New rules include robust protections for residents of Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities
Denver, CO (Oct. 15, 2024) - The Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) adopted Cumulative Impacts and Enhanced Systems and Practices Rules today and concluded an 18-month public process. Cumulative impacts refer to the combined effects on public health and the environment from the incremental impacts of a proposed oil and gas operation, alongside those from past, present, and foreseeable future developments.
“This action by the Energy and Carbon Management Commission builds on our country’s strongest oil and gas standards. It puts into place even better protections for Colorado families and sets a new and higher standard for evaluating and addressing the cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations, especially for people living in the communities most impacted by this sector,” said Governor Polis.
Since January 2023, the ECMC has been reviewing scientific data on cumulative impacts and actively gathering input from stakeholders on cumulative impacts. To ensure broad participation, including from Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities, ECMC held virtual and in-person meetings throughout the state, invited online submissions, and hosted Commission listening sessions.
“ECMC conducted extensive stakeholdering to inform the development of these new rules. I am grateful to the many individuals and groups who shared their perspectives, experiences, and expertise,” said ECMC Chair Jeff Robbins. “The result of this collaboration is clear. We’ve adopted strong protections to ensure cumulative impacts from oil and gas operations are addressed as part of our protective regulatory protocol. These rules represent the most protective standards for oil and gas development in our state’s history and require new measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts on Disproportionately Impacted communities.”
Addressing long-standing environmental and health impacts, particularly in Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities, requires an accurate and realistic understanding of the effects from combined exposures to chemical and other stressors such as noise, odor, and socioeconomic disadvantages. It also requires stakeholders, particularly in DI communities, to have access to information and decision-making opportunities.
The rulemaking requires operators to adopt new, more protective practices when applying for oil and gas permits and it ensures that operators are compliant with air pollution rules as adopted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC). It requires operators and ECMC to provide additional opportunities for communities — particularly DI communities — to engage in the permitting process. And it requires the integration of new data cross-checks in the permitting process regarding NOx and Greenhouse Gases (GHG). Among the key protections in the new rules are:
- Cumulative Impacts analysis: Operators are now required to perform a cumulative impacts analysis with each new permit application to understand how their proposed operations will contribute to the existing conditions in the area and potentially affect the people, wildlife, and environment there. The rules describe what must be analyzed and require the operator to present the findings to the Commission at a public hearing. Through this analysis — and the use of operational best practices and protections identified as necessary based on the unique circumstances of each proposal — operators and the Commission will further strengthen industry’s ability to avoid, minimize, and mitigate both incremental and cumulative impacts where new development is permitted to occur.
- Disproportionately Impacted Community protections: The new rules require community notice and engagement at the pre-application stage; provide communities with the assistance of a dedicated Community Liaison; require longer public comment periods and wider notice of public comment; prohibit the use of Lesser Impact Area Exemptions for locations proposed proximate to residents of DI communities; require operators to comply with enhanced systems and practices in the nonattainment area, including that IOGP Group III (or equivalent) drilling fluids must be used in lieu of diesel or other high aromatic fluids; eliminating the use of VOC paints and solvents, minimizing engine idling and truck traffic, postponing refueling of fleet vehicles, suspending the use of non-essential fossil-fueled ancillary equipment, and rescheduling non-essential activities such as preventive maintenance during high ozone days; prohibit permanent storage tanks (other than maintenance tanks); require that oil will be piped off site rather than trucked; and require that water for hydraulic fracturing will be delivered by temporary lay-flat hose rather than by truck for oil and gas locations proposed within DI communities in the ozone nonattainment area. The final rules also adopted a robust process requiring the Commission to evaluate the operator’s demonstration of 17 points of substantial equivalence before determining whether to allow or not a new oil and gas location within 2000’ of a residential building unit or a high occupancy unit in a DI community. The final rules also did not make use of the category of cumulatively impacted communities.
- Community outreach methodology:
- The rules include a new requirement for operators to conduct a community meeting prior to submitting a permit application for proposed oil and gas development near homes. This community meeting gives local residents a chance to hear the operator’s proposal, ask questions about the project, and provide input directly to the operator before the permit application is submitted. Similarly, the rules now require a second community meeting after the permit application has passed the completeness phase of review. This meeting gives the public a chance to ask questions about information included in the permit application. ECMC Staff will attend both the pre-application and the post-completeness meetings to answer questions about the permitting process and inform community members about how they can stay engaged throughout the process.
- As directed by Senate Bill 24-229, the rules create a new role and new position at ECMC: the Community Liaison. This position will serve as a dedicated resource for DI communities regarding Commission regulation. Two Liaisons, with expertise in environmental justice and lived experience as DI Community members themselves, will be hired to serve DJ Basin and West Slope communities. Additional Liaisons may be hired as the need arises. The Liaisons will attend community meetings and other consultations, connect community members with additional resources and information about Commission events and complaint processes, and provide feedback to the Director and the Commission on the quality of operators’ outreach efforts.
- The rules extend the public comment period for public feedback on pending permit applications from 45 days to 60 days for proposals that are proximate to residences in DI communities. The rules dictate that the newly created Community Liaison positions will be a resource to community members when they seek to share input with the Commission. Particularly, they will be a resource when community members wish to provide input during the 60-day permit application public comment period.
- NOx and Greenhouse Gas emissions reductions: The final rules require a review of operators’ AQCC NOx Intensity Target status for both drilling and non-drilling operators and include action measures imposed by ECMC for operators out of compliance with their NOx Intensity Target, which will help achieve sector-wide compliance with the State's 2030 goals for NOx emission reductions within the ozone nonattainment area. The rules also integrate new data cross-checks in the permitting process regarding NOx and GHGs. The AQCC regulates the emissions of NOx and GHGs from oil and gas operations so this new rule provides consistency and transparency between the AQCC and ECMC to ensure both agencies continue to work together to reduce emissions in order to meet Colorado’s climate goals and to hold operators accountable for achieving those goals.
The full rulemaking is published online at https://ecmc.state.co.us/#/home.
About the ECMC
The mission of the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) is to regulate the development and production of the natural resources of oil and gas, deep geothermal resources, the capture and sequestration of carbon, and the underground storage of natural gas in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources. Visit the ECMC website for more information.