On Wednesday, May 8, 2013, the Colorado legislative session came to a close without any significant oil and gas legislation being passed by the state legislature. The session was watched closely by the oil and gas industry given the ongoing lawsuits in Colorado that are pitting the state against municipalities over bans to hydraulic fracturing…. Continue Reading
Category Archives: Colorado
Subscribe to Colorado RSS FeedFort Collins Gives Final Approval to Hydraulic Fracturing Ban
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Land Use, LegislativeOn March 5, 2013, the Fort Collins City Council by a vote of 5 to 2 gave final approval to a ban on oil and gas operations, hydraulic fracturing, and some waste storage within city limits. Our prior coverage of this issue in Fort Collins can be found here. Fort Collins is now the second Colorado… Continue Reading
BakerHostetler Shale Symposium: Political and Policy Trends in 2013
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Ohio DNR, Ohio EPA, Pennsylvania, TexasOn Thursday, March 7, BakerHostetler’s Shale Team will host a panel discussion on political and policy trends related to shale development at The Houstonian Hotel. Michael G. Oxley – former Congressman and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, former member of the Energy House Committee and co-author of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 – will moderate… Continue Reading
Fort Collins Moves Forward On Efforts To Ban Hydraulic Fracturing
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, LegislativeOn February 19, 2013, the Fort Collins City Council became the second city in Colorado to move forward with a ban on hydraulic fracturing. The City Council gave initial approval to an ordinance that would bar oil and gas exploration, including hydraulic fracturing, within the city limits. The next day, Governor John Hickenlooper’s office weighed… Continue Reading
Colorado Raises Minimum Setbacks for Oil and Gas Wells
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Land UseLast month the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (“COGCC”) held three days of public hearings on a series of proposed updates to its rules governing oil and gas wells. Among other things, the COGCC adopted new rules requiring drillers of hydraulically fractured wells to test nearby groundwater both before and after drilling — making Colorado… Continue Reading
Colorado Adopts Groundwater and Setback Drilling Rules, Launches Emissions Study
Posted in Colorado, Groundwater, Hydraulic Fracturing, Land Use, WaterThis week the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission conducted three days of public hearings on proposed revisions to its oil and gas well rules to address concerns posed by increased hydraulic fracturing activity. As part of those hearings, the Commission took several key actions that will affect future shale drilling operations statewide. First, on… Continue Reading
Longmont Sued By Colorado Oil and Gas Association
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Land Use, LitigationLast week we reported that the state of Colorado would not directly sue the town of Longmont to challenge the ban on hydraulic fracturing that town voters enacted in the November election. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper did note at the time, though, that his administration would “stand ready to support an energy company that does… Continue Reading
Boulder County, Colorado Commissioners Vote to Allow Hydraulic Fracturing
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Land Use, LegislativeAt a meeting of the Boulder County Commission, at which the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office provided security, the Commission voted unanimously to allow hydraulic fracturing in Boulder County. The Commissioners each acknowledged that their personal preference would be to ban fracking. But they further acknowledged that the power to regulate below-ground oil and gas activities… Continue Reading
Colorado Will Not Sue Longmont To Overturn Hydraulic Fracturing Ban
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Legislative, LitigationIn our prior coverage of Longmont, Colorado’s citywide ban on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal, which was enacted by local referendum last month, we noted that the state had threatened to sue Longmont for the second time this year if the ballot measure passed. In response to hydraulic fracturing regulations the city adopted in July, the… Continue Reading
NYT Article Sheds Further Light on Longmont Referendum
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Legislative, LitigationBefore the Thanksgiving holiday we provided a two-part blog post discussing divergent approaches to local regulation of shale operations by various Colorado towns. As a follow-up to those posts, we note that over the past weekend the New York Times published a thorough article detailing Longmont, Colorado’s recent history of shale regulation and litigation. The… Continue Reading
Colorado Town’s MOUs With Shale Well Operators Address Local Safety Concerns
Posted in Colorado, Land Use, Legislative, WaterYesterday we discussed recent developments in Colorado by which local governments are beginning enact bans on hydraulic fracturing activities, with similar activities occurring in individual towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio. In contrast, another Colorado town (Erie, a town of about 20,000 people that is roughly equidistant from Denver and Boulder) has taken a somewhat novel approach to addressing… Continue Reading
Colorado’s Local Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing In Flux Post-Election
Posted in Colorado, Hydraulic Fracturing, Legislative, LitigationIn response to new laws and regulations addressing shale development, local governments in several key states increasingly are taking action to address local impacts of hydraulic fracturing — irrespective of whether the state agrees with their approach. The Robinson Township case in Pennsylvania, about which we have written several times recently, is a prime example. As we recently… Continue Reading