC to do otherwise ignores the mapping we provided showing a 2,000 foot setbacks create miles-wide swaths of inaccessible minerals—and shreds SB181 grant of local siting authority.