SB 18-048

Senate Bill 18-048, also known as the Protect Act, aims to give local governments more control over oil and gas operations within their jurisdictions. Currently, local authorities can only regulate these activities if a specific area is designated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as an area of state interest. This bill removes that restriction, allowing counties and municipalities to have broader authority to plan, zone, and even prohibit oil and gas facilities based on public safety, health, and welfare concerns. With the bill signed into law, local governments now have more power to regulate where and how oil and gas operations can occur within their boundaries.

Official Summary

Section 1 of the bill specifies that the short title of the act is the 'Protect Act'. Current law specifies that local governments have powers, commonly called 'House Bill 1041' powers, which are a type of land use authority, over oil and gas mineral extraction areas only if the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission has designated a specific area as an area of state interest; sections 3 and 4 repeal that limitation. Section 5 includes specific authority to regulate the siting of oil and gas facilities in counties' existing land use authority. Section 6 makes the same changes with regard to municipalities' existing land use authority. Sections 7 and 8 specify that the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission's authority to regulate oil and gas operations, including the siting of oil and gas facilities, does not exempt an oil and gas facility from a local government's siting authority and that an oil and gas operator must ensure that the location of an oil and gas facility complies with city, town, county, or city and county siting regulations. Sections 5, 6, and 8 specify that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the governing body of a municipality and a board of county commissioners may, in order to protect the public safety, health, and welfare of the citizens of the local government, plan, zone, and refuse to allow oil and gas operations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More