New cumulative impact rules include robust protections for residents of Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities
Aurora, CO (Feb. 19, 2025) - The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) welcomes Steven Arauza of Rifle, CO, and Yesica Chavez of Denver as the agency’s first Environmental Justice Liaisons. ECMC recruited for these new positions based on direction from Senate Bill 24-229 and the Commission’s adoption in 2024 of the Cumulative Impacts and Enhanced Systems and Practices Rules. The cumulative impacts rules require the agency and operators to proactively provide additional opportunities for communities to engage in energy regulations and permitting processes.
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. 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.
Colorado’s statutory definition of Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities includes low income communities, communities of color, housing cost-burdened communities, linguistically isolated communities, communities with environmental and socioeconomic impacts, Tribal lands, mobile home communities, and historically marginalized communities. The state identifies DI communities at the census block group scale, which is the smallest geographic scale of data available from the US Census Block Bureau and typically contains 600 to 3,000 individuals.
As Environmental Justice Liaisons, Arauza and Chavez are dedicated resources for DI communities in the West Slope (Arauza) and the Front Range (Chavez). They will attend and host community meetings, connect community members with additional resources and information about Commission events and complaint processes, and monitor the quality of operators’ outreach efforts.
“GreenLatinos successfully advocated for the creation of these Environmental Justice Liaison positions to ensure that frontline communities have a direct voice in the regulatory process,” said Ean Thomas Tafoya, Vice President of State Programs, GreenLatinos. “We look forward to working alongside Steven and Yesica to ensure that Disproportionately Impacted communities have the information, access, and support needed to protect public health.”
Arauza has 13+ years of Oil & Gas regulatory experience, including over 9 years at ECMC as an environmental specialist evaluating remediation efforts at oil and gas sites. As a vocal community advocate, Arauza volunteers with Voces Unidas de las Montañas, serves on the CDPHE Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and is an elected officer for Colorado Workers for Innovative and New Solutions (COWINS), the State employee union. He obtained his Master of Science in Geological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. “I am especially interested in assessment and mitigation of cumulative impacts of climate change, stewardship of environmental resources, and protection and authentic engagement of disproportionately impacted communities,” said Arauza. Read more about Arauza’s experience and how to contact him on the ECMC website.
Chavez has been an environmental justice advocate for more than a decade, beginning as Student Coordinator at Environmental Learning for Kids — where she had previously attended outreach programs as a teenager in Denver — and subsequently at Keystone Policy Center and ClimateWorks Foundation. Among extensive volunteerism, Chavez served as the Board Chair of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Equity Grant Program for two years. She obtained her Master’s in Global Health Research from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and was a 2024 Environmental Justice Fellow at the Yale School of the Environment. “I’m extremely excited to join the team and begin collaborating within communities to ensure they have the knowledge and resources to voice their concerns, drive solutions, and engage in decisions that prioritize public health, environmental protection, and community well-being,” Read more about Chavez’s experience and how to contact her on the ECMC website.
During the 18-month cumulative impact rulemaking process, ECMC reviewed scientific data on cumulative impacts and actively gathered 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.
“The expertise Steve and Yesica bring to this statewide advocacy work is unparalleled and I couldn’t be more grateful that they are choosing to serve their communities by joining ECMC as our first-ever Environmental Justice Liaisons,” said ECMC Director Julie Murphy. “As humans, we perform better and make more sensible decisions when we collaborate. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. I am eager for the collaboration that lies ahead.”
The cumulative impacts rules also require the integration of new data cross-checks in the permitting process regarding NOx and Greenhouse Gases (GHG). Furthermore, the rules include new, more protective practices when applying for oil and gas permits. The rules ensure 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). The full rulemaking is published online.
The rules reflect a paradigm shift in energy regulation. In 2019, Senate Bill 19-181 put in place a new mission for ECMC to regulate energy development in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources, whereas the prior mission fostered energy development. In the past five years, ECMC has implemented new rules that reflect the new mission. Notably, SB23-285 authorized ECMC to be the regulatory authority over geothermal and underground gas storage in Colorado; SB23-016 authorized ECMC to seek Class VI primacy for carbon storage injection wells; SB24-229 mandated more stringent regulations regarding operator’s uses of electric submersible pump and the reduction of NOx emissions; and HB24-1346 and Senate Bill 24-229 authorized ECMC to adopt cumulative impacts rules.
“Our state is the first in the nation to implement such robust measures for long-term cumulative impacts as part of our state’s protective regulatory protocol,” said ECMC Chair Jeff Robbins. “Particiaptory community engagement is a staple of democracy. Not only do these rules require new measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts on Disproportionately Impacted communities, but also they codify the ways in which operators must engage with impacted communities and make community engagement a required component to energy development.”
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.