Colorado regulators still working on oil/gas drilling buffer rule

A new rule that may require bigger buffer zones between oil and gas operations and homes has not been finalized.

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioners were expected to hold a closed executive session teleconference Friday ? to discuss legal issues around when state authority can be delegated to local governments to handle issues involving neighbors of landowners whose property is used for drilling.

The COGCC had been aiming for a final meeting next week for final review, possible discussion and voting on a setbacks rule. But on Thursday no date had been set.

An earlier draft of the rule would have required drillers to ensure a 500-foot setback from homes and increase efforts to mitigate odor, noise and other pollution. After three days of hearings last week, a majority of commissioners informally backed a still-unfinished rule.

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22397081/colorado-regulators-still-working-oil-gas-drilling-buffer?source=rss

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