DENVER — By the end of April, Colorado’s main regulatory agency for the oil and gas industry was expected to complete a yearlong process to define how the state can consider “cumulative impacts” when approval of new oil and gas developments. But this process is suspended for the moment.
Colorado lawmakers first tasked the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) with developing rules to assess and address cumulative impacts in 2019 – part of the agency’s broad mission shift agency, moving from promoting the oil and gas industry to regulating it.
The intent is to better protect the health and environment of Coloradans by looking at the bigger picture of existing pollution before allowing more oil and gas development. But the complexity of creating new rules regarding cumulative impacts, while still allowing the oil and gas industry to operate, led the commission to “kick the can down the road,” said Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, lawyer for the environmental group Earthworks.
“We’re trying to be a state that can have clean air, a vibrant economy, oil and gas, recreation and everything else. And it’s a very difficult balance to maintain,” he said.
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For nearly five years, the commission has studied cumulative impacts and ways to better regulate the oil and gas industry to mitigate those impacts. The commission released draft proposed rules in January defining cumulative impacts as encompassing “impacts on air quality, water quality, climate, noise, odors, wildlife, and biological resources “. The proposed rules would update the permitting process, increase coordination with state air pollution regulators and require oil and gas operators to engage more with the public about their drilling plans, among other changes.
“The state doesn’t just want to say no. So we need to find a process that looks at the big picture, takes a holistic view of the pollution problem and says no to the things that need to be said no to,” Forkes-Gudmundson said.
Last year, Colorado lawmakers set a deadline for the commission to finalize its new rules: April 29, 2024. But now the process has stalled.
Some lawmakers have introduced a bill to further expand the commission’s carbon management power beyond oil and gas, including technology known as a “direct carbon capture facility.” air” designed to capture carbon dioxide from the air and trap it underground. The bill, HB24-1346, also redefines “cumulative impacts” by requiring the commission to “minimize adverse impacts.” [from all energy and carbon management operations] protect the health, safety and welfare of the public; the environment; and wildlife resources.
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In light of these potential changes to the law, the CEMC has decided to suspend its rulemaking process. ECMC Commissioner Jeff Robins said at a recent hearing that there is consensus among stakeholders in the process – which include industry representatives and environmental groups – that “it is makes sense to pause…while we give the Legislature an opportunity to tell us what we should do.” TO DO.”
This is not the first time the commission has delayed its attempts to develop rules on cumulative impacts. In recent years, ECMC has collected hundreds of public comments on cumulative impacts. Meanwhile, Forkes-Gudmundson said Colorado “has approved numerous oil and gas facilities.”
Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which represents the industry, told Denver7 that the new bill introduced by lawmakers “disrupts the extensive stakeholder engagement and groundwork underway for months “.
Haley said that by changing the definition of cumulative impacts and adding carbon capture and storage technologies, lawmakers are making it more difficult to use those technologies.
“Our shared goal should be to develop policies that enable the critical carbon management solutions needed to meet Colorado’s greenhouse gas goals,” Haley said. “We remain committed to working constructively with policymakers and all stakeholders to find the right balance and approach. »
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Still, environmental advocates like Forkes-Gudmundson say the state should consider all factors when looking at cumulative impacts.
“Nothing in this world happens in a bubble. It’s all part of a larger context,” he said. For example, in Commerce City and north Denver – one of the most polluted zip codes in the United States – many polluters contribute to poor air quality: the Suncor oil and gas refinery, highways passing through neighborhoods and a myriad of factories releasing emissions.
If ECMC considers cumulative impacts in a neighborhood like that, approving new oil and gas operations nearby wouldn’t make sense, Forkes-Gudmundson said.
“These are real issues that affect a lot of Coloradans from all socioeconomic backgrounds, and we can actually do something about them,” he said. “We understand where this pollution is coming from and Colorado has the tools to regulate it. We must simply choose to exercise this power.
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