The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It can set precedents for the entire state”
In an historic agreement, Gunnison County and the state of Colorado have reached a major milestone in regulation of the natural gas industry.
On Monday, October 31, Gunnison County officials and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that begins to outline the relationship between the two entities in regulating the oil and gas industry.
“It’s a huge first step with the state and the local government coming together and working collaboratively to regulate this industry, so I’m thrilled we made this first hurdle. I think it can set precedents for the entire state,” said commissioner Paula Swenson.
Swenson, fellow commissioners Hap Channell and Phil Chamberland, county manager Matthew Birnie and county attorney David Baumgarten all made the 13-hour round trip to Denver to sign the agreement. The Commission heard opening remarks from Channell and Baumgarten before taking public comment and moving forward with the agreement.
There was some last minute redrafting as both sides agreed to specific language, but according to Channell the resulting agreement states the intent to give Gunnison County more authority to inspect oil and gas operations.
“The big break in the MOU is the recognition or the intention to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that would potentially delegate some inspection authority from the state to the county. That’s a major departure from anything that the GOCC has done here before,” Channell said.
Under state statutes, the COGCC can contract with local governments to conduct the on-the-ground inspections of oil and gas operations, but the State retains authority to enforce violations. Even without enforcement authority, however, Swenson believes the ability to be the eyes on the ground should be a relief for residents concerned about regulation.
“The ability to conduct inspections on the local level is huge in our community. There’s a lot of concern that the state doesn’t have the capacity to get to all the applications it has right now,” she said. “We don’t see as much [development] as the Front Range…. and we’re in a remote area, so there’s concern we wouldn’t get the same eyes on the ground as you would in the bigger areas.”
The state requested the authority to train and approve inspectors, and the details of the IGA will determine exactly what local authority looks like. Channell pointed out that the real work lies ahead, in negotiating an IGA that satisfies the State, the County and most likely, the industry as well.
“I’m very optimistic about it,” Channell said, “This is a significant departure from business as usual and offers significant opportunity for local government to be involved in the state permitting process. It’s a clear recognition of local governmental authority.”
The agreement comes as counties across the Front Range clamor to become more involved in inspection and regulation of the oil and gas industry. On Sunday, October 30, the Denver Post reported that El Paso, Arapahoe and Douglas counties are all preparing to adopt oil and gas development rules as oil companies eye their backyards for development.
Swenson also noted that the COGCC is starting to see the public outcry that Gunnison County has been experiencing for a while now.
“Many people in Arapahoe County are testifying on new wells in Aurora, saying they’re right across from schools, they’ll impact the roads… So now the COGCC is getting public testimony and saying whoa, we need to better communicate,” Swenson said.
Improved communication is also an important part of the MOU, which declares an intent by both the county and the state to make better use of the Local Government Designee (LGD) process, which allows each county one LGD to communicate concerns to the state. The hope, according to Swenson, is for better communication between the county and the state but also with the public.
She believes the fact that Gunnison County has been at the table since last summer, putting its own regulations on hold in order for the discussion to take place, means that it will set precedents.
“Even David Neslin, director of the COGCC, talked about how Gunnison County could be used as a template for working with other counties. We’re engaged, we have regulations, but we’re willing to sit down and work with the state, dovetailing our efforts together so we could become the poster child for all these other counties,” said Swenson.
She went on to say the agreement took tremendous effort on the behalf of the county and the state, and even though more work remains, the speed at which this agreement took place was impressive.
“It’s a huge accomplishment to have something happen this quickly in government. As we know, the wheels turn slowly,” she said.
The trick now will be to continue the momentum. But according to Swenson, county attorney Baumgarten was on the horn Monday afternoon, ready to set up the next meeting with the State.
