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Land Development Code Updates for Oil and Gas
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Summary and Background Information:
In 2012, Commerce City adopted its current set of Oil and Gas regulations, which require any potential operators to obtain an Oil and Gas Permit, and execute an Extraction Agreement. Since of the adoption of these rules, the landscape of oil and gas regulation at the state level has increased significantly. Since 2012, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has conducted a number of rulemaking procedures, which have modified requirements such as school setbacks, flowline regulations, spill reporting, and many other items. Most significantly, on April 16th, 2019, Governor Polis signed Senate Bill 19-181 into law, which expressly gave local governments more authority to regulate the surface impacts of resource extraction. The bill expressly modifies state pre-emption by authorizing local government regulation that is more stringent than state standards.
In September and October of 2019, two Council Study Sessions were held to receive direction on how to proceed forward with updating the city’s regulations in response to Senate Bill 19-181, and the recently signed operator agreement with Extraction Oil and Gas, LLC. Staff received input from Council on the following items:
• Pursue a more aggressive LDC update timeline with a targeted adoption date of November 18th, 2019
• That the new regulations should build off the BMP’s and ROA recently signed with Extraction
• The new regulations should generally be equivalent to (or in some circumstances exceed or not exceed) Adams County’s newly adopted regulations.
• Establish a two-tiered approval approach
• Minimum setbacks of 1,000’
• Reverse setback between 300’ and 500’
• Allow in Agricultural and Industrial Zone Districts
• Establish a mandatory initial assessment process
• Adoption of additional fines and fees
• Keep notification radius of 1,000'
Following this Study Session, this feedback, in addition to feedback received during the stakeholder engagement process was incorporated into ordinance 2235, which was presented to Council on November 4, 2019. A number of concerns were raised during the public hearing, and council voted to continue the ordinance indefinitely. The major concerns raised were the following:
• Lapse and Forfeiture of permits
• Permit transferability
• Air quality monitoring requirements
• Measurement of setbacks
• Reverse Setbacks
• Gathering line regulations
• Chemical disclosure
Following the continuation of the ordinance, staff worked to conduct additional stakeholder engagement, and work through these issues that were raised during the public hearing. Staff conducted stakeholder meetings with the following groups in the month of January:
• COGCC
• North Range Concerned Citizens
• Environmental Regulatory Groups
• Conservation Colorado
• Oil and Gas Focus Group
• Developers and Homebuilders
The purpose of the February 10 study session is to provide an update to City Council on the progress that has been made on the outstanding issues, and to receive additional feedback regarding the LDC update process. Additionally, the COGCC has begun their rulemaking process following Senate Bill 19-181, and this study session will briefly discuss how the city’s process relates to it. Following this Study Session, staff will incorporate Council feedback into the current working draft documents, then publish a revised draft ordinance for public review, towards the end of February. Because this is a study session, no vote from Council is needed at this time.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Jason Rogers, Director of Community Development
Staff Member Presenting: Domenic Martinelli, City Planner | Interim Local Government Designee (LGD)
Staff Recommendation: Feedback on Oil and Gas LDC Updates