Title
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT BY AMENDING THE COMMERCE CITY REVISED MUNICIPAL CODE, INCLUDING SECTION 3-2304 AND ARTICLES III, V, VI, AND XI OF THE COMMERCE CITY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, REPEALING AND RESERVING SECTION 21-3216 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, ENACTING A NEW SECTION 21-3235 OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, APPROVING AND IMPLEMENTING A BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES DOCUMENT, AND ESTABLISHING RELATED PENALTIES AND PROCEDURES
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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. Enacted on April 16, 2019, SB19-181 substantially modified the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, C.R.S. §§ 34-60-101 et seq. and related case law, including clarifying the land use and police power authority of local governments, overriding or limiting the effect of recent court rulings, and restructuring the mission, purpose, and authority of the COGCC and its current rules. SB19-181 granted explicit authority to local governments to regulate the surface impacts of oil and gas operations in a reasonable manner to address certain matters and to protect and minimize adverse impacts to public health, safety, and welfare and the environment. See C.R.S. 29-20-104(h) (also defining “minimize adverse impacts” to mean “to the extent necessary and reasonable, to protect public health, safety, and welfare and the environment by avoiding adverse impacts from oil and gas operations and minimizing and mitigating the e...
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